764302-B21 HPE 4 Port 10GBPS PCI Flexfabric 536flr T Network Adapter

HPE 764302-B21 4-Port 10GbE PCIe Express Adapter 

The HPE 764302-B21 FlexFabric 536FLR-T 4-Port 10Gbps PCIe Network Adapter is a robust and high-speed Ethernet connectivity solution designed for modern data centers and enterprise-grade server environments. Built to deliver superior throughput, low latency, and advanced virtualization capabilities, this adapter ensures seamless integration with HPE ProLiant server infrastructure and cloud-ready workloads.

Core Specifications

• Brand: HPE
• Part Number: 764302-B21
• Device Type: Network Adapter
• Bus Interface: PCI Express 3.0 x8
• PCI Specification: PCIe 3.0 compliant

Networking Technical Features

• Ports: 4 x 10GBASE-T RJ-45
• Data Transfer Rate: Up to 10 Gbps per port
• Data Link Protocol: 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE)
• Cabling Type: Ethernet 10GBASE-T copper cabling
• Maximum Frame Size: Jumbo frames up to 9 KB

Supported Protocol Stack

• TCP/IP and UDP/IP networking protocols
• SNMP remote management protocol
• IEEE 802.3, 802.3x, 802.3ad (LACP)
• IEEE 802.1Q VLAN and related extensions

Performance Enhancement Features

• Large Send Offload (LSO) for reduced CPU overhead
• Receive Side Scaling (RSS) for optimized multi-core processing
• TCP/IP and UDP/IP checksum offloading
• TCP Segmentation Offload (TSO) for improved throughput
• TCP Offload Engine (TOE) for enhanced network efficiency

Virtualization Capabilities

• Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) support
• Precision Time Protocol (PTP) for time-sensitive workloads
• Improved VM density and workload isolation

Processor Details

• 1 x QLogic 57840S integrated controller
• Optimized packet processing architecture
• Low latency data handling for enterprise workloads

Interface

• 4 x RJ-45 10GBASE-T Ethernet ports
• PCI Express 3.0 x8 host interface
• Hot-plug capable in supported systems

HPE 764302-B21 4 Port 10Gbps Network Adapter Overview

The HPE 764302-B21 4 Port 10Gbps PCI FlexFabric 536FLR-T Express 3.0 x8 Network Adapter is a high-performance server networking solution designed to meet the demanding requirements of modern enterprise data centers, cloud computing environments, virtualization infrastructures, and high-throughput storage networks. Built on advanced FlexFabric architecture, this adapter provides a unified and efficient approach to networking by consolidating multiple data center traffic types into a single converged fabric. It is engineered to deliver exceptional throughput, low latency, and scalable connectivity, making it a critical component in optimized IT infrastructures where performance, reliability, and flexibility are essential.

Enterprise-Class Networking Architecture and Design

The architecture of this network adapter is based on HPE’s FlexFabric technology, which is designed to simplify network design by converging LAN and SAN traffic. Instead of requiring separate adapters for Ethernet and storage networks, this solution integrates multiple networking functions into a single hardware platform. This reduces hardware complexity while improving manageability and operational efficiency.

The PCI Express 3.0 x8 interface ensures maximum data transfer capability between the server motherboard and the adapter. With high lane bandwidth and optimized signaling efficiency, the adapter is capable of handling intensive data workloads common in enterprise virtualization, database replication, and distributed computing environments.

High-Speed 10Gbps Connectivity for Modern Workloads

This adapter provides four independent 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports, enabling aggregated bandwidth suitable for bandwidth-intensive applications. These ports can operate in various configurations depending on workload requirements, offering flexibility for network architects designing scalable infrastructures. The 10Gbps throughput ensures smooth handling of virtual machine migrations, real-time analytics, high-performance storage access, and cloud service delivery.

In environments where latency-sensitive applications such as financial transactions, telecom systems, or large-scale web services operate, the adapter’s optimized packet processing engine helps maintain consistent and predictable network performance.

FlexFabric Technology and Converged Networking Advantages

One of the most significant advantages of the HPE 536FLR-T adapter is its integration of FlexFabric technology. This approach enables convergence of networking and storage traffic on a single adapter, eliminating the need for multiple separate host bus adapters and NICs. By consolidating Ethernet, iSCSI, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet capabilities, it simplifies infrastructure design and reduces total cost of ownership.

The converged nature of the adapter also reduces cable clutter in data centers, lowers power consumption, and streamlines troubleshooting processes. This allows IT administrators to manage fewer physical components while maintaining high-performance connectivity across all workloads.

Support for Virtualization and Cloud Environments

The adapter is optimized for virtualization platforms such as VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Linux-based KVM environments. Its ability to support advanced virtualization features such as SR-IOV (Single Root I/O Virtualization) allows network traffic to bypass hypervisor overhead, significantly improving virtual machine performance.

