NVIDIA Mellanox MCX456A-FCAT ConnectX-4 VPI Adapter Card: This is a dual-port standard PCIe adapter supporting FDR InfiniBand (56Gb/s) and 40/56GbE Ethernet on each QSFP28 port. The card is engineered for HPC clusters, storage fabrics, and converged data centers where the host operator selects either IB or Ethernet personality per port at boot. This is a standard PCIe-slot adapter, not an OCP mezzanine card. This is a refurbished unit.
Engineering Context
The MCX456A-FCAT runs the ConnectX-4 ASIC in Virtual Protocol Interconnect (VPI) mode at FDR-class link speeds, allowing each port to be configured for either InfiniBand (FDR/FDR10/QDR) or Ethernet (40GbE standard / 56GbE Mellanox proprietary). The card supports RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) v1/v2, native InfiniBand verbs for HPC libraries (OpenMPI, MVAPICH2, UCX), and SR-IOV. Host interface is PCIe Gen3 x16, providing approximately 128 Gb/s of bidirectional bandwidth. Hardware-based congestion control supports lossless storage and HPC fabrics.
Deployment & Use Cases
HPC clusters running MPI workloads over FDR InfiniBand. NVMe-oF and iSER storage targets/initiators using RoCE v2. Lustre and BeeGFS parallel filesystem servers and clients. Converged platforms where one port runs IB to a compute fabric and the other runs Ethernet to an out-of-band management network. Legacy FDR-IB clusters being maintained or expanded with matching hardware.
Technical Specifications
- OEM: NVIDIA Mellanox
- Part Number: MCX456A-FCAT
- Product Family: ConnectX-4 VPI
- Form Factor: Standard PCIe Adapter (tall bracket)
- Host Interface: PCIe 3.0 x16
- Data Rate: FDR IB (56Gb/s) / 40GbE / 56GbE
- Ports: 2 (Dual-Port)
- Connectors: QSFP28 (FDR-class)
- Protocols: InfiniBand (FDR/FDR10/QDR), Ethernet (40/56GbE)
- RDMA: Native IB verbs and RoCE v1/v2
- Virtualization: SR-IOV
- Condition: Refurbished — Tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
Compatibility & Hard Constraints
The F suffix denotes FDR-class link speed — this card does not support EDR InfiniBand (100Gb/s) or 100GbE Ethernet, even though it uses QSFP28 cages. Compatible with FDR InfiniBand switches (Mellanox SX6000 series) and 40GbE switches. 56GbE is a Mellanox-proprietary speed and requires Mellanox-to-Mellanox endpoints. Each port operates in either IB or Ethernet mode independently, configured via mlxconfig. Driver support: Mellanox OFED, Linux mlx5_core/mlx5_ib, Windows WinOF-2.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What is the MCX456A-FCAT?
The MCX456A-FCAT is a ConnectX-4 VPI dual-port QSFP28 adapter at InfiniBand FDR or 56GbE Ethernet.
Q. Does it run InfiniBand and Ethernet simultaneously?
No. It is a VPI card - each port operates in one mode at a time.
Q. Will T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS confirm the configuration of MCX456A-FCAT before shipping?
Yes. T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS (tes-itsolutions.com) bench-tests each unit where test topology is available, before dispatch from EU stock.
Why Choose T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS (https://www.tes-itsolutions.com) tests every NIC for link establishment on both ports in IB and Ethernet modes, RDMA functionality, and SR-IOV provisioning before shipment. Standard 1–3 day handling time. Expert consultation on FDR fabric maintenance and migration, global shipping, and comprehensive warranty.