NVIDIA Mellanox MCX353A-FCCT ConnectX-3 Pro VPI Adapter Card, Single-Port QSFP, FDR IB 56Gb/s and 40/56GbE: This is a single-port PCIe Host Channel Adapter (HCA) implementing NVIDIA Mellanox VPI (Virtual Protocol Interconnect), which means the same QSFP port can be configured as either InfiniBand FDR (56Gb/s) or Ethernet (40/56GbE). NVIDIA P/N 900-9X3A0-0014-0T0. The MCX353A-FCCT is the ConnectX-3 Pro variant, with hardware offloads for overlay networks (VXLAN/NVGRE). This is NOT the non-Pro MCX353A-FCBT; the Pro silicon adds RoCE v2 and tunneling offloads. This is a refurbished unit tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS.
Engineering Context
The card uses a single ConnectX-3 Pro ASIC and exposes one QSFP cage. Bandwidth is bounded by the PCIe 3.0 x8 host interface at 8GT/s per lane (effective ~63Gb/s aggregate), which is sufficient to saturate one FDR 56Gb/s port. The Pro silicon adds NVGRE and VXLAN overlay encapsulation/decapsulation offloads, plus RDMA over Converged Ethernet v2 (RoCE v2) routable over IP networks. Core HPC features include MPI tag matching, hardware atomic operations, and end-to-end congestion control for InfiniBand. The card uses a tall (full-height) PCIe bracket.
Deployment & Use Cases
HPC compute clusters running MPI workloads over InfiniBand FDR. Storage fabrics with iSER, NFS-RDMA, or SRP. AI/ML training clusters needing low-latency GPU-to-GPU collectives. Software-defined data centers using VXLAN/NVGRE overlays where the Pro offloads matter. Migration paths from legacy 10/40GbE to 56GbE Ethernet on the same port. Lab and bench InfiniBand environments where a flexible VPI port is preferred over fixed-function hardware.
Technical Specifications
OEM: NVIDIA Mellanox
Part Number (MPN): MCX353A-FCCT
NVIDIA P/N: 900-9X3A0-0014-0T0
Product Line: ConnectX-3 Pro VPI
Ports: Single-Port QSFP
InfiniBand Speed: FDR 56Gb/s (also FDR10, QDR, DDR, SDR)
Ethernet Speed: 40/56GbE (also 10GbE)
Host Interface: PCIe 3.0 x8 (8GT/s)
Protocol Mode: VPI — port selectable as IB or Ethernet
Form Factor: Tall (full-height) bracket
Pro Features: RoCE v2, VXLAN/NVGRE overlay offloads
Condition: Refurbished — Tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
Compatibility & Hard Constraints
Requires a PCIe 3.0 x8 (or wider) slot. PCIe 2.0 slots will work but bandwidth is halved. Compatible with NVIDIA Mellanox SwitchX-2 and Switch-IB family switches in IB mode, and SX1000 series switches in Ethernet mode. Driver support requires MLNX_OFED or upstream Linux mlx4 drivers; the ConnectX-3 generation is NOT supported by the newer mlx5 driver. Not compatible with EDR (100Gb/s) InfiniBand fabrics at full link speed. Single-port card only — does not support port aggregation across two cables. The QSFP port accepts only QSFP/QSFP+ media; no native QSFP28 support.
Why Choose T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS bench-tests every ConnectX-3 Pro card for link training, RDMA loopback, and PCIe link width before shipment. Visit T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS for warranty terms and global shipping. Standard handling time 1–3 business days.