UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45 Cisco Intel I350 Quad Ports Network Adapter 1Gbps

Cisco UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45 Quad-Port Network Adapter

The Cisco UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45 is a high-performance quad-port Gigabit Ethernet network adapter designed for enterprise-grade server environments. Built on the reliable Intel I350 controller architecture, this PCI Express plug-in card delivers stable, scalable, and efficient 1Gbps network connectivity for modern data center workloads. Engineered for compatibility with Cisco UCS rack-mount servers, it provides enhanced throughput, improved redundancy, and flexible network segmentation for virtualization and cloud applications.

General Information

• Manufacturer: Cisco
• Part Number: UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45
• Product Type: Ethernet Expansion Card
• Architecture: PCI Express-based LAN controller card

Hardware Architecture and Design

• Form Factor: Plug-in expansion card
• Bus Interface: PCI Express (PCIe)
• Design Type: Low-profile enterprise NIC

Quad-Port Ethernet Design

• Total Ports: 4 x RJ-45 Ethernet ports
• Port Type: Copper Ethernet interface
• Connector Standard: RJ-45

Supported Cabling Standards

• 10BASE-T Ethernet
• 100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet
• 1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet

Multi-Speed Ethernet Compatibility

• Ethernet (10 Mbps)
• Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps)
• Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbps)

Protocol Optimization Features

• TCP/UDP checksum offloading
• Large send offload (LSO)
• Receive-side scaling (RSS)
• Virtualization traffic segmentation support

Designed for Cisco UCS Rack Servers

• Cisco UCS C220 M3 High-Density Rack Server (Small Form Factor)
• Cisco UCS C240 M3 High-Density Rack Server (Small Form Factor)

Enterprise Use Scenarios

• Virtualized server environments (VMware, Hyper-V, KVM)
• Enterprise data centers and cloud infrastructure
• Network segmentation and traffic isolation
• High-availability clustering systems
• Load-balanced application hosting

Overview of Cisco UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45 Quad Ports Adapter

The Cisco UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45 Quad Ports Network Adapter PCI Express Intel I350 1Gbps is a high-performance enterprise-grade networking solution designed to deliver reliable, scalable, and efficient Gigabit Ethernet connectivity for modern data center and server environments. Developed through the collaboration of advanced networking engineering from and silicon-level optimization from this quad-port adapter is engineered to support demanding workloads, virtualization infrastructures, cloud deployments, and mission-critical applications requiring stable 1Gbps throughput per port. This category of PCI Express network adapters is widely used in rack-mounted servers, blade systems, and enterprise compute nodes where multiple network interfaces are required for segmentation, redundancy, and performance scaling. The Intel I350 controller embedded within this adapter provides a balance of efficiency, power management, and hardware-level offloading, making it a preferred choice for enterprise IT administrators seeking dependable 1GbE networking without excessive CPU overhead.

Architecture and Intel I350 Controller Design

Intel I350 Ethernet Controller Foundation

At the core of the Cisco UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45 Quad Port Network Adapter lies the Intel I350 Ethernet controller, a widely adopted chipset known for its stability and advanced feature set in server environments. The I350 architecture is built to optimize packet processing efficiency, reduce latency, and support multiple hardware acceleration features that enhance network throughput without burdening the host CPU.

Hardware Offloading Capabilities

The Intel I350 controller incorporates advanced offloading technologies such as checksum offload, TCP segmentation offload, and large send offload capabilities. These features ensure that network processing tasks are delegated to the NIC hardware, allowing server CPUs to focus on application-level workloads rather than packet handling. This design significantly improves overall system efficiency in virtualized and high-density environments.

Multi-Queue and Interrupt Moderation

The adapter supports multi-queue architecture, enabling parallel packet processing across multiple CPU cores. Interrupt moderation further reduces CPU overhead by controlling the frequency of hardware interrupts generated by network traffic, resulting in smoother system performance under heavy network loads.

PCI Express Interface and System Integration

PCIe Connectivity and Bandwidth Efficiency

The Cisco UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45 adapter utilizes the PCI Express interface to ensure high-speed communication between the network card and the host system. Depending on server architecture, it typically operates on a PCIe x4 or higher lane configuration, enabling sufficient bandwidth for four independent 1Gbps Ethernet ports without congestion.

Low-Latency Data Transfer

The PCIe architecture minimizes latency between the NIC and CPU, ensuring that packet transmission and reception occur with minimal delay. This is particularly important for enterprise applications such as database clusters, virtualization platforms, and real-time analytics systems where latency sensitivity is critical.

