NVIDIA Mellanox MCX653105A-HDAT ConnectX-6 VPI Adapter — Single-Port QSFP56, HDR 200Gb/s InfiniBand or 200GbE Ethernet, PCIe Gen3/Gen4 x16: This is a ConnectX-6 VPI single-port adapter card that supports both HDR InfiniBand at 200Gb/s and 200GbE Ethernet on the same QSFP56 cage via Mellanox VPI (Virtual Protocol Interconnect). This is a host channel adapter (HCA) for server installation, not a switch and not a SmartNIC with onboard ARM cores. This is a refurbished unit, fully tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS prior to shipment.
Engineering Context
The ConnectX-6 VPI ASIC implements both InfiniBand HDR (50Gb/s PAM4 per lane × 4) and 200GbE Ethernet on a single physical port via run-time protocol selection. The card supports RDMA over both fabrics, GPUDirect RDMA for direct memory transfers between NICs and NVIDIA GPUs, and hardware offloads for MPI tag matching, T10-DIF, and selective signaling. With PCIe Gen4 x16 (~32 GB/s usable bidirectional), the host bus can sustain a full 200Gb/s line-rate stream without becoming a bottleneck. The HHHL form factor with tall bracket fits standard 1U/2U server slots.
Deployment & Use Cases
HDR InfiniBand fabrics for AI training clusters running NVIDIA Megatron-LM, NeMo, or PyTorch DDP. MPI-based HPC workloads using OpenMPI, MPICH, or HPC-X over RDMA. NVMe-oF storage targets and initiators. Sites that need to migrate between InfiniBand and Ethernet without swapping host adapters — protocol is selected per-port through mlxconfig at boot time.
Technical Specifications
OEM: NVIDIA Mellanox
Part Number: MCX653105A-HDAT
ASIC / Generation: ConnectX-6 VPI
Ports: Single QSFP56
Port Speed: HDR 200Gb/s InfiniBand or 200GbE Ethernet
Host Interface: PCIe Gen3/Gen4 x16
Protocols: InfiniBand HDR (200Gb/s) + Ethernet (200GbE) via VPI
RDMA: RoCEv2 (Ethernet mode), native InfiniBand RDMA, GPUDirect RDMA
Form Factor: HHHL (Half-Height Half-Length) with tall bracket
Condition: Refurbished — Tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
Compatibility & Constraints
Operates in InfiniBand mode with NVIDIA Quantum HDR switches (QM8700, QM8790) and any HDR-capable fabric. In Ethernet mode, compatible with NVIDIA Spectrum-2/Spectrum-3 (SN3000, SN4000) switches and third-party 200GbE switches that pass DAC/AOC link training. Requires PCIe Gen3 x16 minimum; running in Gen4 doubles available host bandwidth. Protocol selection is per-port via mlxconfig — port cannot serve InfiniBand and Ethernet simultaneously. Not a SmartNIC: no onboard ARM cores or BlueField data path.
Why T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS specializes in refurbished NVIDIA Mellanox enterprise networking hardware. Every NIC is bench-tested for PCIe link training, port stability, and firmware integrity prior to shipment. We provide deployment consultation on cabling, switch compatibility, and driver/firmware combinations, with international shipping and a 1–3 business day handling time. Visit tes-itsolutions.com for the full inventory and technical contact.