In cloud environments, where multiple virtual machines share physical network resources, this adapter ensures balanced bandwidth distribution and minimizes bottlenecks. It allows cloud service providers and enterprise IT departments to maintain service-level agreements while scaling infrastructure efficiently.

Optimized Data Center Performance and Scalability

Scalability is a critical factor in modern data centers, and this network adapter is designed with expansion in mind. The four-port configuration enables redundancy and load balancing strategies that enhance network reliability. Administrators can distribute workloads across multiple ports to optimize traffic flow and ensure continuous availability.

The adapter also supports link aggregation technologies, allowing multiple ports to function as a single logical connection. This increases overall throughput while providing failover capabilities in case of hardware or network failures.

Advanced Storage Networking Capabilities

Beyond traditional Ethernet connectivity, the HPE 764302-B21 adapter is engineered to support advanced storage networking protocols. This includes iSCSI and Fibre Channel over Ethernet, enabling seamless integration between compute and storage systems within a unified network infrastructure.

By leveraging these capabilities, organizations can eliminate the need for dedicated storage networks, reducing infrastructure costs and improving overall efficiency. Storage traffic can be prioritized and optimized independently from standard data traffic, ensuring that critical storage operations maintain consistent performance levels even under heavy network load.

Low Latency Storage Communication

In enterprise storage environments, latency plays a crucial role in system performance. This adapter is designed to minimize latency through hardware-level offloading and optimized packet processing. This ensures faster communication between servers and storage arrays, improving application responsiveness and reducing data access times.

Databases, virtual machine storage, and real-time analytics platforms benefit significantly from this reduced latency, as it allows for faster read and write operations across distributed storage systems.

Efficient Traffic Offloading and CPU Utilization

One of the key advantages of this network adapter is its ability to offload networking tasks from the server CPU. By handling packet processing, segmentation, and protocol management at the hardware level, it frees up CPU resources for application workloads.

This improves overall system efficiency and allows servers to handle more virtual machines or application instances without requiring additional processing power. In large-scale deployments, this results in better resource utilization and reduced operational costs.

PCI Express 3.0 x8 Interface and Hardware Efficiency

The PCIe 3.0 x8 interface provides a high-bandwidth connection between the adapter and the server system. This ensures that network traffic is transmitted efficiently without bottlenecks at the hardware interface level. The increased bandwidth per lane in PCIe 3.0 architecture allows the adapter to support simultaneous multi-port data streams without degradation in performance.

This design is particularly beneficial for environments that require sustained high-throughput data transfer, such as backup systems, virtualization clusters, and high-performance computing workloads.

Power Efficiency and Thermal Optimization

In addition to performance improvements, the adapter is engineered for energy efficiency. It uses advanced power management techniques to dynamically adjust power consumption based on workload demand. This helps reduce energy costs in large-scale deployments while maintaining optimal performance.

Thermal design considerations ensure that the adapter operates reliably under continuous heavy load conditions. Efficient heat dissipation mechanisms help maintain system stability even in densely populated server racks.

Virtualization Acceleration and Network Offload Features

The HPE FlexFabric 536FLR-T adapter includes advanced virtualization acceleration features that enhance performance in multi-tenant environments. By enabling hardware-assisted virtualization, it reduces overhead associated with virtual switching and packet routing within hypervisors.

These features allow multiple virtual machines to share the same physical adapter without performance degradation, ensuring consistent network performance across workloads. This is essential for enterprise environments that rely heavily on virtualization for resource optimization.

SR-IOV and Multi-Tenant Efficiency

SR-IOV technology allows a single physical adapter to present multiple virtual interfaces directly to virtual machines. This reduces hypervisor involvement in network processing, improving throughput and reducing latency.

In multi-tenant cloud environments, this capability ensures fair resource allocation and improved isolation between workloads. Each virtual machine can receive dedicated network resources, improving predictability and performance consistency.

Deployment Flexibility in Enterprise Environments

The HPE 764302-B21 adapter is designed for flexibility across a wide range of deployment scenarios. Whether used in blade servers, rack-mounted systems, or virtualized data center clusters, it integrates seamlessly into existing HPE infrastructure ecosystems.

Its compatibility with HPE server platforms ensures smooth installation and configuration, minimizing downtime during deployment. IT administrators can quickly integrate the adapter into existing network architectures without requiring major redesigns of infrastructure components.

High Availability and Redundancy Support

High availability is a critical requirement in enterprise environments, and this adapter supports multiple redundancy configurations. By utilizing multi-port failover and link aggregation, organizations can ensure continuous network connectivity even in the event of hardware failure.

This redundancy capability is essential for mission-critical applications where downtime can result in significant operational and financial impact.

Operational Efficiency and IT Infrastructure Optimization

The use of a unified networking adapter significantly improves operational efficiency within IT environments. By reducing the number of physical network cards required, it simplifies server configuration and reduces maintenance overhead.

This simplification extends to cabling infrastructure as well, reducing physical complexity in data center racks and improving airflow and cooling efficiency. As a result, organizations benefit from lower operational costs and improved system reliability.