540-BCNI Dell 25GBE Dual-port SFP 28 Network Interface Card

Dell 540-BCNI Dual Port 25Gb SFP28 Network Adapter – Key Capabilities

The Dell 540-BCNI is a high-efficiency, low-profile plug-in card that delivers superior networking throughput for modern enterprise servers. With dual 25 Gigabit SFP28 ports and PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, this adapter is designed to meet the growing demand for higher bandwidth and data center scalability. Purpose-built to support evolving virtualization, iSCSI, and cloud-based infrastructure, this network interface card ensures seamless integration with Dell’s PowerEdge portfolio and other enterprise server platforms.

Primary Attributes and Technical Information

Core Specifications at a Glance

• Manufacturer: Dell Technologies
• Part Number: 540-BCNI
• Adapter Category: Dual-Port Network Interface Card (NIC)
• Network Interface: 25Gb SFP28 x2
• Form Factor: Compact low-profile PCI Express card
• Slot Compatibility: PCIe Gen3 x16 bus interface
• Transfer Speed: Up to 25 Gigabits per second per port
• Protocols Supported: TCP/IP, UDP/IP, iSCSI
• Dimensions: 5.6 in (W) x 2.7 in (D)

Robust Protocol and Standards Support

This Dell NIC complies with a broad range of IEEE networking protocols and standards, ensuring compatibility and reliability in enterprise deployments:

• IEEE 802.3by (25Gb Ethernet)
• IEEE 802.3ae (10Gb Ethernet)
• IEEE 802.3ap, 802.3az – for low-latency and energy-efficient Ethernet
• IEEE 802.1Q, 802.1Qbb, 802.1Qaz – VLAN tagging, priority flow control, enhanced transmission selection
• IEEE 802.3ad / 802.1AX – Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP)
• IEEE 1588v2 – Precision Time Protocol for accurate time synchronization
• IEEE 802.1Qau – Congestion Notification
• IEEE 802.1QBG – Edge Virtual Bridging
• IEEE 802.1p – Layer 2 traffic prioritization

Hardware Efficiency and Design

Low-Profile Architecture

The Dell 540-BCNI features a space-conscious low-profile bracket design, making it a perfect fit for dense server environments such as rackmount chassis or high-density compute nodes. The adapter allows streamlined airflow within the server, promoting cooler operations and better thermal management.

Interface and Slot Connectivity

Equipped with a PCI Express 3.0 x16 bus connector, this card guarantees high-throughput communication between the network adapter and the motherboard. The backward-compatible PCIe interface supports a wide range of platforms and server generations.

Modular SFP28 Port Configuration

The use of Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP28) cages provides maximum flexibility in choosing between fiber optic or direct attach copper transceivers. This ensures adaptable deployments depending on distance, speed, or cable type requirements.

Enterprise Networking Performance

Superior Throughput for High-Bandwidth Workloads

Each port on the Dell 540-BCNI supports up to 25Gbps, making it an optimal solution for bandwidth-intensive environments such as virtual machine clustering, high-performance storage, real-time analytics, and large-scale content delivery.

Advanced Virtualization Support

• Supports SR-IOV (Single Root I/O Virtualization) for VM passthrough
• Network traffic offload reduces host CPU burden during virtual operations
• Optimized for hypervisors like VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, and KVM
• Reliable resource isolation between virtual functions

Latency-Sensitive Application Optimization

Thanks to low latency and support for Precision Time Protocol (PTP), this adapter is ideal for latency-critical environments such as financial trading systems, telecommunications, and real-time industrial controls.

High Availability and Failover Capabilities

Redundancy with Dual-Port Configuration

By leveraging dual 25Gbps ports, users can implement network redundancy through failover mechanisms. The card supports active-active and active-passive configurations, ensuring uninterrupted service during port or path failure.

Link Aggregation and Bandwidth Scaling

Utilizing LACP (IEEE 802.3ad), IT teams can combine multiple ports into a single logical channel. This not only increases available bandwidth but also boosts reliability through link failover.

Traffic Segregation with VLAN Support

Support for IEEE 802.1Q enables VLAN tagging, allowing segmentation of network traffic to isolate sensitive data streams or departmental communications without requiring additional network hardware.

Security and Protocol Integrity

Encrypted Protocol Handling and Integrity Checks

Advanced hardware-level packet filtering and checksum validation features help secure data in transit, protecting against malformed packets and unauthorized access attempts.

Support for Secure Boot and Signed Firmware

Firmware validation during the boot process ensures that only authentic Dell firmware is executed, protecting the system from firmware-based threats and rootkits.

Ideal Deployment Environments

Virtualized Infrastructure and Hyper-Converged Systems

The Dell 540-BCNI is perfect for virtualized data centers where VM density and east-west traffic patterns demand low-latency and high-bandwidth network performance. It supports both overlay and underlay networking models.

