Your SAN Is Running at 16Gb. Every VM Migration Takes 4 Minutes. A 32Gb HBA Cuts That to 90 Seconds. Here Is the Math.
Upgrading from 16Gb to 32Gb Fibre Channel doubles the throughput per port — but the real benefit is not in sustained throughput, it is in burst I/O. VMware vMotion, storage vMotion, backup snapshots, and database checkpointing are all bursty workloads that saturate 16Gb links for minutes at a time. A 32Gb port handles the same burst in half the time, and the reduction in I/O latency during burst periods is what VM admins and DBAs actually notice.
المواصفات الفنية
| معامل | تخصيص |
|---|---|
| شرائح | Broadcom Emulex LPe35002 (XE501 controller) |
| الموانئ | 2x 32Gb Fibre Channel (SFP28+), auto-negotiating 32/16/8 Gb |
| Host Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 |
| Throughput | يصل إلى 1.6 million IOPS per port (512B random read), 12,800 MB/s per port (full 32Gb line rate) |
| NPIV (N_Port ID Virtualization) | يصل إلى 255 virtual ports per physical port — each VM gets its own WWPN for SAN zoning |
| FEC (Forward Error Correction) | Yes — corrects bit errors at 32Gb line rate without retransmission. Critical for 32Gb distance links. |
| Fabric Services | FDMI, FCoE (Fibre Channel over Ethernet) initiator and target, NPV (N_Port Virtualization) |
| Boot Support | x86 BIOS, UEFI 2.x, FCode (SPARC) |
| إدارة | Emulex OneCommand Manager (GUI/CLI), Brocade/Emulex HCM, RESTful API, SNMP |
| Diagnostics | D_Port (ClearLink) diagnostics, beaconing, optical transceiver monitoring (DDM), loopback |
| قوة | ~12W typical (both ports active, 32Gb, optics populated) |
| Optics | SFP28+ SW (short-wave, 850نانومتر, up to 100m on OM4), LW (long-wave, 1310نانومتر, up to 10km on OS2) |
| عامل الشكل | Low-profile PCIe, full-height bracket included |
| Physical | 167 x 69 مم (standard LP PCIe card) |
| دعم نظام التشغيل | VMware ESXI 7.0 U3+, 8.0+ | Windows Server 2019/2022/2025 | RHEL 8.6+/9.x | SLES 15 SP4+ |
| Compatible Switches | Brocade G720/G730 (64Gb capable, 32Gb compatible), Cisco MDS 9132T/9148T (32Gb native) |
| Compatible Servers | All Dell PowerEdge, xFusion, Lenovo servers with PCIe 4.0 x8+ slot |
| ضمان | 3-year (with server) |
32Gb vs 16Gb FC — The Upgrade ROI
| Scenario | 16GB FC (2 الموانئ) | 32GB FC (2 الموانئ, LPe35002) | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| VMware vMotion (100 GB VM) | ~4 minutes | ~90 seconds | 2.6x faster. DRS rebalancing completes faster, cluster converges sooner. |
| Database checkpoint (200 غيغابايت) | ~14 minutes (16 Gb/s sustained, link saturated) | ~7 minutes (32 جيجابت / ثانية, burst I/O) | Checkpoint window halved. Smaller impact on OLTP performance during checkpoint. |
| Storage vMotion (1 TB datastore) | ~9 minutes | ~4.5 minutes | Storage migration in a maintenance window. Less risk of overrun. |
| Backup snapshot (5 TB increment) | ~45 minutes | ~22 minutes | Backup window halved. Fits in overnight window with room to spare. |
NPIV — The Feature That Makes 255 VMs Look Like 255 Independent HBAs
Each physical 32Gb port on the LPe35002 can present up to 255 N_Port IDs (WWPNs) to the SAN fabric. This means 255 VMs per port, each with its own unique WWPN for SAN zoning, without installing 255 physical HBAs. For VMware environments with per-VM LUN masking and strict SAN zoning, NPIV is the feature that makes multi-tenant SAN storage practical at scale. The alternative — 255 physical HBAs — occupies 255 PCIe slots across multiple servers. The LPe35002 does it with 2.
Compatible SAN Infrastructure
32Gb SFP28+ optics compatible with Brocade Gen 7 (G720, G730) and Cisco MDS 32Gb directors and switches. Backward-compatible with 16Gb and 8Gb fabrics — the HBA auto-negotiates to the highest speed supported by both ends. 32Gb requires 32Gb-capable SFP+ optics on both the HBA and switch ports; 16Gb optics limit the link to 16Gb regardless of HBA capability.
Source Through Xincuan
We supply LPe35002 HBAs pre-installed in Dell and xFusion servers with optics populated. Factory-direct pricing, 3-year warranty, and global shipping.
