Product Overview of the High-Performance Network Adapter

This high-performance networking solution from Hewlett Packard Enterprise is engineered to deliver stable, fast, and scalable data communication for enterprise environments. Designed as a plug-in expansion card, it enhances server connectivity with reliable dual-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet capabilities, making it suitable for virtualization, cloud workloads, and data-intensive applications.

General Information

• Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
• Primary Part Number: 701530-001
• Spare Reference Code: 700748-B21
• Device Category: Server Network Interface Card (NIC)
• Design Type: Plug-in expansion adapter

Technical Specifications

• Connection Standard: PCI Express 2.0 x8 lane architecture
• PCI Generation: PCIe 2.0 compliant design
• Network Ports: Dual 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
• Transmission Medium: Fully wired Ethernet connectivity
• Supported Protocol: High-speed 10GbE data communication
• Maximum Throughput: Up to 10 Gbps per port

Enhanced Networking Capabilities

• TCP/IP workload offloading for improved CPU efficiency
• Quality of Service (QoS) traffic prioritization support
• Jumbo frame compatibility for large packet optimization
• PXE boot functionality for remote system deployment
• SR-IOV virtualization enabling multi-VM network sharing
• VLAN tagging for segmented network management
• TCP Offload Engine (TOE) for reduced processing overhead

Standards & Protocol

• IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard compliance
• IEEE 802.3u Fast Ethernet support
• IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging standard
• IEEE 802.3ab gigabit specification compatibility
• IEEE 802.3x flow control implementation
• IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP)
• IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gigabit Ethernet support
• Additional IEEE enhancements including 802.3p and 802.3ap

Processing Unit & Memory

• Embedded Processor: Broadcom BCM57810S chipset
• Integrated Memory: 900 MB onboard RAM allocation
• Optimized hardware acceleration for packet processing
• Dual-port 10GbE configuration for redundancy and load balancing
• Scalable integration with enterprise server environments
• Designed for high-density networking infrastructure

Compatibility

• HPE ProLiant BL420c Gen8
• HPE ProLiant BL460c Gen8
• HPE ProLiant BL465c Gen8
• HPE ProLiant BL660c Gen8 series
• HPE ProLiant BL660c Gen8 Performance edition
• HPE WS460c Gen9 Graphics workstation blade

The HPE 701530-001 FlexFabric 10GB Adapter

The HPE 701530-001 FlexFabric 10Gb Ethernet PCI Express 2.0 x8 Network Adapter is engineered as a high-performance networking solution designed specifically for HPE ProLiant Gen8 server environments. This category of enterprise network adapters represents a critical foundation for modern data centers that require ultra-low latency, high bandwidth, and advanced virtualization capabilities. Built to support 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, this adapter enables organizations to accelerate data flow between servers, storage systems, and network infrastructure while maintaining efficiency and scalability.

As part of the FlexFabric family, this network adapter integrates networking, storage, and virtualization traffic onto a single converged fabric. This convergence reduces hardware complexity, lowers operational costs, and simplifies infrastructure management in enterprise environments. The PCI Express 2.0 x8 interface ensures that the adapter can fully utilize high-throughput data paths within the server architecture, minimizing bottlenecks and maximizing performance.

High-Speed 10 Gigabit Ethernet Performance

At the heart of this category lies 10GbE connectivity, enabling data transfer rates that significantly outperform traditional Gigabit Ethernet adapters. This increased bandwidth is essential for virtualization workloads, database operations, cloud computing environments, and high-performance computing (HPC) clusters. The adapter ensures consistent throughput even under heavy network loads, making it ideal for mission-critical applications.

PCI Express 2.0 x8 Interface

The PCIe 2.0 x8 interface provides a direct and high-speed communication pathway between the server motherboard and the network adapter. This configuration ensures minimal latency and optimized data handling capabilities. The x8 lane architecture allows the adapter to handle large volumes of simultaneous data streams, which is crucial for environments running multiple virtual machines or storage-intensive workloads.

