VV004 Dell Dual Port Network Adapter 10 Gbe Unified Wire P Chelsio T520-cr High Performance

Dell VV004 2 Port 10GbE PCI Express x8 Network Adapter

The Dell VV004 Dual Port Network Adapter is a high-performance 10 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express x8 expansion card designed to deliver ultra-fast data transmission for enterprise servers and data center environments. Powered by the Chelsio T520-CR controller, this dual-port adapter supports optical fiber connectivity, providing exceptional bandwidth, reduced latency, and reliable network performance for virtualization, cloud computing, storage networking, and high-demand business applications.

General Information

• Manufacturer: Dell
• Part Number: VV004
• Product Type: Network Adapter
• Port Configuration: Dual Port
• Controller: Chelsio T520-CR

Key Features of Dell VV004 Network Adapter

• Original Dell VV004 dual-port 10GbE network adapter.
• Built with the reliable Chelsio T520-CR Ethernet controller.
• PCI Express x8 host interface for high-speed throughput.
• Dual optical fiber ports for enterprise-grade connectivity.
• Supports both 10GBASE-LR and 10GBASE-SR network technologies.
• Designed for low-latency, high-bandwidth networking.
• Ideal for virtualization, cloud infrastructure, and storage networks.

Host Interface

• PCI Express x8 expansion interface.
• Optimized for demanding enterprise workloads.
• Provides excellent data transfer efficiency.

Networking Performance

• 10GBASE-LR
• 10GBASE-SR
• 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity

Media Support

• Media Type: Optical Fiber
• Designed for high-speed fiber network environments.

Available Interfaces

• PCI Express x8 Host Interface
• Dual Fiber Network Ports

Unavailable Interfaces

• No RJ-45 Ethernet port
• No AUI interface
• No PoE support
• No USB connectivity
• No Serial port
• No XJACK connector

Physical Specifications

• Form Factor: Plug-in Card
• Height: 2.7 inches
• Width: 6.6 inches

IEEE Standards Compliance

Supported Industry Standards

• IEEE 802.3ae
• IEEE 802.3az
• IEEE 802.3z
• IEEE 802.3x
• IEEE 802.3ad
• IEEE 802.1p
• IEEE 802.1Q
• IEEE 802.1Qbg
• IEEE 802.1Qbh
• IEEE 802.1Qbg/802.1Qbh virtualization support

Enterprise Applications

Ideal Deployment Scenarios

• Virtualized server environments
• Cloud computing infrastructure
• High-performance computing (HPC)
• Enterprise storage networking
• Data center networking
• Network virtualization platforms
• Business-critical applications requiring high throughput

Dell VV004 Dual Port Network Adapter

The Dell VV004 Dual Port Network Adapter featuring the Chelsio T520-CR controller is a high-performance 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) unified wire PCI Express x8 optical fiber networking solution designed for enterprise-grade computing environments. Built to deliver ultra-low latency, high throughput, and advanced protocol offloading capabilities, this network interface card (NIC) is widely deployed in modern data centers, virtualization infrastructures, cloud computing platforms, and high-speed storage networks. Its dual-port architecture ensures redundancy, load balancing, and enhanced scalability for mission-critical workloads.

Enterprise-Class Networking Performance

The Dell VV004 adapter is engineered to support demanding workloads that require consistent and reliable high-speed data transfer. With 10GbE bandwidth per port, it enables aggregated throughput that significantly reduces network congestion and improves application responsiveness. This makes it ideal for environments running distributed databases, virtualization clusters, high-performance computing (HPC), and storage-intensive applications.

High Bandwidth and Low Latency Architecture

At the core of the adapter lies the Chelsio T520-CR chipset, which is optimized for ultra-low latency networking. The PCI Express x8 interface ensures sufficient lane bandwidth to fully utilize dual 10GbE ports without bottlenecks. This architecture enables seamless packet processing even under heavy traffic loads, making it suitable for mission-critical enterprise workloads.

Optimized Packet Processing Engine

The adapter integrates an advanced packet processing engine capable of handling TCP/IP offload, iSCSI acceleration, and RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) support. This reduces CPU overhead and allows server resources to focus on application processing rather than network management tasks.

Chelsio T520-CR Unified Wire Technology

One of the defining features of the Dell VV004 network adapter is its unified wire technology powered by Chelsio T520-CR. This innovation allows multiple types of network traffic—LAN, SAN, and cluster communication—to be transmitted over a single converged infrastructure. This reduces complexity, lowers hardware costs, and simplifies data center architecture.

