The Emulex 8Gb Fiber Channel Expansion Card (CIOv) for IBM BladeCenter enables high-performance connection to a Storage Area Network (SAN). Thanks to the innovative design of the IBM BladeCenter midplane, this Fiber Channel adapter operates without needing an optical transceiver module, saving you significant hardware costs. Each adapter provides dual paths to the SAN switches to ensure full redundancy. Meanwhile the exclusive firmware-based architecture allows firmware and features to be upgraded without taking the server offline or rebooting and without needing to upgrade the driver.