NVIDIA Mellanox MCX546A-CDAN ConnectX-5 EN 100GbE Dual-Port QSFP28 OCP 2.0 Type 2 Adapter: This is an OCP 2.0 Type 2 mezzanine network interface card based on the ConnectX-5 EN ASIC, providing two QSFP28 ports for 100GbE Ethernet connectivity. This is an OCP 2.0 mezzanine card designed for OCP-compliant server platforms, not a standard PCIe HHHL add-in card and not an InfiniBand-only HCA. The card uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 host interface. This is a refurbished unit.
Engineering Context
The MCX546A-CDAN delivers up to 100 Gb/s per port for a dual-port aggregate of 200 Gb/s, with hardware offloads including RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCEv2), SR-IOV virtualization, NVMe-oF, and stateless offloads (TSO, LRO, checksum). The OCP 2.0 Type 2 mezzanine form factor is designed for OCP-compliant chassis and provides denser port consolidation than standard PCIe slots. The card supports MSI-X, Multi-Host, and embedded switch (eSwitch) for hypervisor offload. Latency is sub-microsecond for RoCE-enabled workloads.
Deployment & Use Cases
OCP 2.0 server fleets in hyperscale and CSP data centers requiring 100GbE per port. RoCEv2-accelerated storage targets and initiators (NVMe-oF over fabrics). Open Compute compute nodes for VMware ESXi, KVM/Linux, and Windows Server clusters. SR-IOV virtualization in cloud-native and multi-tenant deployments. AI/ML training clusters where GPUDirect RDMA over Ethernet is required.
Technical Specifications
OEM: NVIDIA Mellanox
Part Number: MCX546A-CDAN
Controller: ConnectX-5 EN
Form Factor: OCP 2.0 Mezzanine, Type 2
Ports: Dual-Port QSFP28
Data Rate: 100GbE per port (200GbE aggregate)
Host Interface: PCIe 4.0 x16
Protocol: Ethernet only (EN)
Key Offloads: RoCEv2, SR-IOV, NVMe-oF, stateless offloads
Bracket: No bracket (OCP mezzanine form factor)
Condition: Refurbished — Tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
Compatibility & Hard Constraints
Requires an OCP 2.0 Type 2 compliant server chassis (e.g., OCP-compliant Wiwynn, Quanta, Inspur, Dell EMC PowerEdge models with OCP 2.0 mezzanine slot). Not compatible with standard PCIe HHHL/FHHL slots — this is a mezzanine card, not an add-in card. Requires QSFP28 transceivers or DAC/AOC cables for 100GbE; not compatible with SFP28 cages or QSFP+ (40GbE) without proper port configuration. EN suffix indicates Ethernet-only; this card cannot be reconfigured for native InfiniBand operation. PCIe 4.0 x16 host interface is backward compatible with PCIe 3.0 x16 at reduced bandwidth.
Why Choose T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS tests every NIC on a known-good OCP-compliant chassis, verifying link training on both ports, PCIe link width/speed, and firmware version before shipment. We provide expert consultation on NVIDIA Mellanox networking, global shipping, and 1–3 day handling. Visit tes-itsolutions.com for our full catalog.