540-BCMQ Dell Mellanox Connectx-5 Dual Port 10 25GBE SFP28 Adapter

Overview of the 25GBE Adapter

The Dell 540-BCMQ Mellanox ConnectX-5 adapter delivers advanced networking performance for modern data environments. Designed as a compact low-profile plug-in card, this PCI Express solution enhances connectivity with reliable dual SFP28 ports supporting high-bandwidth operations and efficient data transmission across demanding workloads.

Main Information

• Part: 540-BCMQ
• Brand: Dell 
• Product Type: Network Adapter

Technical Advantages

• Device Category: Network interface adapter
• Physical Design: Low-profile plug-in card
• Port Configuration: Two 25GbE SFP28 interfaces
• Supported Protocols: 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 25 Gigabit LAN
• Host Interface: PCI Express bus architecture
• Maximum Throughput: Up to 25 Gbps per connection

Key Features

• Dual-port SFP28 connectivity enabling flexible network expansion.
• Optimized for high-throughput computing and enterprise infrastructures.
• Low-profile form factor suitable for space-constrained servers.
• Stable PCIe interface ensuring dependable performance and compatibility.
• Supports both 10 GigE and 25 Gigabit Ethernet for versatile deployment.
• Designed for seamless integration into professional IT ecosystems.

Deployment Benefits

• Enhances server networking capabilities without occupying excess chassis space.
• Supports evolving bandwidth requirements with dual-speed compatibility.
• Improves operational efficiency through stable, high-speed connections.
• Suitable for enterprise servers, virtualized networks, and advanced storage systems.

Dell Mellanox Connectx-5 Dual Port 10 25GBE SFP28 Adapter

The 540-BCMQ Dell Mellanox Connectx-5 Dual Port 10 25GBE SFP28 Adapter represents a high-performance network interface solution engineered to support modern enterprise infrastructure, virtualization clusters, high-speed storage fabrics, and software-defined networking deployments. Designed for demanding data center environments, this adapter delivers exceptional throughput, low latency performance, and advanced offloading technologies that help maximize server efficiency. With dual SFP28 ports supporting both 10GbE and 25GbE connectivity, organizations gain flexibility to scale existing networks while preparing for higher bandwidth demands driven by virtualization, AI workloads, and data-intensive applications.

As organizations transition toward hybrid cloud architectures and distributed computing environments, high-performance network adapters have become foundational components. The Connectx-5 architecture is built to meet these evolving demands by providing advanced hardware acceleration capabilities and enhanced packet processing efficiency. Whether used in high-density server deployments, hyperconverged infrastructures, or high-performance computing clusters, this adapter supports seamless data movement and robust workload performance.

By combining Mellanox’s industry-leading networking technology with Dell’s enterprise-grade hardware compatibility and support ecosystem, the 540-BCMQ adapter ensures optimized integration with modern PowerEdge server platforms and enterprise networking infrastructures. Its dual-port configuration enhances redundancy and throughput potential, enabling organizations to design resilient network topologies while maintaining consistent performance across mission-critical applications.

High-Bandwidth Data Transmission

Modern workloads require consistent and predictable data throughput to support real-time analytics, distributed storage solutions, and high-volume transaction processing. The dual 10/25GbE SFP28 ports enable flexible connectivity options, allowing businesses to leverage existing 10GbE networks while transitioning toward higher-speed 25GbE environments. This adaptability ensures infrastructure investments remain relevant as bandwidth demands increase.

The Connectx-5 architecture is designed to process large volumes of network traffic without creating bottlenecks at the server interface level. Its high-performance packet processing engine ensures consistent throughput even under peak workload conditions. Enterprises deploying virtualized workloads benefit from efficient resource utilization, while cloud service providers can support multiple tenants and applications without sacrificing network performance.

Low Latency Architecture

Latency plays a critical role in high-frequency transactions, financial trading platforms, AI model training pipelines, and distributed databases. The 540-BCMQ adapter incorporates advanced hardware acceleration and optimized data path processing to minimize packet delays and ensure rapid data transmission across the network. Reduced latency contributes to improved application responsiveness, enabling organizations to deliver faster services and maintain competitive operational performance.

In high-performance computing environments, where even microseconds matter, the adapter’s low-latency design supports synchronous data processing and real-time communication between compute nodes. This capability is particularly valuable for analytics platforms, simulation environments, and scientific research applications requiring high-speed interconnects.

Packet Processing and Offload Engines

To reduce CPU overhead and enhance overall system performance, the adapter integrates advanced offload capabilities such as TCP segmentation offload, receive side scaling, and checksum offloading. These technologies shift resource-intensive networking tasks from the CPU to the adapter hardware, freeing server processing power for application workloads. The result is improved efficiency, reduced latency, and higher application throughput across virtualized and containerized environments.

Redundancy and Network Resilience

Dual-port configurations provide critical redundancy for enterprise networks. In mission-critical environments where uptime is paramount, the presence of two independent network ports enables failover strategies that maintain connectivity even in the event of link failures. Organizations deploying clustered servers or distributed storage systems can leverage these redundant links to achieve higher availability and operational stability.

The adapter supports link aggregation technologies that combine multiple connections into a single logical interface, enhancing throughput and providing load balancing capabilities. This ensures optimal traffic distribution across network paths, improving overall system resilience and network efficiency.

Scalable Infrastructure Expansion

As enterprises expand their infrastructure, scalability becomes a major consideration. The 540-BCMQ adapter allows seamless integration into evolving network architectures by supporting both current and next-generation Ethernet standards. Organizations can deploy the adapter in existing 10GbE environments and later upgrade to 25GbE networks without replacing hardware, providing a cost-effective path toward increased performance.

