Computing has historically bounced between performance bottlenecks. When one technology evolves to perform better, it leaves an older technology to become the system's worst performing characteristic. Between memory caches, SSDs, high bandwidth networks, and software, the bottleneck constantly moves. With 10 Gb Ethernet (10 GbE) networks today, we find it's usually not the result of too little bandwidth. But how can we ensure that we design our virtual data center with the highest performance when using 10 GbE Converged Network Adapters (CNAs)?

CNAs allow both Ethernet Local Area Network (LAN) traffic and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) traffic to use the same physical network adapter, as opposed to using dedicated Ethernet and Fibre Channel adapters. Similar to how virtualization allowed for the maximum use of server hardware resources and reduced wasted resources, CNAs allow for the maximum use of bandwidth by pushing storage traffic over the same physical cable as LAN traffic. It's important to consider, however, how each type of traffic is managed on the physical link so that congestion is handled appropriately.