High-Performance Computing (HPC)

With high throughput and minimal latency, this card is well-suited for research labs, academic institutions, and enterprise clusters processing big data, simulations, or scientific workloads.

Cloud Service Providers and Web-Scale Companies

Cloud platforms benefit from the card’s high scalability, efficient packet processing, and protocol flexibility. It ensures tenant isolation, traffic shaping, and accelerated application delivery at scale.

Management and Maintenance Capabilities

Driver and OS Compatibility

Broad operating system support includes Microsoft Windows Server, major Linux distributions (RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu, SUSE), and virtualization platforms like VMware ESXi. Dell ensures regular driver updates for sustained performance and security.

Dell Lifecycle and OpenManage Integration

Administrators can streamline firmware updates and status monitoring using Dell Lifecycle Controller and OpenManage suite. Seamless integration ensures minimal downtime and consistent configuration management across Dell hardware.

Compliance and Environmental Standards

Energy-Conscious Ethernet Capabilities

Support for IEEE 802.3az ensures reduced power consumption during periods of low network activity. This energy-efficient Ethernet (EEE) capability lowers the operating costs of large data center environments.

Global Compliance Certifications

• RoHS and WEEE environmental compliance
• EMI/EMC certifications (FCC Class A, CE, VCCI)
• IEEE 802.3 and IEEE 1588v2 protocol compliance

Competitive Advantages and Distinct Value

Next-Generation Speed at a Reasonable Cost

While many enterprise NICs offer 10Gb connectivity, the Dell 540-BCNI delivers 25Gb performance with backwards compatibility, making it a future-ready investment at an accessible price point.

Flexible Infrastructure Integration

The ability to mix and match fiber or copper SFP28 modules and deploy across a wide spectrum of server form factors makes this card a versatile solution for hybrid IT environments.

Long Lifecycle with Firmware Scalability

Regular firmware updates extend the adapter’s relevance across multiple technology cycles. It’s engineered for longevity in enterprise environments where downtime is not an option.

540-BCNI Dell ConnectX-5 EN 25GbE Dual-Port SFP28 PCIe 3.0 x16 NIC Overview

The 540-BCNI Dell ConnectX-5 EN 25GbE Dual-Port SFP28 PCIe 3.0 x16 Network Interface Card (NIC) is a high-performance, enterprise-grade solution engineered for next-generation data center networking. With dual-port 25 Gigabit Ethernet support and a high-throughput PCIe Gen3 x16 interface, this NIC delivers unmatched speed, low latency, and reliability for demanding workloads. Leveraging Mellanox ConnectX-5 silicon, it’s designed to meet the needs of enterprise, cloud, and storage infrastructures that demand consistent, high-speed packet delivery.

Key Specifications of 540-BCNI Dell ConnectX-5 NIC

High-Speed Connectivity

Equipped with dual SFP28 ports, this NIC supports up to 25 Gigabit Ethernet per port, enabling a total aggregate bandwidth of up to 50Gbps. This high-speed connectivity makes it ideal for modern enterprise environments requiring fast, reliable, and scalable networking.

PCIe Gen3 x16 Interface

The PCI Express 3.0 x16 interface ensures that the card can handle high-throughput data transfer without bottlenecks, maximizing performance across I/O-intensive applications. The x16 lane configuration supports faster data paths, reduced latency, and improved efficiency over previous generations.

Advanced Network Features

This NIC supports advanced networking features such as SR-IOV (Single Root I/O Virtualization), RoCE (RDMA over Converged Ethernet), VXLAN, NVGRE, and GENEVE offloads, and stateless offloads. These features offload processing from the CPU, improving overall system efficiency and performance.

Use Cases and Applications for the 540-BCNI ConnectX-5 NIC

Enterprise Data Centers

In enterprise data centers, the 540-BCNI NIC provides the high-speed and low-latency network access essential for virtualization, cloud deployments, and mission-critical applications. Its dual 25GbE ports allow for seamless redundancy, link aggregation, and scalable throughput.

High-Performance Computing (HPC)

HPC environments demand optimal latency and data throughput. The ConnectX-5 technology powering the 540-BCNI excels in such scenarios, enabling parallel processing, efficient job distribution, and accelerated I/O operations using RDMA capabilities.

Cloud and Virtualization Platforms

For cloud and virtualized infrastructures using platforms such as VMware, Hyper-V, and KVM, the NIC’s support for SR-IOV and NIC partitioning (NPAR) ensures fine-grained resource allocation and isolated traffic flows between virtual machines, improving security and manageability.

Storage Networking

The 540-BCNI’s RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE v2) support significantly reduces latency and CPU usage when accessing storage, making it suitable for use in storage networks including NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) environments.