Compatibility with Server Platforms

This network adapter is designed for broad compatibility with enterprise server motherboards and Cisco UCS platforms. It integrates seamlessly into rack-mounted infrastructure, supporting hot-plug installation in compatible systems and enabling IT teams to expand network capacity without redesigning existing architecture.

Quad-Port 1GbE RJ45 Networking Capabilities

High-Density Network Connectivity

The defining feature of this adapter is its quad-port RJ45 configuration, delivering four independent 1GbE Ethernet interfaces. This allows a single PCIe card to support multiple network segments, redundancy configurations, and traffic balancing strategies within enterprise environments.

Network Segmentation and Traffic Isolation

Each port on the adapter operates independently, enabling administrators to segment network traffic based on application requirements. For example, storage traffic, management traffic, and user application traffic can be isolated across different ports, improving both performance and security.

Performance Optimization and Hardware Acceleration

Advanced Packet Processing Features

The Intel I350 chipset embedded in the Cisco UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45 adapter provides extensive hardware acceleration features that improve network efficiency. These include VLAN tagging support, packet filtering, and checksum validation, all handled at the hardware level to reduce CPU utilization.

Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE)

Energy Efficient Ethernet technology reduces power consumption during periods of low network activity. This is particularly beneficial in large data centers where hundreds or thousands of network interfaces operate continuously, helping reduce operational costs while maintaining performance readiness.

Adaptive Power Management

The adapter dynamically adjusts power usage based on network traffic demand. During peak workloads, it operates at full performance, while during idle periods it reduces power draw without compromising connectivity or responsiveness.

Virtualization and Cloud Infrastructure Support

Optimized for Virtual Machine Environments

The Cisco UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45 Quad Port Network Adapter is highly optimized for virtualization platforms such as VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, and KVM-based systems. It supports virtual machine queueing (VMQ), enabling efficient distribution of network traffic across multiple virtual machines hosted on a single physical server.

SR-IOV Capabilities

Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) allows the physical network adapter to be divided into multiple virtual functions. This enables direct assignment of network resources to virtual machines, reducing overhead and improving network performance in cloud environments.

Cloud Data Center Integration

In cloud computing environments, this adapter plays a crucial role in enabling scalable network architectures. It supports multi-tenant networking, traffic isolation, and high-throughput connectivity required for distributed applications and microservices architectures.

Enterprise Deployment Scenarios

Data Center Networking Infrastructure

This quad-port network adapter is commonly deployed in enterprise data centers where high availability and redundancy are essential. It supports critical workloads including database servers, virtualization clusters, storage nodes, and application hosting environments.

High Availability Configurations

Organizations deploy multiple ports in failover configurations to ensure continuous network availability. In the event of a port or switch failure, traffic is automatically rerouted through alternate interfaces without service interruption.

Security and Network Integrity Features

Hardware-Based Security Enhancements

The Intel I350-based architecture supports hardware-level security features that enhance network integrity and reduce vulnerability to certain types of attacks. These include VLAN isolation, packet filtering, and secure offload processing.

Traffic Segmentation for Security

By supporting multiple independent network interfaces, the adapter enables strict separation of sensitive workloads such as management traffic, backup systems, and production applications, reducing the risk of cross-traffic interference.

Secure Boot and Driver Integrity

When deployed in supported systems, the adapter works in conjunction with secure boot environments to ensure that only verified drivers and firmware are executed, reducing the risk of unauthorized modifications.

Driver Support and Operating System Compatibility

Wide OS Ecosystem Support

The adapter supports a broad range of operating systems including enterprise Linux distributions, Windows Server editions, and virtualization hypervisors. This flexibility makes it suitable for heterogeneous IT environments.

Stable Driver Ecosystem

Intel-provided drivers ensure long-term stability and compatibility updates. These drivers are optimized for performance and security, ensuring that the adapter remains reliable throughout its deployment lifecycle.

Firmware Update Capabilities

Administrators can update firmware to enhance functionality, patch vulnerabilities, and improve performance over time, ensuring the adapter remains aligned with evolving enterprise networking requirements.

Comparison with Other Network Interface Cards

Advantages Over Single-Port NICs

Compared to single-port network adapters, the quad-port Cisco UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45 provides significantly greater flexibility in network design. It allows multiple independent connections without requiring additional PCIe slots.

Efficiency in Server Slot Utilization

By consolidating four network interfaces into a single PCIe card, it reduces hardware complexity and frees up valuable expansion slots for other critical components such as storage controllers or GPU accelerators.

Cost-Effective Scalability

Enterprises benefit from reduced hardware costs and simplified infrastructure management by deploying multi-port NICs instead of multiple single-port adapters across server fleets.