NVIDIA BlueField-2 MBF2M345A-HECOT DPU 200GbE Single-Port QSFP56 PCIe4

NVIDIA Mellanox® MBF2M345A-HECOT — BlueField-2 200GbE Single-Port QSFP56 DPU (Crypto Enabled)

Technical Identity

The NVIDIA Mellanox® MBF2M345A-HECOT is a BlueField-2 Data Processing Unit (DPU) in the P-Series — a single-port 200GbE QSFP56 card with a PCIe Gen 4.0 x16 host interface. It embeds the BlueField-2 SoC (8 ARM Cortex-A72 cores running an independent BlueField OS), the ConnectX-6 Dx data plane, and 16 GB of onboard DDR4 ECC memory, enabling line-rate offload of networking, storage, and security functions programmed via the NVIDIA DOCA SDK. The "E" identifier in the suffix denotes the crypto-enabled SKU with inline IPsec, TLS, and AES-XTS acceleration.

Specifications

• Brand: NVIDIA (Mellanox)
• Model / MPN: MBF2M345A-HECOT
• Product type: Data Processing Unit (DPU)
• Family: BlueField-2 P-Series
• ASIC / SoC: NVIDIA BlueField-2 (ConnectX-6 Dx data plane + ARM SoC)
• ARM cores: 8× Cortex-A72
• Onboard memory: 16 GB DDR4 ECC
• Ports: Single-Port
• Connector: QSFP56
• Speed: 200GbE
• Protocol: Ethernet only (no InfiniBand)
• Host interface: PCIe 4.0 x16
• Form factor: HHHL (Half-Height, Half-Length) standard PCIe card
• Bracket: Tall (full-height)
• Crypto engine: Enabled (inline IPsec, TLS 1.2/1.3, AES-XTS 256/512)
• Out-of-band management: Not present (no 1GbE OOB port)
• Condition: Refurbished Grade A — bench-tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS

What This Is NOT

• NOT a standard NIC. A BlueField-2 DPU is a programmable computer on a PCIe card — it boots its own OS (NVIDIA BlueField OS / Ubuntu) on its ARM cores, independent of the host server.
• NOT a ConnectX-6 Dx adapter. The card embeds the ConnectX-6 Dx data plane but adds an integrated ARM SoC, onboard DDR4, and a separate boot domain; the two are not interchangeable as a parts SKU.
• NOT an InfiniBand adapter. The "HE" suffix is Ethernet-only at 200GbE. The card cannot be configured for InfiniBand HDR or NDR operation.
• NOT an OCP form-factor card. This is a standard HHHL PCIe card; it does not fit OCP 2.0 or OCP 3.0 mezzanine slots.
• NOT plug-and-play. Requires a flashed BlueField OS image plus MLNX_OFED / DOCA host drivers; the operating mode (Separated Host, ECPF Embedded Function, or legacy SmartNIC) must be selected during provisioning.
• NOT bundled with QSFP56 cables, transceivers, brackets beyond the installed tall bracket, or accessories.

Compatibility & Constraints

• Host server: PCIe Gen 4.0 x16 slot for full 200GbE rate; falls back to Gen 3.0 x16 (~half bandwidth). BIOS must support large PCIe BAR and SR-IOV.
• NVIDIA Ethernet switches: Spectrum-2 SN3700 (200GbE QSFP56), Spectrum-3 SN4600 / SN4700, and Spectrum-4 SN5400 / SN5600 with QSFP56 cages. Auto-negotiates 100/50/40/25/10 GbE.
• Cabling (NVIDIA LinkX 200GbE QSFP56): DACs (MCP1650-V series), AOCs (MFA1A00-V series), SR4 / FR4 transceivers (MMA1T00-VS class). 1×QSFP56 → 2×QSFP56 (2× 100GbE) supported via switch-side breakout.
• Drivers / firmware: Host — MLNX_OFED 5.x+ and NVIDIA DOCA host driver. DPU — BlueField OS / DOCA runtime. Firmware 24.30+ recommended.
• Operating modes: Separated Host, ECPF Embedded Function (full DPU offload), or legacy SmartNIC (OVS / Linux bridge offload).
• Host OS: RHEL/CentOS 7.x/8.x/9.x, Ubuntu 20.04 / 22.04, VMware ESXi 7.x / 8.x with NVIDIA drivers.
• Power / cooling: ~75 W typical board power; chassis airflow across heatsink required for sustained 200GbE.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q. What is the MBF2M345A-HECOT?
The MBF2M345A-HECOT is an NVIDIA Mellanox BlueField-2 single-port 200GbE DPU on a QSFP56 connector with a PCIe Gen 4.0 x16 host interface. It embeds 8 ARM Cortex-A72 cores and 16 GB of onboard DDR4 ECC memory and is programmed through the NVIDIA DOCA SDK.

