Traditionally, servers have made use of network interface cards (NICs) to achieve basic Layer 2 Ethernet connectivity. The idea of including Layer 3 routing and forwarding, however, has never been included within a server, as it is beyond the capability of server CPUs. Routing has always necessitated an additional device.
Recently, the advent of Network Function Virtualization has led to virtual routers (vRouters), which can bring Layer 3 into the server. The issue with that is that vRouters are exceedingly CPU-intensive and take up so much space of the server’s capacity that the primary functions that are meant to run on the server are limited. So operators have had to choose between external routers that add hardware and complicate management and vRouters that burn CPU cores and might therefore compromise performance.
Ethernity Networks Ltd (LON:ENET) is a leading provider of networking and security software solutions on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), incorporated into SoCs, SmartNICs, and network appliances. Ethernity was founded in 2004 and has its technology deployed in over 600K systems worldwide, connecting over 100M end users.
