NVIDIA Mellanox MCX414A-BCAT ConnectX-4 EN, 40/56GbE Dual-Port QSFP28 PCIe Gen3 x8 Adapter: This is a standard PCIe slot network interface card based on the ConnectX-4 EN Ethernet controller. It provides two QSFP28 ports configurable for 40GbE or 56GbE Ethernet, with a PCIe Gen3 x8 host interface and a tall (full-height) bracket. OEM part number 900-9X426-0054-SQ0. This is a tall-bracket card — it is NOT half-height and does NOT include a low-profile bracket. This is a refurbished unit, tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS.
Engineering Context
The ConnectX-4 EN controller delivers line-rate Ethernet on each port with deep hardware offload coverage: RoCE v1/v2, hardware overlay tunneling (VXLAN, NVGRE, GENEVE), Open vSwitch (OVS) acceleration, SR-IOV (up to 128 VFs), T10-DIF, and stateless TCP/UDP/IP offloads. PCIe Gen3 x8 provides 64 Gb/s of effective host bandwidth, which is sufficient for full bidirectional throughput on a single 56GbE port or aggregate 40GbE on both ports. 56GbE is NVIDIA's proprietary FDR-based Ethernet rate (14 Gb/s x 4 lanes); use 40GbE for vendor-interoperable fabrics.
Deployment & Use Cases
Server uplinks to 40GbE or 56GbE leaf switches in HPC clusters and private clouds. Hyper-converged storage platforms running Ceph, vSAN, or NVMe-oF over RoCE. Virtualization hosts under VMware ESXi, KVM, or Hyper-V leveraging SR-IOV. Database and analytics platforms (Oracle RAC, Hadoop, Spark) needing high-bandwidth east-west traffic. Bare-metal cloud tenants needing dual-port redundancy.
Technical Specifications
- OEM: NVIDIA Mellanox
- Part Number: MCX414A-BCAT (900-9X426-0054-SQ0)
- Controller: ConnectX-4 EN
- Form Factor: Standard PCIe Card
- Ports: Dual-Port (2x QSFP28)
- Data Rate: 40GbE / 56GbE per port
- Host Interface: PCIe Gen3 x8 (8 GT/s)
- Bracket: Tall (Full-Height)
- Offloads: RoCE v1/v2, SR-IOV, VXLAN, NVGRE, GENEVE, OVS
- Compliance: RoHS R6
- Condition: Refurbished — Tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
Compatibility & Hard Constraints
Requires a free PCIe Gen3 x8 (or wider) slot. Operates in PCIe Gen2 x8 at reduced performance. 56GbE rate is supported only with NVIDIA/Mellanox 56GbE-capable switches and matching FDR-rate cables; standard 40GbE switches and DACs will negotiate to 40GbE. Compatible with Mellanox-certified QSFP+/QSFP28 DACs, AOCs, and transceivers. Supports Ethernet only (this BCAT model is not VPI/InfiniBand). Drivers: NVIDIA MLNX_OFED, MLNX_EN, or in-box Linux/Windows. PCIe Gen3 x8 caps aggregate throughput below 2x 56GbE line rate.
Why Choose T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS tests every refurbished ConnectX-4 EN adapter for link-up at both 40GbE and 56GbE, port LED, and PCIe enumeration before shipment. Orders ship within 1–3 business days with global delivery and warranty coverage.