NVIDIA Mellanox MBF2H516A-EEEOT BlueField-2 DPU, Dual 100GbE QSFP56, PCIe Gen4 x16: This is a BlueField-2 P-Series Data Processing Unit (DPU) with dual QSFP56 ports operating at 100Gb/s and a PCIe Gen4 x16 host interface. The card combines a BlueField-2 SoC with on-board DDR4 ECC memory and an Arm-based compute complex to offload software-defined networking, storage virtualization, and security from the host CPU. This is a SmartNIC/DPU plug-in card, not a standalone switch, transceiver, or host-only NIC. NVIDIA P/N 900-9D219-0066-ST3. This is a refurbished unit.
Engineering Context
The MBF2H516A-EEEOT integrates ConnectX-6 Dx network silicon with a programmable Arm complex. Each QSFP56 port carries 4 lanes at 25Gb/s NRZ for 100GbE Ethernet, with VPI capability for InfiniBand modes where supported by firmware. PCIe Gen4 x16 at 16GT/s per lane delivers the host bandwidth required to drive both 100GbE ports concurrently. Crypto is enabled on this SKU for hardware-accelerated IPsec, TLS, and storage encryption. On-board 16GB DDR4 ECC at 3200MT/s supports DOCA workloads and BlueField OS Linux runtime in the embedded Arm domain.
Deployment & Use Cases
Software-defined data center fabrics where Open vSwitch (OVS) and tunnel encapsulation are accelerated on the DPU rather than the x86 host. NVMe-over-Fabrics target offload for disaggregated storage. Encrypted east-west traffic between virtual machines and containers. Cloud security appliances and inline DPI/IDS. Edge platforms where host CPU cycles must be reserved for application workloads.
Technical Specifications
OEM: NVIDIA Mellanox
Part Number: MBF2H516A-EEEOT
NVIDIA P/N: 900-9D219-0066-ST3
Family: BlueField-2 P-Series DPU
Network Ports: 2x QSFP56
Ethernet Speed: Up to 100GbE per port (4x 25Gb/s NRZ)
Host Interface: PCIe Gen4 x16 (16GT/s per lane)
SoC: 8-core Arm Cortex-A72 (BlueField-2)
On-board Memory: 16GB DDR4 ECC, 3200MT/s
Security: Crypto enabled (IPsec/TLS/storage offload)
Form Factor: Half-Height Half-Length (HHHL) with tall bracket
Condition: Refurbished — Tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
Compatibility & Constraints
Requires a server with a PCIe Gen4 x16 mechanical and electrical slot for full bandwidth; runs in PCIe Gen3 x16 at reduced throughput. Compatible with NVIDIA DOCA SDK and BlueField OS releases that target BlueField-2. Compatible with QSFP56 100GbE optics and DACs; QSFP28 optics work only when the host port and optic explicitly support QSFP56-to-QSFP28 backwards compatibility. The EEEOT suffix has crypto enabled — not interchangeable with non-crypto suffix variants in regulated environments. Not a Connect-X retail NIC; designed for server platforms running Linux DPU stacks.
Why Choose T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS tests every BlueField DPU for PCIe link training, port LED health, and firmware bring-up before shipment. We provide expert consultation on DPU integration, DOCA targeting, EU-based shipping with 1–3 day handling, and a 14-day return policy. Visit https://www.tes-itsolutions.com for the full Mellanox catalog.