Compatibility with Modern Optical and Direct Attach Solutions

The SFP28 interface supports a wide range of optical transceivers and direct attach cables, enabling flexible deployment across short-range and long-range networking scenarios. Whether connecting within a rack, across data center rows, or between facilities, organizations can tailor their connectivity options to meet specific infrastructure requirements while maintaining consistent performance.

Dell PowerEdge Platforms

The adapter is engineered to integrate seamlessly with Dell PowerEdge servers, ensuring compatibility with enterprise firmware, system management tools, and lifecycle management processes. This integration simplifies deployment and maintenance while ensuring consistent performance across supported server models. Dell’s enterprise support ecosystem further enhances reliability by providing validated configurations and ongoing firmware updates.

Data center administrators benefit from streamlined deployment processes and predictable performance characteristics. The adapter’s integration with Dell management utilities enables centralized monitoring, performance tracking, and proactive maintenance strategies, helping reduce downtime and operational complexity.

Virtualization and Hyperconverged Infrastructure Support

Virtualized environments require network adapters capable of supporting multiple virtual machines and containers with consistent performance. The Connectx-5 architecture includes advanced virtualization acceleration features such as SR-IOV and virtual function support, enabling efficient allocation of network resources across multiple virtual workloads. This capability enhances performance isolation, reduces latency, and ensures predictable bandwidth allocation.

In hyperconverged infrastructures where compute, storage, and networking functions converge within a single platform, high-performance adapters play a vital role in maintaining system balance. The 540-BCMQ adapter helps ensure smooth data flow between nodes, supporting distributed storage protocols and high-speed replication processes.

Accelerated Data Movement for Computational Tasks

High-performance computing clusters rely on fast and efficient networking to synchronize compute nodes and manage distributed workloads. The adapter’s high throughput and low latency characteristics make it well suited for scientific simulations, financial modeling, machine learning training, and big data analytics. Efficient data movement reduces processing delays and accelerates overall workload completion times.

GPU-Accelerated and AI Infrastructure Integration

AI and machine learning environments often involve large datasets and continuous data exchange between GPUs and storage systems. The Connectx-5 adapter supports high-bandwidth connectivity necessary to sustain these workloads without bottlenecks. By enabling rapid data transfer between nodes, the adapter contributes to faster model training cycles and improved resource utilization.

Support for Modern Data Analytics Platforms

Distributed analytics frameworks such as Hadoop and Spark benefit from high-performance networking to manage massive data transfers across compute clusters. The adapter’s performance capabilities allow organizations to process data sets more efficiently while maintaining consistent application responsiveness and reducing processing times.

Hardware-Based Security Enhancements

Network security remains a top priority in enterprise environments. The adapter incorporates hardware-level protections that help ensure data integrity and minimize vulnerabilities. Features such as secure boot support and hardware-based isolation contribute to safer network operations and help organizations meet compliance requirements in regulated industries.

Segmentation and Traffic Isolation

In multi-tenant environments and cloud service infrastructures, network segmentation is essential for maintaining data privacy and performance isolation. The adapter supports virtual LANs and advanced traffic management capabilities that enable administrators to separate workloads, enforce policies, and maintain predictable network performance across diverse applications.

Power Efficient Networking

Energy consumption is a critical consideration in large data centers. The Connectx-5 architecture is designed with efficiency in mind, delivering high performance while maintaining optimized power usage. Efficient hardware acceleration reduces CPU utilization, contributing to overall system energy savings and improved thermal management within dense server environments.

Reduced Infrastructure Complexity

By consolidating multiple networking functions into a single high-performance adapter, organizations can simplify their infrastructure designs and reduce the number of required components. This consolidation lowers operational complexity, reduces maintenance overhead, and contributes to streamlined deployment processes across large-scale data centers.

Enterprise Data Centers

Large enterprise environments rely on consistent network performance to support internal applications, storage systems, and business-critical services. The adapter’s dual-port design and high throughput capabilities enable seamless data exchange between servers, ensuring stable operations and enhanced application performance.

Cloud infrastructures require scalable networking solutions capable of supporting dynamic workloads and multi-tenant environments. The adapter’s advanced virtualization support and high bandwidth capabilities make it suitable for hosting platforms that need to manage thousands of virtual instances while maintaining predictable network performance.

Storage Area Networks and Distributed Storage

High-speed Ethernet connectivity plays an important role in modern storage architectures. The adapter supports storage protocols that rely on fast and reliable data transmission, ensuring rapid access to distributed storage resources and efficient replication processes between nodes.

Enterprise-Grade Reliability

Designed for continuous operation in demanding environments, the adapter incorporates robust components and advanced firmware designed to handle heavy workloads. Enterprises benefit from predictable performance and long operational lifecycles, reducing the need for frequent hardware replacements..

Future-Ready Networking Investment

By supporting both 10GbE and 25GbE speeds, the adapter offers long-term investment protection. Organizations can deploy the hardware today while maintaining flexibility for future upgrades. This adaptability ensures that evolving application demands and growing data volumes can be accommodated without significant infrastructure overhauls.

PCIe Interface and High-Speed Data Path

The adapter utilizes a high-performance PCIe interface designed to handle large volumes of data transfer between the server and the network. This architecture minimizes bottlenecks and ensures efficient communication between processing units and network resources.

Enhanced Queue 

Advanced queue management features enable efficient handling of multiple simultaneous data streams. By prioritizing critical traffic and optimizing packet delivery, the adapter ensures consistent application performance even under heavy network loads.

Support for Modern Operating Systems

Compatibility with a wide range of enterprise operating systems ensures flexible deployment across various server environments. This versatility simplifies integration into existing infrastructures and supports diverse workloads across multiple platforms.