TCP software limitations
Networking speed gradually raised over the years. What started as a protocol build for unreliable low speed networks (few Kbytes per second) is now required to run at 1 Gigabit per second. The TCP software implementations on host systems require extensive computing power. Gigabit TCP communication, alone, eats up 100% of 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.
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