TCP Offload Engine
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TCP software limitations
Networking speed has gradually raised over the years. TCP, which was a protocol designed for unreliable low speed networks (such as early dial-up modems) is now used commonly in desktop PCs at speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second. The TCP software implementations on host systems require extensive computing power. Gigabit TCP communication using software processing alone is enough to fully load a 2.4 GHz Pentium processor.
Hardware Processing TCP (TOE)
A TCP Offload Engine or TOE is a technology for a TCP/IP-optimized Network Interface Card (NIC). The term, TOE, is often used to refer to the NIC itself, though it more accurately refers only to the Integrated Circuit included on the card which processes the TCP headers. TOEs are often suggested as a way to reduce the overhead associated with new protocols like iSCSI.
Much of the work on TOE technology is by manufacturers of 10 Gigabit Ethernet interface cards.
External links
- Article: TCP Offload to the Rescue (http://www.acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=154) by Andy Currid at ACM Queue (http://www.acmqueue.com/)
- EE Times: TCP Accelerators (http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=55300813)