P79980-001 HPE Intel E610-IT4 Ethernet 1GB 4-Port OCP3 Network Adapter

Highlights of HPE P79980-001 Intel E610-IT4 Network Adapter

The HPE P79980-001 Intel E610-IT4 Ethernet Network Adapter is a high-quality, enterprise-class networking solution designed to deliver dependable 1Gb Ethernet connectivity for modern servers and data center environments. Built with the Intel E610-XAT2 controller and OCP 3.0 form factor, this adapter ensures reliable performance, enhanced virtualization support, and advanced hardware security for business-critical infrastructure.

General Information

• Manufacturer: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
• Part Number: P79980-001
• Product Type: Network Adapter
• Sub Type: 4-Port 1Gb Ethernet Adapter
• Interface Type: PCI Express 4.0 x8

Technical Specifications

• Number of Ports: 4 × 1Gb Ethernet Ports
• Form Factor: OCP 3.0
• Chipset: Intel E610-XAT2 Ethernet Controller
• Port Type: BASE-T RJ-45
• Card Form Factor: OCP 3.0 Network Adapter
• Host Interface: PCI Express 4.0 x8
• PCIe Link Configuration: x4 + x4 bifurcation Support
• Auto Negotiation: Supported

Controller and Chipset

• Controller: Intel E610-IT4
• Chipset Model: Intel E610-XAT2
• Optimized For: Enterprise servers and data center networking

Power Specifications

• Typical Power Consumption: 7 Watts
• Maximum Power Consumption: 8 Watts
• Energy Efficient: Yes

Network Protocol and Offload Capabilities

• Internet Protocol Support: IPv4 and IPv6
• Tunnel Offload: Supported
• Receive Side Scaling (RSS): Supported
• RDMA: Not Supported
• DPDK (Data Plane Development Kit): Supported

Virtualization and Acceleration Features

• Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV): Supported
• NPar Support: Not Supported
• VMware NetQueue: Supported
• Microsoft VMQ: Supported
• Virtualization Optimization: Yes

Boot and Remote Management Features

• UEFI PXE Boot: Supported
• Legacy BIOS PXE Boot: Supported
• Wake-on-LAN (WoL): Supported
• iSCSI Remote Boot: Not Supported

Hardware Protection

• Root of Trust: Hardware-based security
• SPDM Support: Yes
• Secure Boot: Supported
• Authenticated Firmware Updates: Supported
• Audit Log: Not Supported
• Secure Sanitization: Supported

Overview of HPE P79980-001 4-Port 1GB OCP3 Network Adapter

The HPE P79980-001 Intel E610-IT4 Ethernet 1GB 4-Port BASE-T OCP3 Network Adapter is designed to provide enterprise-grade networking performance, stability, and scalability for modern server infrastructures. Built on Intel’s advanced E610 Ethernet controller architecture, this adapter delivers highly efficient network communication by optimizing packet processing, reducing latency, and ensuring reliable data transfer across enterprise networks. The architecture is specifically engineered for integration into HPE ProLiant servers and other enterprise-class server platforms that support the OCP 3.0 form factor. This integration allows organizations to deploy high-density networking solutions while maintaining optimal airflow, thermal efficiency, and power management.

Intel E610 Controller Innovation and Hardware

The Intel E610 Ethernet controller integrated into the HPE P79980-001 network adapter represents a new generation of networking innovation, combining intelligent packet processing capabilities with advanced hardware acceleration technologies. The controller supports checksum offloading, TCP segmentation offload, and receive side scaling, all of which significantly reduce CPU utilization and enhance overall system performance. These hardware offloading capabilities allow the network adapter to handle data processing tasks independently, ensuring faster and more efficient communication between servers and network infrastructure. The controller is designed with a multi-queue architecture that enables efficient distribution of network traffic across multiple CPU cores, ensuring optimal resource utilization and preventing bottlenecks.

Controller-Level Latency Reduction and Packet Processing

The HPE P79980-001 network adapter utilizes advanced latency reduction technologies to ensure rapid data transmission across enterprise networks. The Intel E610 controller incorporates intelligent buffering mechanisms that minimize packet loss and ensure smooth data flow, even during periods of high network utilization. The controller also supports interrupt moderation, which reduces CPU interruptions and improves overall system efficiency. These features ensure that network communication remains consistent and reliable, supporting applications that require real-time data transmission and low-latency connectivity. The controller’s advanced packet processing engine ensures efficient handling of both small and large data packets, maintaining optimal performance across diverse workloads.

Firmware and Long-Term Stability

The firmware architecture of the Intel E610 controller is designed to provide long-term stability and compatibility with evolving enterprise networking requirements. The firmware includes advanced error detection and correction mechanisms that ensure reliable data transmission and prevent communication failures. These features enhance the overall reliability of the network adapter and ensure consistent performance over extended periods of operation. The firmware also supports remote management and monitoring capabilities, allowing administrators to manage network operations efficiently and maintain optimal performance across enterprise environments.

