UCS-VIC-M82-8P Cisco Virtual Interface Card 8 Ports Network Adapter

Product Overview of Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P Network Adapter

The UCS-VIC-M82-8P Virtual Interface Card is a high-performance enterprise-grade network adapter designed for modern data center environments. Engineered for scalability, virtualization efficiency, and high-speed connectivity, this adapter supports advanced workload demands in cloud computing, virtualization platforms, and unified computing systems.

Built to integrate seamlessly within Cisco UCS infrastructure, this network interface card enhances server I/O performance while reducing complexity through unified fabric architecture. It is widely deployed in mission-critical environments requiring stable, low-latency, and high-bandwidth communication.

Product Details

• Manufacturer: Cisco
• Part Number: UCS-VIC-M82-8P
• Product Type: Virtual Interface Card
• Architecture: Modular unified I/O virtualization solution
• Deployment: Enterprise servers and Cisco UCS environments

High-Performance Networking Capabilities

• High-bandwidth data transmission for enterprise workloads
• Low-latency packet processing for real-time applications
• Optimized for virtual machine density and cloud scaling
• Supports advanced network offloading functions

Benefits of Virtualization

• Reduces the number of physical network adapters required
• Improves server resource utilization
• Enhances flexibility in network configuration
• Streamlines data center management

Operational Improvements

• Reduced server I/O bottlenecks
• Improved workload balancing across virtual machines
• Lower latency for network-intensive applications
• Enhanced reliability in mission-critical systems

Integration Advantages

• Centralized management through UCS Manager
• Seamless firmware and driver updates
• Improved scalability in UCS blade and rack servers
• Reduced configuration complexity across infrastructure

Enterprise Data Centers

• Virtual machine hosting environments
• High-performance database systems
• Enterprise application hosting
• Mission-critical transaction processing systems

Cloud Benefits

• Elastic resource allocation for virtual machines
• Efficient multi-tenant networking
• Improved service uptime and redundancy
• Reduced infrastructure overhead costs

Reliability Features

• Fault-tolerant architecture for mission-critical systems
• Consistent performance under heavy workloads
• Advanced error handling and recovery mechanisms
• Long lifecycle support in enterprise deployments

Security and Data Integrity

• Secure virtual interface segmentation
• Protected data paths for sensitive workloads
• Compliance with enterprise security standards
• Enhanced isolation between virtual environments

Key Advantages

• Lower hardware deployment costs
• Reduced cabling and infrastructure complexity
• Scalable architecture for future expansion
• Improved return on investment (ROI)

Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P Virtual Interface Card Adapter

The Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P UCS Virtual Interface Card Network Adapter represents a high-performance, enterprise-grade networking solution designed to meet the evolving demands of modern data center environments. Built to support Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) infrastructure, this Virtual Interface Card (VIC) delivers advanced virtualization capabilities, optimized bandwidth allocation, and scalable connectivity for blade and rack servers. It is engineered to streamline network architecture by reducing adapter sprawl while increasing flexibility in virtual machine deployment, workload balancing, and cloud integration scenarios.

In today’s data-driven environments, organizations require highly efficient and adaptive network interface solutions that can handle increasing workloads, virtualization density, and cloud-native applications. The Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P plays a critical role in enabling unified fabric architecture, combining LAN and SAN traffic over a single infrastructure. This reduces hardware complexity while improving operational efficiency and performance consistency across enterprise workloads.

Designed for Unified Computing System Integration

The Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card is deeply integrated into Cisco UCS environments, enabling seamless communication between compute, network, and storage layers. It is designed to operate in conjunction with Cisco Fabric Interconnects and UCS Manager, allowing administrators to centrally manage virtual interfaces, policies, and bandwidth allocation. This centralized approach significantly simplifies data center operations while improving scalability and automation capabilities.

The UCS-VIC-M82-8P model supports multiple virtual network interfaces per physical port, which allows organizations to dynamically allocate resources to different workloads without requiring additional physical NICs. This virtualization capability is essential for enterprises that run mixed workloads, including virtualization platforms, database systems, cloud applications, and high-performance computing clusters.

Advanced Virtualization and Network Flexibility

Multi-Channel Virtual Interface Architecture

The Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P is designed to provide multiple virtual interfaces over a single physical adapter. This architecture allows administrators to segment traffic efficiently while maintaining high throughput and low latency. Each virtual interface can be independently configured for specific workloads, quality of service parameters, and security policies.

By enabling multiple virtual NICs, the adapter eliminates the need for separate physical network interface cards for each application or service. This significantly reduces hardware costs, power consumption, and rack space requirements while increasing overall system flexibility and scalability.

Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation and Traffic Optimization

One of the key advantages of the Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P is its ability to dynamically allocate bandwidth based on workload requirements. This ensures that mission-critical applications receive the necessary network resources while less critical processes operate efficiently without impacting overall system performance. The intelligent traffic management capabilities help reduce congestion and improve application responsiveness in high-density virtual environments.

The adapter supports advanced Quality of Service (QoS) configurations, allowing administrators to prioritize traffic types such as storage replication, virtual machine migration, and application data streams. This ensures predictable performance even under heavy network utilization conditions.

Hardware Architecture and Technical Capabilities

High-Speed Connectivity and Low Latency Performance

The Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P is engineered to deliver high-speed connectivity optimized for data-intensive workloads. It supports high-throughput data transfer between servers and network infrastructure, ensuring minimal latency and maximum efficiency. This makes it ideal for environments that require real-time processing, such as financial trading platforms, cloud service providers, and large-scale virtualization clusters.

