White Paper

WHITE PAPER Tackling workloads in real time with PCIe Gen 4.0 mrcy.com 5 GEN 4.0 AND SECURITY All high-performance I/O interfaces, including PCIe, support direct memory access (DMA), freeing a system CPU to perform other tasks while data is moved to or from memory. DMA is vulnerable to cyberattack and while PCIe does not increase this vulnerability; the faster Gen 4.0 interface can transfer a malicious bit stream in a shorter time interval. This may happen faster than most defense mechanisms can handle. Fortunately, all modern processors have I/O memory management units (IOMMU), which can be configured to limit what is accessible by I/O interfaces. System architects must consider how the OS/hypervisor/VMM will interact with the IOMMU to implement security goals and ensure the IOMMU is properly configured during system boot. Mercury security experts are prepared to discuss these issues, and others, with your design team. BEYOND GEN 4.0 While Gen 4.0 delivers twice the bandwidth of today 's Gen 3.0 interconnects, it will not have Gen 3.0's nine- year lifespan. The system trends discussed above will clearly drive bandwidth requirements even higher. In response to this recognized reality, work on the Gen 5.0 and Gen 6.0 standards is already underway. Mercury is continually engaged in planning discussions with our technology partners, including Intel and NVIDIA. These deep relationships will ensure that our rugged servers rapidly adopt Gen 5.0 and Gen 6.0 components as they become available. As growing data loads and expanding neural networks require access to high-capacity, low-latency storage, Mercury 's next-gen servers are configured with multiple NVME4 E1.L drives that support PCIe Gen 3/4/5 up to 16 lanes. ENGAGE WITH MERCURY TO SEE PCIE GEN 4.0 CAPABILITIES Mercury is the leader in delivering high-performance, deployable technology to defense prime contractors. By closely collaborating with the semiconductor industry, we rapidly integrate latest-generation innovations, like PCIe Gen 4.0, and push server-class processing to the tactical edge. To ensure rapid, cost-effective delivery of our deployable solutions, Mercury invested in scalable, U.S. manufacturing operations and secure facilities. Our customers value this trusted and secure section of their supply chain. Mercury 's technology innovations are complemented and enhanced by customer partnerships. We see close cooperation with defense electronics visionaries, program managers, and engineering teams as key to getting the maximum value from all our solutions. Our system experts work to understand their application, then collaborate to develop an optimized system solution. Engage with the Mercury team to see demonstrations of our PCIe Gen 4.0 technology and explore how we can best meet your deployed-server requirements.

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