FlexFabric Converged Networking Technology

FlexFabric technology is a defining feature of this category. It allows convergence of LAN and SAN traffic over a single physical infrastructure. By supporting Ethernet, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), and iSCSI protocols, the adapter reduces the need for multiple dedicated network cards. This consolidation improves infrastructure efficiency and reduces hardware footprint in data centers.

This HPE ProLiant Gen8 Server

This category of network adapters is specifically optimized for HPE ProLiant Gen8 servers, ensuring seamless integration with system firmware, drivers, and management tools. Gen8 servers are widely deployed in enterprise environments due to their balance of performance, scalability, and manageability. The HPE 701530-001 adapter enhances these capabilities by providing high-speed networking required for modern workloads.

Integration with HPE management utilities such as HPE Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) and Smart Update Manager ensures streamlined deployment, monitoring, and maintenance. This compatibility reduces administrative overhead and ensures consistent performance across server fleets.

SR-IOV and Hardware Acceleration

Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) support enables the adapter to allocate dedicated virtual functions to individual virtual machines. This reduces hypervisor overhead and improves network performance for virtualized workloads. Hardware offloading capabilities further reduce CPU utilization by handling packet processing tasks directly on the network adapter.

Cloud Infrastructure Optimization

For cloud service providers and enterprise private cloud deployments, this adapter category ensures scalable networking infrastructure. Its ability to handle dynamic workloads and burst traffic makes it suitable for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) environments.

Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)

FCoE support allows traditional Fibre Channel storage traffic to be transmitted over Ethernet networks. This eliminates the need for separate storage networks, reducing complexity and cost. Enterprises benefit from simplified cabling, reduced switch requirements, and centralized network management.

TCP/IP Offload Engine (TOE)

The adapter reduces CPU overhead by offloading TCP/IP processing tasks to dedicated hardware. This allows server CPUs to focus on application workloads rather than network processing, resulting in improved overall system efficiency.

High-Performance Computing (HPC)

In HPC environments, rapid data exchange between compute nodes is essential. The 10GbE capabilities of this adapter category ensure minimal communication latency and high throughput, supporting scientific simulations, financial modeling, and complex data analytics workloads.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

VDI deployments require consistent and reliable network performance for delivering desktop experiences to end users. This adapter ensures smooth rendering, fast response times, and stable connectivity across multiple virtual desktops.

Enterprise Database Systems

Database servers handling large transaction volumes benefit significantly from the high-speed connectivity offered by this adapter. It ensures fast query response times and efficient data replication across clusters.

Cloud Data Centers

Service providers rely on scalable and efficient network infrastructure. This adapter category supports multi-tenant environments, enabling secure and isolated traffic management for different customers and workloads.

Driver Support and Operating System

The HPE 701530-001 FlexFabric adapter category supports a wide range of enterprise operating systems, including Windows Server, Linux distributions, and VMware ESXi environments. HPE provides regularly updated drivers and firmware to ensure compatibility, stability, and security across deployments.

Enterprise administrators benefit from centralized management tools that simplify driver updates and firmware upgrades across multiple servers, ensuring consistent performance and reducing downtime.

Comparison with Standard Gigabit Network Adapters

Compared to traditional Gigabit Ethernet adapters, the HPE 10Gb FlexFabric PCIe adapter category offers significantly higher bandwidth, reduced latency, and advanced offloading capabilities. While Gigabit adapters may suffice for basic networking needs, enterprise workloads require the enhanced performance and scalability provided by this category.

The ability to converge storage and network traffic further distinguishes this adapter from standard network interface cards, making it a superior choice for modern data center environments.

Data Center Networking

As enterprise workloads continue to evolve toward cloud-native architectures, containerization, and AI-driven applications, the need for high-performance networking infrastructure becomes increasingly critical. This adapter category provides a future-ready foundation capable of supporting next-generation workloads.

Its combination of high-speed connectivity, virtualization support, storage convergence, and enterprise reliability ensures long-term value for organizations investing in scalable IT infrastructure.