Identity & Definition
The Fujitsu CA05950-1822 is a dual-port VPI (Virtual Protocol Interconnect) host channel adapter in the enterprise network interface card (NIC) category. Based on the ConnectX-5 ASIC with two QSFP28 connectors and PCIe 3.0 x16 host interface, it is the Fujitsu OEM variant of the Mellanox ConnectX-5 VPI — functionally equivalent to MCX556A-ECAT. VPI means each port independently operates in InfiniBand EDR (100 Gb/s) or 100GbE Ethernet mode, configurable per port via firmware. This is a discrete adapter card, not a transceiver. Condition: New.
Engineering Context
The ConnectX-5 VPI provides dual-port EDR 100 Gb/s InfiniBand or 100GbE Ethernet connectivity with native RDMA (RoCE v2 for Ethernet, native IB verbs for InfiniBand), GPUDirect RDMA for direct GPU-to-NIC data paths, SR-IOV with up to 127 virtual functions per port, and hardware offloads for overlay networks (VXLAN/NVGRE). PCIe 3.0 x16 provides approximately 128 Gb/s host bus bandwidth. The CA05950-1822 is the Fujitsu PRIMERGY procurement part number but uses standard Mellanox firmware and MLNX_OFED drivers, making it fully compatible with any standard PCIe 3.0 x16 server platform.
Deployment & Use Cases
HPC clusters requiring dual-port EDR InfiniBand with RDMA for MPI-based parallel computing. Cloud and virtualization environments needing 100GbE with SR-IOV and RoCE v2 for VMware ESXi or KVM. Mixed InfiniBand/Ethernet environments where VPI flexibility eliminates the need for separate adapter cards. Fujitsu PRIMERGY server upgrades or replacements maintaining OEM part number compatibility. GPUDirect RDMA workloads in AI training clusters.
Technical Specifications
OEM: Fujitsu
Part Number: CA05950-1822
Equivalent: MCX556A-ECAT (Mellanox generic)
ASIC: ConnectX-5
Speed: EDR InfiniBand 100 Gb/s or 100GbE Ethernet per port
Ports: 2x QSFP28
Host Interface: PCIe 3.0 x16
VPI: Yes (InfiniBand + Ethernet, per-port configurable)
RDMA: Native IB + RoCE v2
SR-IOV: Up to 127 VFs per port
Form Factor: Full-height, half-length (FHHL) tall bracket
Condition: New
Compatibility & Hard Constraints
VPI adapter — each port is independently configurable for InfiniBand EDR or 100GbE Ethernet via mlxconfig firmware tools. Mode is not auto-negotiated. PCIe 3.0 x16 required for full bandwidth (approximately 128 Gb/s). PCIe 2.0 compatible but at reduced bandwidth. PCIe x8 slots will significantly bottleneck dual-port throughput. QSFP28 connectors are compatible with 100GbE QSFP28 and EDR InfiniBand QSFP28 optics/DACs, backward-compatible with 40GbE/FDR QSFP modules at reduced speed. Fujitsu OEM part — functionally identical to MCX556A-ECAT. Same firmware, same MLNX_OFED drivers. Works in any vendor server. Not ConnectX-6 — ConnectX-5 supports EDR maximum (100 Gb/s). For HDR 200 Gb/s, ConnectX-6 is required. Predecessor: ConnectX-4 (FDR/56GbE). Successor: ConnectX-6 (HDR/200GbE).
Why Choose T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS (tes-itsolutions.com) validates every adapter for full PCIe link training, dual-port initialization, VPI mode switching, and RDMA functionality before shipment. Technical consultation is available for fabric design, firmware cross-compatibility, and OEM equivalence verification. Global shipping with 1–3 business day handling.