Benefits of Using Dell 540-BCNI Network Interface Cards

Enhanced Server Utilization

By offloading various network processing tasks from the host CPU, this NIC helps enhance overall server utilization and application performance. Features such as TCP/UDP/IP checksum offload, large receive offload (LRO), and large send offload (LSO) contribute to this efficiency.

Energy Efficiency and Thermal Design

The card is optimized for thermal efficiency and low power consumption, even under full workloads. This contributes to reduced operational expenses and cooling requirements in large-scale deployments.

Comprehensive OS and Driver Support

The 540-BCNI NIC supports a broad range of operating systems, including various distributions of Linux (RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu), Windows Server editions, and VMware ESXi. Dell ensures ongoing driver updates and firmware support to maintain compatibility and security.

Technical Architecture of the ConnectX-5 Platform

Unified Fabric

The ConnectX-5 architecture supports unified I/O fabrics, allowing data, storage, and inter-process communication traffic to travel over a single high-bandwidth network infrastructure. This eliminates the need for separate adapters and cabling for each workload type.

Scalable I/O Virtualization

With support for over 250 virtual functions and up to 128 physical functions, the card is well-suited for multi-tenant environments where multiple virtual machines require isolated and secure access to shared network resources.

RoCE v2 Support

RoCE v2 support enables low-latency RDMA over Layer 3 networks, extending the reach of direct memory access across routed network infrastructures. This is crucial for distributed applications, big data analytics, and machine learning clusters.

Network Security Features

Secure Boot and Firmware Integrity

The card supports secure firmware updates and hardware root-of-trust mechanisms to prevent unauthorized code from executing on the device. This ensures the integrity of the NIC and its operation within secure enterprise environments.

MAC and VLAN Filtering

Advanced filtering capabilities allow administrators to define specific Media Access Control (MAC) addresses and Virtual LAN (VLAN) tags for network isolation, segmentation, and security.

Traffic Monitoring and Flow Control

Built-in tools for traffic monitoring, flow control, and congestion management provide administrators with deep visibility and control over data flows, enabling proactive performance tuning and anomaly detection.

Installation and Configuration

Form Factor and Compatibility

The 540-BCNI is a low-profile PCIe 3.0 x16 card and includes standard and low-profile brackets for compatibility with a wide range of Dell PowerEdge servers. It is validated and qualified for systems that require certified networking components.

Plug-and-Play Operation

The NIC supports plug-and-play functionality with auto-negotiation features for link speed and duplex settings. This makes deployment and scaling straightforward, particularly in virtualized and cloud environments.

Driver Installation and Management Tools

Dell provides comprehensive driver packages and management tools for this NIC, including integration with iDRAC and OpenManage suites, as well as vendor-specific utilities for diagnostics and firmware updates.

Performance Optimization Techniques

Receive Side Scaling (RSS)

RSS enables the efficient distribution of network receive processing across multiple processor cores, reducing latency and improving performance in multi-threaded applications.

Dynamic Interrupt Moderation

This feature adjusts interrupt frequencies based on traffic rates to reduce CPU overhead while maintaining low latency. It optimizes responsiveness for latency-sensitive applications.

Flow Control and QoS Support

The NIC supports IEEE 802.3x flow control and advanced Quality of Service (QoS) policies, which prioritize critical traffic, reduce packet loss, and ensure consistent application performance even under heavy network load.

Physical and Environmental Specifications

Thermal Design Power (TDP)

The card is engineered with a low thermal profile, typically consuming less than 10W under full load. This allows for integration into high-density server environments without introducing thermal bottlenecks.

Environmental Operating Range

Rated for operation in a standard data center temperature range, the NIC supports ambient temperatures between 0°C and 55°C. Its robust build ensures stable performance even in continuous 24/7 operation.

Electromagnetic Compliance

The 540-BCNI is compliant with key industry standards for electromagnetic interference (EMI) and safety, including FCC, CE, and UL certifications, ensuring it meets both regulatory and operational benchmarks.

Choose the 540-BCNI ConnectX-5 EN 25GbE NIC

Certified Compatibility with Dell Infrastructure

As a Dell-branded NIC, the 540-BCNI is fully validated with a range of Dell PowerEdge servers, ensuring hassle-free integration and support through Dell’s enterprise support channels. It’s ideal for IT teams seeking guaranteed compatibility and vendor-backed reliability.

Future-Proof 25GbE Technology

With the ongoing shift from 10GbE to 25GbE as the new standard for data center networking, deploying the 540-BCNI enables organizations to remain competitive and ready for next-gen application and virtualization workloads.

Flexible Deployment Options

Thanks to its support for multiple virtualization technologies, storage protocols, and data center fabrics, the 540-BCNI can be deployed across varied environments—from hybrid cloud deployments to performance-driven local clusters.

Proven ConnectX-5 Technology

Built on Mellanox's industry-leading ConnectX-5 controller, this NIC offers proven reliability, high throughput, and low latency performance that have been tested in thousands of data centers and supercomputing environments.