Q. Is the MBF2M345A-HECOT Ethernet-only or VPI dual-protocol?
It is Ethernet-only. The "HE" suffix in the NVIDIA part number indicates 200 Gigabit Ethernet operation. The card cannot be switched into InfiniBand mode and will not run HDR or NDR fabrics.

Q. Does the MBF2M345A-HECOT include hardware crypto acceleration?
Yes. The "E" identifier in the second position of the HECOT suffix denotes the crypto-enabled SKU. The card delivers inline IPsec, TLS 1.2 / 1.3, and AES-XTS 256/512-bit hardware acceleration through the ConnectX-6 Dx data plane, enabling zero-trust security offload, line-rate encrypted NVMe-oF, and TLS termination at 200GbE. The crypto-disabled equivalent is the MBF2M345A-HNCOT.

Q. What form factor is this card and which servers accept it?
It is a standard HHHL (Half-Height, Half-Length) PCIe card with a tall (full-height) bracket included. It installs in any server with a free PCIe Gen 4.0 x16 slot and adequate chassis airflow. It is not an OCP 2.0 / OCP 3.0 mezzanine card.

Q. What workloads run best on a 200GbE BlueField-2 DPU?
At 200GbE the MBF2M345A-HECOT is sized for AI training east-west traffic, GPU server interconnect, NVMe-oF storage targets and initiators, telco UPF/DPDK pipelines, and zero-trust security offload (firewall, deep-packet inspection, encrypted flow inspection) on virtualized cloud hosts.

Q. Which switches and cables pair with the MBF2M345A-HECOT?
Pair with NVIDIA Spectrum-2 SN3700, Spectrum-3 SN4600 / SN4700, or Spectrum-4 SN5400 / SN5600 200GbE Ethernet switches. Use NVIDIA LinkX 200GbE QSFP56 DACs, AOCs, or SR4/FR4 transceivers, or supported third-party MSA-compliant QSFP56 optics.

Q. What software is required to use it as a full DPU?
On the host: MLNX_OFED 5.x or later and the NVIDIA DOCA host driver. On the DPU itself: a flashed BlueField OS image (Ubuntu-based) plus the DOCA runtime. The mode (Separated Host, ECPF Embedded Function, or legacy SmartNIC) is selected during provisioning.

Q. What condition is supplied by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS?
Refurbished Grade A. Each unit is bench-tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS — link establishment at 200GbE, EEPROM / vendor data verification, basic traffic validation, and cosmetic inspection — and ships from EU stock in professional anti-static packaging with global B2B delivery.

Why buy from T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS

T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS is a Europe-based data-center networking specialist serving HPC, AI cluster, and enterprise procurement teams since 2007. Every BlueField-2 DPU is identified by its MPN, NVIDIA P/N (where applicable), and ASIC generation before it leaves our warehouse, and every order includes free pre-sale compatibility advice for host platform, switch, transceiver, and DOCA software stack pairing. Multi-currency B2B invoicing, EU stock with worldwide express options, and direct technical contact with our engineering team — not a call-center. See tes-itsolutions.com.