Maximum performance with up to 1. 3 million input/output operations per second (IOPS) to support larger server virtualization deployments and scalable cloud initiatives, and performance to match new multicore processors, SSDs/flash storage, and faster server host bus architectures. Independent function, transmit and receive buffers, an on-chip CPU, DMA channels, and a firmware image for each port enable complete port-level isolation, prevent errors and firmware crashes from propagating across all ports, and provide predictable and scalable performance across all ports.