NVIDIA Mellanox MCX354A-QCBT ConnectX-3 VPI Dual-Port QSFP+ HCA, QDR IB / 10GbE: This is a dual-port Virtual Protocol Interconnect (VPI) Host Channel Adapter (HCA) built on the Mellanox ConnectX-3 ASIC. Each QSFP+ port operates as either QDR InfiniBand (40 Gb/s signaling) or 10 Gigabit Ethernet on a per-port basis. PCIe 3.0 x8 host interface with tall bracket. This is the QDR-class card — it does NOT support FDR (56 Gb/s) IB or 40GbE Ethernet; for those rates use the FCBT variant. This is a brand-new, factory-sealed unit.
Engineering Context
QDR InfiniBand delivers 40 Gb/s signaling per port (effective 32 Gb/s data after 8b/10b encoding). The ConnectX-3 VPI controller allows each of the two QSFP+ ports to be independently configured as IB or Ethernet via mlxconfig. The 10GbE Ethernet mode uses QSFP+ with QSFP-to-SFP+ breakout cabling or a switch port that auto-negotiates to 10GbE. Hardware features include RDMA verbs, RoCE, SR-IOV up to 127 VFs per port, and stateless TCP/UDP/IP offloads. PCIe 3.0 x8 supplies ample bandwidth for dual-port QDR operation.
Deployment & Use Cases
Legacy QDR InfiniBand HPC clusters; secondary or management adapters in mixed-rate fabrics; 10GbE-only Ethernet workloads where existing IB-capable hardware is being repurposed; GPFS and Lustre clients on older HPC infrastructure; and academic or research labs maintaining QDR test environments. A cost-effective option when QDR-class throughput meets the workload requirement.
Technical Specifications
- OEM: NVIDIA Mellanox
- Part Number (MPN): MCX354A-QCBT
- ASIC: ConnectX-3
- Adapter Family: ConnectX-3 VPI (InfiniBand + Ethernet)
- Ports: 2 × QSFP+
- InfiniBand Rate: QDR (40 Gb/s signaling)
- Ethernet Rate: 10GbE per port
- Host Interface: PCIe 3.0 x8
- Form Factor: Standard PCIe with tall bracket
- Offloads: RDMA, RoCE, SR-IOV (up to 127 VFs/port), TCP/UDP/IP stateless
- RoHS: R6 compliant
- Condition: Brand New — Factory Sealed
Compatibility & Constraints
Compatible with Mellanox QDR InfiniBand switches (IS5000-series and other QDR-capable units) and any 10GbE switch via QSFP+-to-SFP+ breakout cable or QSFP+ port that auto-negotiates 10GbE. Use Mellanox QDR copper or active optical cables for IB operation. NOT compatible with FDR (56 Gb/s) or higher InfiniBand fabrics for full-rate negotiation — the card runs at QDR rate only. NOT a 40GbE card — the Ethernet personality is 10GbE only. Linux MLNX_OFED, Windows OFED, VMware ESXi, and FreeBSD all supported.
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