Converged Networking Capabilities

Unified wire technology enables the consolidation of Ethernet and storage traffic over the same physical infrastructure. This is particularly beneficial for enterprises transitioning toward software-defined data centers (SDDCs), where flexibility and scalability are critical.

iSCSI and FCoE Support

The adapter supports advanced storage protocols such as iSCSI and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), enabling efficient storage networking without requiring separate dedicated SAN hardware. This reduces infrastructure overhead while maintaining high performance and reliability.

RDMA over Ethernet Acceleration

Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) support significantly enhances data transfer efficiency by bypassing the CPU during data movement. This leads to reduced latency and improved throughput in clustered applications, distributed storage systems, and virtualization environments.

Dual Port Design for Redundancy and Scalability

The Dell VV004 adapter is equipped with dual optical fiber ports, providing redundancy and improved network resilience. In enterprise environments where downtime is not acceptable, dual-port configurations ensure uninterrupted connectivity even if one link fails.

Load Balancing and Failover Mechanisms

With built-in support for link aggregation and failover, the adapter dynamically distributes traffic between ports to optimize performance and maintain network stability. This is essential for data centers handling fluctuating workloads.

High Availability Networking

High availability is a key requirement in enterprise IT infrastructures. The dual-port configuration ensures continuous data flow and minimizes the risk of network interruption during hardware or link failures.

Redundant Path Optimization

Redundant path optimization enables automatic rerouting of traffic in case of congestion or link failure, ensuring uninterrupted service delivery across mission-critical applications.

PCI Express x8 Interface Architecture

The PCIe x8 interface provides a high-bandwidth connection between the network adapter and the host system. This ensures that the full potential of dual 10GbE ports is realized without bottlenecks at the system bus level.

Efficient Lane Utilization

PCI Express architecture allows efficient data transmission with minimal latency overhead. The x8 lane configuration offers sufficient bandwidth for high-throughput workloads commonly found in virtualization clusters and enterprise storage systems.

Compatibility with Server Platforms

The Dell VV004 adapter is designed for compatibility with a wide range of Dell PowerEdge servers and other enterprise-grade hardware platforms supporting PCIe x8 slots. This ensures easy integration into existing infrastructure without extensive modifications.

Firmware and Driver Optimization

Optimized firmware and driver support ensure stable performance across various operating systems including Linux, Windows Server, and virtualization hypervisors such as VMware ESXi and Microsoft Hyper-V.

10GbE Optical Fiber Connectivity

This adapter uses optical fiber connectivity to achieve high-speed and long-distance data transmission. Fiber optics provide superior signal integrity compared to traditional copper-based Ethernet solutions, making them ideal for large-scale data center environments.

Improved Signal Quality and Distance

Fiber optic connectivity allows transmission over significantly longer distances without signal degradation, making it suitable for distributed data center architectures and campus-wide networking setups.

Reduced Electromagnetic Interference

Unlike copper cables, optical fiber is immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI), ensuring stable and reliable data transmission in environments with high electrical noise.

Scalable Network Deployment

Fiber-based 10GbE networks are highly scalable, allowing enterprises to expand their infrastructure without compromising performance or reliability.

Data Center and Cloud Computing Applications

The Dell VV004 Dual Port Network Adapter is widely used in modern data center and cloud environments where high throughput and low latency are essential. Its unified wire architecture simplifies network design while improving efficiency.

Virtualization Optimization

In virtualized environments, the adapter supports multiple virtual machines (VMs) with isolated and optimized network pathways, ensuring consistent performance across workloads.

Cloud Infrastructure Integration

Cloud service providers benefit from the adapter’s ability to handle large-scale multi-tenant traffic with minimal overhead, ensuring reliable service delivery to end users.

Software Defined Networking (SDN) Support

The adapter integrates seamlessly with SDN architectures, allowing dynamic control and automation of network traffic flows in cloud environments.

Storage Networking and Data Acceleration

Storage-intensive applications require high-speed connectivity to maintain performance. The Dell VV004 adapter provides optimized storage networking capabilities through iSCSI and RDMA support.

High-Speed Data Transfer for Storage Systems

The adapter accelerates data transfer between storage arrays and servers, reducing latency and improving overall system efficiency in enterprise storage environments.

Database and Analytics Optimization

Large-scale databases and analytics platforms benefit from reduced I/O bottlenecks, enabling faster query processing and data retrieval.

Big Data and AI Workloads

The adapter supports big data processing frameworks and AI workloads that require high-bandwidth data pipelines for distributed computing tasks.