Four-Port Gigabit Ethernet Connectivity and Network Flexibility

The HPE P79980-001 network adapter features four independent 1 Gigabit Ethernet BASE-T ports, providing exceptional flexibility and redundancy for enterprise networking deployments. Each port supports full-duplex operation, enabling simultaneous data transmission and reception, which enhances overall network throughput and efficiency. The multi-port design allows administrators to implement network segmentation strategies that improve performance and security by isolating different types of network traffic. This segmentation is particularly useful in environments where application traffic, storage traffic, and management traffic need to be separated to prevent interference and ensure optimal performance.

Network Redundancy and Fault Tolerance Implementation

The multi-port configuration of the HPE P79980-001 adapter enables advanced redundancy and fault tolerance capabilities, ensuring continuous network connectivity even in the event of hardware or network failures. The adapter supports failover mechanisms that automatically reroute network traffic through alternate ports if one connection becomes unavailable. This ensures uninterrupted operation of critical applications and services, minimizing downtime and maintaining business continuity. The adapter also supports load balancing technologies that distribute network traffic evenly across multiple ports, preventing congestion and ensuring consistent performance. These capabilities are essential for enterprise environments where network reliability is critical for maintaining productivity and operational efficiency.

OCP 3.0 Form Factor Integration and Data Center

The Open Compute Project 3.0 form factor provides a modern and efficient design standard that enhances network adapter integration within enterprise server platforms. The HPE P79980-001 network adapter is specifically designed to comply with OCP 3.0 specifications, ensuring compatibility with HPE ProLiant servers and other enterprise server platforms that support this form factor. The OCP 3.0 design improves airflow efficiency, reducing thermal buildup and enhancing overall system stability. This improved thermal management allows servers to operate more efficiently while reducing cooling requirements and energy consumption. The compact form factor also allows for higher server density, enabling organizations to deploy more networking capabilities within limited rack space.

PCIe Interface Bandwidth and System Integration

The PCIe interface integrated into the HPE P79980-001 network adapter ensures high-speed communication between the network controller and the server’s processor and memory subsystems. This interface provides sufficient bandwidth to support simultaneous operation of all four Ethernet ports without performance degradation. The efficient communication between the network adapter and system components ensures low latency and consistent throughput, supporting enterprise workloads that require reliable network connectivity. The PCIe architecture also enhances system scalability, allowing organizations to upgrade and expand their network infrastructure without compatibility concerns.

Cloud Networking Acceleration

The HPE P79980-001 Ethernet adapter is optimized for virtualization environments, providing advanced networking capabilities that enhance performance and efficiency in virtualized infrastructure. The adapter supports Single Root I/O Virtualization technology, allowing multiple virtual machines to share network resources efficiently while maintaining independent communication channels. This capability reduces overhead on the hypervisor and improves network performance for virtualized workloads. The adapter also supports advanced traffic isolation mechanisms that enhance security and ensure reliable communication between virtual machines. These features are essential for cloud environments where multiple users and applications share the same physical infrastructure.

Cloud Infrastructure Scalability and Multi-Tenant

The scalability of the HPE P79980-001 network adapter makes it ideal for cloud infrastructure deployments where reliable and efficient networking is essential for supporting diverse workloads. The adapter supports advanced traffic management features that enable efficient bandwidth allocation and prevent network congestion. This ensures consistent performance for cloud applications and services, even during periods of high demand. The adapter’s multi-port design allows cloud administrators to implement network isolation strategies that enhance security and performance for multi-tenant environments.

Enterprise Storage Connectivity and Data Integrity

The HPE P79980-001 network adapter provides reliable connectivity for enterprise storage environments, ensuring efficient communication between servers and storage systems. The adapter supports advanced data integrity mechanisms that ensure accurate and reliable data transmission. This is essential for storage operations such as backup, replication, and disaster recovery. The adapter’s efficient packet processing capabilities ensure smooth data flow between storage devices and application servers, enhancing overall storage performance and reliability.

Dedicated Management Network

Many enterprise best practices recommend a physically separate network for server management. The P79980-001 can dedicate one or more ports to a management VLAN, connecting to a separate switch fabric while the remaining ports handle production traffic. Because OCP3 adapters support NC-SI (Network Controller Sideband Interface), the adapter can also present a dedicated channel to the HPE iLO5 processor, enabling remote management even when the host OS is offline. This eliminates the need for a separate management NIC on the motherboard, freeing up PCIe slots for other uses.

Legacy Infrastructure Bridging and Migration

Organizations that operate mixed-speed environments (e.g., 1GbE access switches but 10GbE core) often need servers that can communicate with both segments. By deploying the P79980-001 in an OCP3 slot, a server can maintain four 1GbE links to legacy gear while a separate PCIe 10/25GbE adapter connects to high-speed storage or north-south traffic. This dual-speed approach is common in gradual refreshes, avoiding forklift upgrades. The robust Intel PHY ensures reliable links even over longer cable runs often found in older data centers.