NVIDIA Mellanox MCB194A-FCAT Connect-IB Dual-Port QSFP FDR 56Gb/s PCIe3.0 x16 HCA: This is a dual-port InfiniBand FDR Host Channel Adapter (HCA) using Mellanox Connect-IB silicon with PCI Express 3.0 x16 host interface. MPN MCB194A-FCAT. This is an InfiniBand HCA, not an Ethernet NIC, switch, or storage controller. Refurbished unit, fully tested.
Engineering Context
The MCB194A-FCAT uses Mellanox Connect-IB ASIC architecture, designed for high message-rate workloads. Dual QSFP cages deliver 56 Gb/s per port (FDR — Fourteen Data Rate, 4x14 Gb/s lanes). The PCIe 3.0 x16 host interface (128 Gb/s raw bidirectional) is what distinguishes the -94 SKU from x8 variants and is required to feed both FDR ports at full line rate. Connect-IB silicon supports MPI tag matching offload, GPUDirect RDMA, and over 130 million messages per second per adapter, per Mellanox specifications.
Deployment & Use Cases
HPC compute nodes in MPI-bound clusters (CFD, weather modeling, molecular dynamics). GPU servers leveraging GPUDirect RDMA between NVIDIA GPUs and remote nodes. Lustre and GPFS/Spectrum Scale parallel storage clients requiring full FDR bandwidth. Database clusters using RDMA for low-latency cache coherence. InfiniBand fabric uplinks where Connect-IB's high message rate is preferred over single-port adapters.
Technical Specifications
- OEM: NVIDIA Mellanox
- Part Number: MCB194A-FCAT
- Product Family: Connect-IB
- Form Factor: PCIe Half-Height, Half-Length (HHHL)
- Host Bus: PCI Express 3.0 x16 (8 GT/s per lane)
- Ports: 2 (Dual-Port)
- Connector: QSFP (compatible with QSFP+ optics/DAC at FDR)
- Data Rate: 56 Gb/s per port (FDR InfiniBand)
- Protocol: InfiniBand FDR
- Features: RDMA, MPI tag matching, GPUDirect RDMA, atomic operations
- Driver Support: MLNX_OFED (Linux), WinOF (Windows)
- Condition: Refurbished — Tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
Compatibility & Hard Constraints
Requires PCIe 3.0 x16 slot for full FDR bandwidth on both ports; physically and electrically requires x16. Compatible with FDR-rated QSFP+ DAC copper, AOC, and FDR optical transceivers. This is an InfiniBand-only adapter — Connect-IB does not support Ethernet protocol. For dual-mode VPI (InfiniBand + Ethernet), use ConnectX-3 VPI or ConnectX-4/5/6 VPI parts instead. Subnet manager is required on the InfiniBand fabric (typically OpenSM or a managed switch).
Why Choose T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS tests every Connect-IB HCA for PCIe x16 link training, both QSFP ports at FDR rate, and firmware integrity. We provide expert consultation on InfiniBand fabric design, 1–3 day handling time, EU shipping, and post-sale technical support.