(Source: Business Wire)Emulex Corporation (NYSE:ELX) and Ixia (Nasdaq:XXIA) have partnered to produce a definitive guide to the technological characteristics of Converged Network Adapters (CNAs) and the proper methodology for testing these new devices. The first release of this publication, Black Book Methodologies: Converged Network Adapters, is the fourth volume in a series of primers on technology and testing published by Ixia.

"As a company's networks and applications become increasingly more complex, virtualized and converged, network performance becomes mission critical. Testing storage technology is imperative to predict device and system performance in order to isolate and correct potential bottlenecks," said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president of business development, Emulex. "By collaborating with Ixia on this Black Book we're helping to provide a user-friendly foundation for network convergence test methodologies."

As a primer on the technology and testing of CNAs, the Black Book begins with an introduction to CNA technology, the developments that led to the Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) protocol and data center network convergence. It includes detailed test plans using Ixia's IxVM, a tool for measuring the performance of virtualized systems, which guides the reader through key tests required to thoroughly measure the performance of a CNA. Step-by-step instructions include using IxChariot, a component of IxVM, to measure Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) throughput, User Diagram Protocol (UDP) throughput, latency, and storage input/output (I/O) performance in virtualized and non-virtualized environments.

"Emulex is a long-standing leader in the storage networking market and we recognize its dedication to developing and driving new technology and standards, such as CNAs and FCoE, to fuel network convergence adoption," said Atul Bhatnagar, President and CEO of Ixia.