P51180-001 HPE Broadcom BCM5719 4 Ports 1GB Network Adapter

Product Overview of HPE P51180-001 4 Ports Network Adapter

The HPE P51180-001 Plug-in Card represents a cornerstone in this space, offering robust Gigabit Ethernet throughput through a proven and trusted adapter design. This category encompasses network interface cards (NICs) built around the industry-standard Broadcom BCM5719 controller, providing four independent 1GbE ports on a single PCI Express slot.

General Information

• Manufacturer: HPE
• Part Number: P51180-001
• Product Type: High-Performance Network Adapter

Technical Highlights

• Quantity of Ethernet LAN Ports (RJ-45/SFP/SFP+): 4
• Technology Standard: 1000Base-T
• Compact plug-in card design for seamless integration
• Four dedicated Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
• RJ-45 connectors ensuring universal compatibility

Cabling Support

• Ethernet 10Base-T
• Ethernet 100Base-TX
• Ethernet 1000Base-T

Data Protocols

• 10 Mb LAN
• 100 Mb LAN
• Gigabit Ethernet (1 Gbps)

Expansion & Connectivity

Advanced Features

• Flow Control for optimized traffic management
• ACPI compliance for efficient power management
• Support for both IPv4 and IPv6 addressing
• PXE boot capability for remote deployment
• Receive Side Scaling (RSS) for balanced CPU utilization
• UEFI and Legacy BIOS PXE boot options
• TCP Segmentation Offload (TSO) for reduced overhead
• Limited Root of Trust for enhanced security

Interface Details

• 4 × Ethernet 1000 RJ-45 ports
• Reliable wired connectivity for enterprise environments

Performance Benefits

Speed & Efficiency

• Consistent 1 Gbps transfer rate
• Stable throughput for demanding workloads

Compatibility

• Works across multiple server generations
• Flexible integration with enterprise infrastructures

Security Enhancements

• Root of Trust safeguards against unauthorized access
• PXE boot with secure initialization options

Core Technology and Controller Architecture

The heart of the HPE P51180-001 and its counterparts in this category is the Broadcom BCM5719 network controller. This highly integrated chip is engineered for efficiency and performance in demanding server environments.

Broadcom BCM5719 Controller Deep Dive

The BCM5719 is a fourth-generation NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet controller, featuring a sophisticated architecture that offloads critical processing tasks from the host server CPU. This includes TCP/IP checksum offload and TCP segmentation offload (TSO), which significantly reduce computational overhead associated with network traffic. The controller supports advanced interrupt coalescing and receive-side scaling (RSS), technologies essential for optimizing performance in multi-core server environments and virtualized deployments. By efficiently distributing network processing across CPU cores, these adapters minimize latency and maximize throughput, ensuring smooth operation even under substantial load.

Hardware Integration and Reliability Features

The design of the BCM5719 emphasizes hardware reliability. It incorporates robust error correction and link integrity checking at the hardware level. The controller's integration of four complete Gigabit Ethernet MACs and PHYs onto a single chip reduces component count on the adapter board, enhancing overall card reliability and thermal performance. This single-chip design for quad ports is a hallmark of the series, contributing to lower power consumption and consistent operation across all ports.

Product Specifications and Physical Design

The HPE P51180-001 adapter is built to HPE's exacting standards for server components, ensuring compatibility and reliability within their ecosystem.

Form Factor and Interface Details

This adapter is presented in a low-profile (LP) form factor, making it suitable for both rack-mounted and space-constrained server chassis. It is accompanied by a standard-profile bracket, allowing installation in a wide variety of HPE ProLiant servers and other compatible systems with a PCIe x4 or larger slot. The card utilizes a PCI Express 2.0 x4 host interface, providing ample bandwidth for four lanes of full-duplex Gigabit Ethernet traffic without becoming a system bottleneck.

Port Configuration and Connectivity

The card features four RJ-45 copper ports arranged horizontally across the bracket. Each port supports 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet standards, enabling automatic negotiation and connection to the vast majority of existing network infrastructure. The ports support standard Ethernet cabling, including Category 5e, 6, and 6a, for distances up to 100 meters. This copper-based connectivity offers the greatest deployment flexibility and is ideal for connecting servers to top-of-rack (ToR) switches within the same rack or adjacent enclosures.

Environmental and Power Specifications

Engineered for continuous operation in data center environments, the adapter operates within standard server temperature and humidity ranges. Its power consumption is optimized by the integrated Broadcom controller, typically drawing less than 10 watts under full load across all four ports. This efficiency contributes to lower overall system power and cooling requirements.

Performance Characteristics and Capabilities

The performance profile of the HPE BCM5719-based adapter is defined by its consistent throughput, low latency, and feature set tailored for server workloads.