The adapter architecture is optimized for reduced packet processing overhead, enabling faster data movement across the network stack. This contributes to improved CPU utilization efficiency, allowing server resources to focus on application workloads rather than network processing tasks.

Scalable Virtual Port Design

The 8-port virtual interface design of the Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P enables scalable connectivity for enterprise servers. Each virtual port can be independently assigned to different virtual machines or applications, providing granular control over network traffic distribution. This scalability ensures that the adapter can adapt to growing infrastructure requirements without the need for hardware replacement or major reconfiguration.

This scalable approach is particularly beneficial for cloud computing environments where workloads fluctuate dynamically. Administrators can easily adjust virtual interface configurations to meet changing demands, ensuring consistent performance and resource utilization efficiency.

Enterprise Data Center Optimization

Reduction of Hardware Sprawl and Infrastructure Simplification

The Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P significantly reduces the need for multiple discrete network interface cards by consolidating network functions into a single unified adapter. This consolidation reduces hardware sprawl, simplifies cabling infrastructure, and improves airflow management within server racks. As a result, organizations benefit from reduced operational complexity and lower total cost of ownership.

By eliminating redundant network adapters, data center administrators can streamline server configurations and reduce maintenance overhead. This also contributes to improved system reliability by minimizing potential points of hardware failure.

Enhanced Virtual Machine Mobility and Workload Portability

Virtual machine mobility is a critical requirement in modern cloud and virtualization environments. The Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P supports seamless migration of virtual machines across physical hosts without requiring network reconfiguration. This ensures uninterrupted application availability and improved workload flexibility.

The adapter’s virtual interface abstraction allows virtual machines to retain consistent network identities even when moved between servers. This simplifies load balancing, disaster recovery planning, and high availability configurations within enterprise environments.

Integration with Cisco UCS Ecosystem

Unified Management Through Cisco UCS Manager

The Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P is fully integrated with Cisco UCS Manager, which provides centralized control over compute, storage, and network resources. Through UCS Manager, administrators can define policies, configure virtual interfaces, and monitor performance metrics in real time. This unified management approach enhances operational efficiency and reduces administrative complexity.

Policy-based management ensures consistent configuration across all servers in the UCS domain. This reduces configuration errors and improves compliance with organizational IT standards and security requirements.

Seamless Compatibility with Fabric Interconnects

The adapter works seamlessly with Cisco Fabric Interconnects, enabling a unified fabric architecture that combines LAN and SAN traffic over a single network infrastructure. This convergence reduces infrastructure complexity and enhances data center efficiency by eliminating the need for separate storage and networking networks.

The integration ensures optimized data flow between compute and storage resources, improving application performance and reducing latency in storage-intensive workloads.

Performance Optimization for Virtualized Environments

Support for Hypervisors and Cloud Platforms

The Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P is designed to support major virtualization platforms and cloud environments. It provides optimized network connectivity for hypervisors such as VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, and KVM-based systems. This ensures consistent performance across virtualized workloads and enhances overall system responsiveness.

By offloading network virtualization tasks from the CPU to the adapter, system resources are used more efficiently, enabling higher virtual machine density per physical server. This contributes to improved infrastructure utilization and reduced operational costs.

Improved I/O Performance for Demanding Applications

High-performance applications such as big data analytics, artificial intelligence workloads, and database processing require reliable and fast input/output operations. The Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P is optimized to deliver low-latency I/O performance, ensuring smooth data flow between applications and storage systems.

The adapter minimizes packet loss and reduces jitter, which is essential for maintaining consistent performance in latency-sensitive applications. This makes it suitable for enterprise-grade workloads that demand high reliability and predictable performance metrics.

Scalability and Future-Ready Architecture

Designed for Evolving Data Center Requirements

The Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P is built with scalability in mind, ensuring that organizations can adapt to future technological advancements without requiring complete infrastructure overhauls. Its modular and virtualized design allows seamless expansion of network capabilities as business requirements evolve.

This future-ready architecture supports the transition toward hybrid cloud environments, enabling organizations to integrate on-premises infrastructure with cloud-based resources efficiently.

Support for High-Density Server Environments

In high-density server environments, efficient network utilization is essential. The Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P enables multiple virtual interfaces per server, allowing maximum utilization of available hardware resources. This improves rack efficiency and supports large-scale deployments without compromising performance.

The adapter’s architecture ensures consistent performance even in environments with high virtual machine density, making it ideal for enterprise data centers and service provider infrastructures.

Security and Reliability Features

Network Isolation and Traffic Segmentation

Security is a critical aspect of modern data center design, and the Cisco UCS-VIC-M82-8P provides robust network isolation capabilities. By creating multiple virtual interfaces, administrators can segment traffic between different applications, departments, or security zones. This reduces the risk of unauthorized access and enhances overall network security.

Traffic segmentation also improves compliance with regulatory requirements by ensuring that sensitive data is isolated from general network traffic.

High Availability and Fault Tolerance

The adapter is designed to support high availability configurations, ensuring continuous network connectivity even in the event of hardware or link failures. Redundant virtual interface configurations help maintain uninterrupted service delivery for critical applications.

This fault-tolerant design enhances system reliability and reduces downtime, which is essential for mission-critical enterprise environments.