540-BDJD Dell Nvidia Connectx-6 Lx Dual Port 10/25GbE SFP28 PCIE Adapter

540-BDJD Dell Nvidia ConnectX-6 Lx Dual Port 10/25GbE SFP28 PCIe Adapter Overview

The 540-BDJD Dell Nvidia ConnectX-6 Lx Dual Port 10/25GbE SFP28 PCIe Adapter represents a new standard in data center connectivity. This advanced network interface card (NIC) delivers exceptional performance, flexibility, and scalability, making it ideal for enterprise, cloud, and storage environments. Equipped with dual SFP28 ports, the adapter offers support for both 10GbE and 25GbE Ethernet speeds, providing adaptability for growing network demands.

Designed by NVIDIA (formerly Mellanox) and offered by Dell, this PCIe-based adapter combines robust features with reliable hardware engineering. It enables low-latency data transmission, high throughput, and efficient offload capabilities that are essential for modern virtualized and software-defined infrastructure.

Key Features of the 540-BDJD Dell Nvidia ConnectX-6 Lx

Dual Port SFP28 Interface

Featuring two high-speed SFP28 ports, the ConnectX-6 Lx adapter supports either 10Gbps or 25Gbps Ethernet connectivity. These hot-swappable ports provide maximum flexibility when integrating into new or existing networks, supporting both single and multi-mode fiber optics with compatible transceivers.

PCIe Gen 4.0 x8 Interface

The adapter utilizes a PCI Express Gen 4.0 x8 interface to deliver increased bandwidth and lower latency. This interface ensures that the full performance potential of the dual 10/25GbE ports is realized, even under the most demanding data workloads.

Advanced Offload Capabilities

With hardware offloading for a variety of network tasks including VXLAN, NVGRE, TCP/IP checksum, and RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE), the ConnectX-6 Lx reduces CPU overhead and improves overall system performance. These capabilities are particularly valuable in virtualized environments where CPU cycles are at a premium.

Secure and Scalable

Security is a top priority for enterprise infrastructure, and the ConnectX-6 Lx addresses this with Secure Boot, hardware root-of-trust, and UEFI Secure Boot features. Additionally, its scalability makes it ideal for growing infrastructures, supporting a wide range of Dell PowerEdge servers and other OEM platforms.

Performance Benefits of Using ConnectX-6 Lx Adapters

High Bandwidth with Low Latency

The 540-BDJD adapter enables line-rate throughput across both 10GbE and 25GbE links, allowing for consistent, high-performance networking even under heavy workloads. The low-latency design is critical for applications such as real-time analytics, HPC, and large-scale virtualization.

Energy Efficiency

Utilizing NVIDIA’s low-power architecture, this adapter reduces total power consumption without compromising performance. The reduction in energy draw helps organizations lower their data center’s total cost of ownership (TCO) and meet sustainability goals.

Compatibility with Dell EMC Infrastructure

Fully certified and tested with Dell EMC PowerEdge servers, the 540-BDJD provides seamless integration into Dell’s infrastructure stack. Its out-of-box support with Dell iDRAC and Lifecycle Controller ensures efficient deployment and management across enterprise environments.

Use Cases for the 540-BDJD Nvidia ConnectX-6 Lx Adapter

Enterprise Data Centers

In modern enterprise data centers, network demands are increasing exponentially. The 540-BDJD adapter offers the bandwidth, reliability, and offload features necessary to meet these requirements. Whether deploying in a hyper-converged infrastructure or standard 3-tier topology, this adapter fits seamlessly.

Cloud Computing Environments

As cloud platforms scale out, having efficient east-west traffic management becomes essential. The ConnectX-6 Lx offers RDMA and hardware acceleration, helping to reduce latency between nodes and improve container and VM performance within cloud-native architectures.

Storage Networks (NVMe over Fabrics)

The adapter supports NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF), making it ideal for integration with high-speed storage networks. Data-heavy environments such as financial services, AI/ML workloads, and big data analytics benefit from the increased throughput and reduced I/O wait times.

Edge and Telco Applications

Designed with versatility in mind, the 540-BDJD is also well-suited for edge computing and telco NFV use cases. Its compact design, efficient power usage, and high-speed data transfer make it compatible with space- and power-constrained deployments.

Adapter Ecosystem and Compatibility

Supported Transceivers and Cables

The SFP28 ports on the adapter are compatible with a variety of Dell and third-party transceivers and DAC/AOC cables. Supported optics include 10GBase-SR, 25GBase-SR, 10GBase-LR, and 25GBase-LR. This flexibility allows users to tailor their deployments based on distance, speed, and topology requirements.

Server and Platform Integration

Dell’s extensive validation ensures that the 540-BDJD adapter works with a wide range of PowerEdge systems, including the R740, R750, R760, MX series, and C-series. It is also certified for compatibility with major virtualization platforms such as VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Red Hat Virtualization.

Firmware and Driver Support

Dell provides up-to-date firmware and driver support through its Dell Repository Manager and SupportAssist platforms. NVIDIA also offers driver packages via its official support channels, ensuring long-term operability and performance tuning.

Management, Monitoring, and Deployment Tools

Integration with iDRAC

The 540-BDJD adapter can be monitored and managed using Dell’s Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC), which provides remote visibility into adapter health, link status, and firmware compliance.

Lifecycle Controller and OpenManage

Deployment and updates are simplified with Lifecycle Controller and Dell OpenManage. Firmware updates, inventory, and health monitoring can be executed from a central management console, improving efficiency for IT operations teams.

Telemetry and Diagnostics

Advanced telemetry features, such as Adaptive Routing, Queue Monitoring, and Link Utilization Metrics, are included in the adapter, providing granular visibility into traffic flows. Diagnostic tools aid in rapid identification of performance bottlenecks and network anomalies.

Reliability and Engineering Excellence

Built on NVIDIA’s field-proven ConnectX technology and engineered to Dell’s enterprise-grade standards, the 540-BDJD provides dependable networking performance. This dual-port adapter helps businesses deploy future-ready infrastructure with minimal risk and maximum compatibility.

Future-Proof Investment

With backward compatibility with 10GbE and forward compatibility with 25GbE networks, businesses can invest in the 540-BDJD adapter today and scale into higher speeds as needed. This adaptability ensures a longer lifecycle and greater return on investment.

Enhanced Security Features

Hardware-based security features ensure that your network infrastructure is protected from firmware-level attacks. The support for UEFI Secure Boot and Secure Firmware Updates helps maintain compliance with modern data center security standards.

Target Audience and Industries

Enterprise IT Administrators

IT teams responsible for scaling data center operations will benefit from the easy integration and management features of the 540-BDJD adapter. Its performance and monitoring tools streamline deployments and ensure uptime.

Cloud Service Providers

Public and private cloud operators looking to optimize east-west traffic, virtual machine density, and hardware utilization will find the offload and performance enhancements of this adapter highly valuable.

Telecommunications and NFV

Telecom environments operating virtualized network functions (VNFs) demand ultra-low latency and high availability. The ConnectX-6 Lx meets these needs while delivering deterministic performance.