Intel® QuickAssist Adapter 8960

The Intel® QuickAssist Adapter 8960 is a high-performance PCIe-based accelerator designed to bring hardware-accelerated cryptography and data compression to server workloads. Built to integrate with existing server ecosystems, this adapter delivers a scalable offload solution that reduces CPU overhead, accelerates security protocols, and improves overall data throughput. Ideal for data centers, enterprise applications, and edge deployments, the 8960 helps organizations meet growing security and performance demands without rewriting software or investing in entirely new architectures. By offloading intensive cryptographic operations, TLS/SSL processing, IPsec, VPN tasks, and compression workloads to dedicated hardware, the 8960 enables your processors to focus on core application logic, delivering lower latency and higher throughput for demanding workloads.

• Hardware-accelerated crypto and compression: Offload intensive cryptographic operations and data compression to Intel QuickAssist Technology, enabling faster secure communications and more efficient data handling without pulling CPU cycles away from application logic.
• Seamless server integration: Designed to plug into standard PCIe slots in a wide range of servers, the 8960 fits neatly into existing server environments, minimizing deployment risk while maximizing performance gains.
• Scalable performance for evolving workloads: The QuickAssist Adapter family provides a flexible path for expanding acceleration capabilities as security, encryption, and data-compression needs grow over time.
• Energy-efficient offload: By moving compute-intensive tasks to dedicated hardware, the 8960 can reduce processor temperature and power usage related to crypto and compression workloads, contributing to greener data center operations.
• Software and ecosystem support: Built to work with Intel’s software stacks and industry-standard APIs, the adapter integrates with existing security and compression pipelines, enabling smoother upgrades and consistent performance across platforms.

Technical Details of Intel® QuickAssist Adapter 8960

• Interface and form factor: PCIe-based accelerator card designed for server environments, enabling straightforward installation into compatible slots on a variety of servers.
• Core capability: Intel QuickAssist Technology provides hardware-accelerated cryptography and data compression to offload workloads traditionally handled by the main CPU.
• Crypto acceleration: Supports offloading common cryptographic operations to dedicated hardware, enabling faster processing for secure communications, encryption, and data integrity checks.
• Compression offload: Hardware-assisted data compression accelerates tasks such as gzip/deflate and other compression pipelines, reducing bandwidth and storage throughput bottlenecks.
• Deployment scenarios: Suitable for data centers, enterprise servers, cloud edge, and virtualization environments where security and throughput are critical.
• Software ecosystem: Compatible with Intel software stacks and industry-standard interfaces to facilitate integration with existing security, VPN, and data-processing workflows.

How to install Intel® QuickAssist Adapter 8960

• Power down and prepare: Shut down the server, unplug power, and follow your data center’s safety procedures before handling any hardware.
• Open the server chassis: Remove the appropriate access panels to access the PCIe slots. Identify a supported PCIe slot that aligns with the 8960’s form factor.
• Insert the adapter: Carefully seat the Intel QuickAssist Adapter 8960 into the selected PCIe slot, ensuring full engagement and proper alignment.
• Secure the card: Fasten the card to the chassis with the appropriate screw or retention mechanism to prevent movement during operation.
• Power and boot: Reassemble the chassis, reconnect power, and boot the server. Allow the system to initialize new hardware and recognize the adapter.
• Install drivers and firmware: Install the Intel QuickAssist software stack and any required drivers. Check for the latest firmware updates from Intel’s software portals and apply them to ensure optimal performance and security.
• Configure and test: Configure your security and compression workloads to route offload tasks to the 8960. Run validation tests to confirm correct offload behavior and verify throughput improvements.

Frequently asked questions

• What is Intel® QuickAssist Adapter 8960? The 8960 is a PCIe-based accelerator card that provides hardware-assisted cryptography and data compression through Intel QuickAssist Technology, designed to offload security and compression workloads from host CPUs in server environments.
• What workloads benefit most from the 8960? TLS/SSL offload, VPN and IPsec processing, data encryption/decryption, hashing, and data compression tasks see significant performance gains due to hardware offload, freeing CPU cycles for application processing.
• Which systems are compatible? The adapter is designed for server ecosystems using Intel-based architectures and standard PCIe interfaces. It integrates with common software stacks that support Intel QuickAssist Technology.
• How does offloading affect energy usage? Offloading crypto and compression tasks to dedicated hardware reduces CPU load, which can lead to lower overall system power consumption and improved thermal headroom in dense data-center deployments.
• How do I update firmware and drivers? Use Intel’s official software and firmware update channels to install the latest QuickAssist drivers and firmware. Keeping software up to date ensures performance gains, security enhancements, and compatibility with evolving workloads.
• Can the 8960 be used in virtualized environments? Yes, the adapter is designed to support deployment in virtualized ecosystems, where multiple virtual machines or containers may share acceleration resources, enabling secure and efficient offload in multi-tenant scenarios.