Throughput and Data Transfer Efficiency

Each of the four ports is capable of line-rate Gigabit Ethernet performance, meaning it can sustain 1000 Mbps of traffic in both transmit and receive directions simultaneously (full-duplex). Aggregate theoretical throughput for the card can approach 4 Gbps in each direction. The PCIe 2.0 x4 interface provides a total bidirectional bandwidth of approximately 16 Gbps, ensuring the bus is never a limiting factor for the attached network ports. Real-world performance is enhanced by the aforementioned offload engines, which free CPU cycles for application processing.

Virtualization and Load Balancing Support

A key capability for modern server use is support for virtualization technologies. The HPE P51180-001 adapter is fully compatible with major hypervisors like VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Citrix Hypervisor. It supports VMware NetQueue and Microsoft VMQ, allowing virtual machine network queues to be mapped directly to hardware queues on the NIC. This drastically improves network performance in virtualized environments. Furthermore, the adapter supports teaming or link aggregation (via standards like IEEE 802.3ad LACP), allowing multiple ports to be combined into a single logical interface for increased bandwidth and redundancy.

Advanced Networking Features

Beyond basic connectivity, the adapter supports features essential for managed enterprise networks. This includes VLAN tagging (IEEE 802.1Q) for network segmentation, jumbo frames (up to 9KB typically) for efficient large data transfers, and Quality of Service (QoS) prioritization. For network boot scenarios, it fully supports PXE (Preboot eXecution Environment) for both IPv4 and IPv6, enabling diskless workstation and server deployment.

Compatibility and Integration with HPE Servers

Seamless integration into the HPE server ecosystem is a primary advantage of this genuine HPE adapter.

Target Server Platforms

The HPE P51180-001 is officially qualified and supported for a wide range of HPE ProLiant servers. This includes the Gen8 and Gen9 series, such as the DL, ML, and BL families (e.g., ProLiant DL380 Gen9, ProLiant ML350 Gen9, ProLiant BL460c Gen9). Its driver and firmware are integrated into HPE Service Packs for ProLiant (SPP), ensuring easy updates and consistent operation. While primarily for Gen8/9, it may also function in newer Gen10 servers for specific connectivity needs, though HPE typically recommends contemporary adapters for the latest platforms.

Intelligent Provisioning and iLO Integration

When installed in a compatible HPE ProLiant server, the adapter is recognized and managed by HPE's Intelligent Provisioning tools. This allows for streamlined driver installation and configuration during OS deployment. While the adapter itself is a standard network interface, in HPE environments it can be used in conjunction with the dedicated iLO management port to provide additional segmented network paths for production or storage traffic, adhering to best practices for network separation.

Deployment Scenarios and Use Cases

The quad-port nature and reliable performance of this adapter category make it suitable for numerous specific deployment models within IT infrastructure.

General-Purpose Server Connectivity

The most common use is providing primary network connectivity to a physical server. Multiple ports allow for separation of traffic types (e.g., production data, backup traffic, management) onto different VLANs or physical networks, improving security and performance predictability.

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Appliances

For servers acting as network appliances—such as firewalls, routers, or WAN optimizers—the multiple ports provide essential interfaces for different network zones (e.g., WAN, LAN, DMZ). The BCM5719's hardware offloading is particularly beneficial for these packet-intensive applications.

Storage Network Backup and Dedicated Links

While not a replacement for dedicated storage adapters like HBAs, these NICs can provide reliable connectivity for iSCSI or NFS-based storage networks. A dedicated port or a teamed pair can be used for server-to-storage traffic, isolating it from general client-server communications to ensure consistent I/O performance.

Comparison and Context within the Adapter Landscape

Understanding where this adapter fits relative to other options clarifies its ideal application scenarios.

Positioning Density

The HPE BCM5719-based quad-port card occupies a crucial position as a high-density, value-oriented Gigabit Ethernet solution. It provides more port density than onboard motherboard NICs or dual-port add-in cards, without the premium cost associated with 10 Gigabit Ethernet or specialist adapters. It represents the most cost-effective way to add four physical Gigabit ports to a compatible server.

Contrast with 10GbE and Smart NICs

For applications requiring higher bandwidth per port, 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) adapters are the logical next step. However, if the connected network infrastructure is Gigabit-based and the workload does not saturate multiple GbE links, this adapter provides a fully sufficient solution. It also lacks the advanced application-specific offloads found in modern "Smart NICs," positioning it as a traditional, high-quality workhorse NIC.

The Broadcom BCM5719 Legacy

The BCM5719 controller is a proven, legacy design. This brings the advantage of extreme driver stability, maturity, and a deep track record in enterprise environments. For organizations maintaining Gen8/Gen9 infrastructure or requiring a reliable, no-surprises connectivity option, adapters based on this chipset remain a thoroughly dependable choice.