T6FY2 Dell Broadcom 57404 Dual Ports 25GB SFP+ Adapter

Dell Broadcom 57404 Dual Ports 25GB SFP+ Adapter Overview

The T6FY2 Dell Broadcom 57404 Dual Ports 25GB SFP+ Adapter is a high-performance network interface card (NIC) designed to deliver fast, reliable, and secure connectivity in demanding enterprise data centers. This adapter leverages dual-port 25 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) SFP+ connectivity, enabling businesses to meet the increasing bandwidth requirements of modern applications such as virtualization, cloud computing, big data, and high-frequency trading. Built on Broadcom’s reliable controller technology, the 57404 adapter combines speed, scalability, and efficient offloads for maximum performance and reduced CPU utilization.

High-Speed 25 Gigabit Ethernet Performance

With support for 25GbE per port, the T6FY2 Dell Broadcom 57404 adapter delivers exceptional throughput and lower latency for enterprise workloads. Compared to legacy 10GbE and 1GbE network adapters, this 25GbE solution provides a significant leap in performance, paving the way for ultra-fast data movement between servers, storage arrays, and network switches. These high-speed connections reduce bottlenecks in virtualized environments and improve the overall responsiveness of business-critical applications.

25GbE SFP+ Interface

The Small Form-factor Pluggable Plus (SFP+) interface allows flexible and modular connectivity. The T6FY2 supports SFP28 transceivers and DAC (Direct Attach Copper) cables, offering low-power, low-latency, and hot-swappable connectivity options. These features make it ideal for scalable data center configurations, enabling cost-effective deployment across top-of-rack (ToR) or end-of-row (EoR) network designs.

Optimized for Virtualization and Cloud Environments

Virtualization technology requires network adapters that can handle large volumes of traffic without sacrificing performance. The T6FY2 adapter is optimized for virtualized workloads and supports features like SR-IOV (Single Root I/O Virtualization), which enables multiple virtual machines (VMs) to share a single physical NIC while maintaining isolated and secure network channels. Additionally, the adapter’s offload capabilities free up CPU resources for applications and services, ensuring efficient resource utilization in cloud and hybrid environments.

Key Features of the T6FY2 Dell Broadcom 57404 Adapter

Dual Port Flexibility and Redundancy

Equipped with two high-performance 25GbE ports, the adapter supports dual-path network configurations for increased availability and load balancing. Whether used in Active-Active or Active-Passive configurations, the dual-port design ensures network redundancy and failover protection, minimizing the risk of network downtime and increasing the reliability of your IT infrastructure.

Broadcom BCM57404 Controller

At the heart of the T6FY2 adapter is the Broadcom BCM57404 controller, a powerful and efficient network processing engine known for its performance, low latency, and energy efficiency. The BCM57404 supports advanced networking features, including stateless offloads, RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE), and high-throughput data processing, making it suitable for intensive workloads in both traditional and cloud-native data centers.

Stateless Offload Technologies

Advanced offload features such as TCP segmentation offload (TSO), large send offload (LSO), receive side scaling (RSS), and checksum offloads reduce the CPU burden during data transmission. These technologies streamline data processing on the NIC, improving overall system performance and reducing network latency.

Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) Support

Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) capabilities help reduce power consumption during periods of low data activity. This not only contributes to a greener data center but also lowers operating costs by decreasing power draw without compromising performance during peak operations.

Compatibility and Integration with Dell PowerEdge Servers

The T6FY2 adapter is fully qualified and validated for use with various Dell PowerEdge servers, ensuring seamless hardware integration and BIOS/UEFI compatibility. It is available as both a customer kit and factory-installed option in PowerEdge configurations, allowing IT administrators to easily deploy or upgrade systems to 25GbE networking.

Supported Dell Server Models

This adapter is compatible with a wide range of Dell PowerEdge platforms, including the R640, R740, R740xd, R940, and C-series chassis. The low-profile and full-height brackets included make it easy to install in both 1U and 2U rack-mounted servers.

Firmware and Driver Availability

Broadcom provides up-to-date firmware and driver support through Dell’s lifecycle management tools such as iDRAC, Lifecycle Controller, and OpenManage. These utilities simplify driver updates, firmware provisioning, and monitoring, helping maintain a consistent and secure environment for networking hardware.

Advanced Networking Protocols and Offload Capabilities

RDMA and iWARP/RoCE Support

The T6FY2 supports Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) over Converged Ethernet, including both RoCE (RDMA over Converged Ethernet) and iWARP protocols. RDMA significantly enhances network performance by allowing direct memory access between servers without involving the CPU, reducing latency, and increasing throughput for storage and clustered applications.

RoCE v2 Benefits

RoCE v2 operates over layer 3 networks, enabling better scalability across IP-based infrastructures. With support for congestion control and ECN (Explicit Congestion Notification), it ensures smooth, lossless traffic even under high utilization, making it suitable for latency-sensitive applications like AI/ML workloads and financial trading platforms.

VXLAN and NVGRE Offloads

As data centers increasingly adopt software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV), overlay protocols like VXLAN and NVGRE become essential for network segmentation. The T6FY2 adapter offloads encapsulation and decapsulation of these overlay protocols to the hardware, reducing processing overhead and improving VM-to-VM traffic performance in virtualized and containerized environments.

Security Features and Data Protection

Secure Boot and Hardware Root of Trust

The Broadcom 57404 NIC includes secure boot capabilities and a hardware root of trust, ensuring that firmware is digitally signed and validated before execution. These features protect against malicious firmware injections and maintain the integrity of the system throughout its operational life.

Deployment Scenarios and Use Cases

Data Center Fabric Connectivity

The T6FY2 adapter is ideal for deployment in modern spine-leaf data center architectures, where high-speed connectivity between compute nodes and switches is essential. Its 25GbE capabilities reduce oversubscription, simplify cabling with SFP28 DACs, and support high-density networking in hyper-converged and composable infrastructure environments.

High-Performance Storage Networks

For enterprises deploying software-defined storage solutions such as vSAN, Ceph, or Storage Spaces Direct, the 57404 adapter offers the throughput and low-latency needed for backend storage traffic. Its RoCE support allows storage workloads to bypass the TCP/IP stack, maximizing IOPS and minimizing latency between storage nodes.

AI/ML and High-Frequency Computing

Workloads in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and high-frequency trading (HFT) require massive data ingestion and rapid data transfer. The low-latency performance, RDMA capability, and high throughput of the T6FY2 make it an ideal fit for compute-intensive environments requiring reliable and fast network access to data lakes, GPUs, and analytical clusters.

Form Factor, Power, and Environmental Specifications

Low Profile Design

The T6FY2 NIC features a low-profile PCIe form factor, which makes it compatible with compact 1U and 2U servers without compromising performance. This design is crucial for maintaining airflow and space efficiency in dense rack environments.

Brackets Included

The package includes both full-height and low-profile brackets, allowing for flexible installation depending on the chassis configuration. This versatility helps streamline deployment in mixed server environments.

Thermal Efficiency

Designed to operate under heavy data loads, the 57404 adapter includes thermal sensors and efficient heat sink designs to maintain stable operation within standard server temperature ranges. It supports operating temperatures between 0°C and 55°C and is engineered for reliability in 24x7 enterprise environments.

PCIe Gen3 x8 Interface

The adapter connects to servers via a PCI Express Gen3 x8 interface, which provides ample bandwidth to accommodate two 25GbE data streams. This high-speed bus interface ensures there is no bottleneck between the NIC and the host CPU or memory, allowing applications to fully benefit from the adapter’s performance.

Ordering Information and Availability

Dell SKU T6FY2

The official part number for this adapter is Dell T6FY2, also referenced as Broadcom 57404 or Broadcom 25GbE Dual Port SFP28 Adapter. It may also be found in OEM packaging with different part numbers based on Dell’s regional distribution and server kits. Be sure to verify compatibility with your system before ordering.

Global Availability and Warranty

The T6FY2 is widely available through Dell, Dell EMC resellers, and certified IT hardware providers. It typically comes with a Dell 1-year limited warranty when sold separately and may have extended coverage when bundled with a server or under ProSupport agreements.

The Dell 25GbE with T6FY2 Broadcom 57404

Enhanced Bandwidth and Application Responsiveness

As data center demands grow, 25GbE offers a balanced approach between performance and cost compared to 10GbE or 40GbE. The T6FY2 provides immediate bandwidth improvements with fewer physical connections and less cabling complexity. Whether used in high-speed analytics, data-intensive simulations, or virtualized clusters, it helps improve overall infrastructure responsiveness.

Reduced Latency and Improved Efficiency

Thanks to its RDMA capabilities, offloads, and optimized controller design, the T6FY2 reduces both system and network latency. This helps improve transactional processing speed, VM performance, and data access time, contributing to better application efficiency and faster user experiences.

Future-Ready Infrastructure Investment

Deploying 25GbE now ensures your infrastructure is ready for future data center innovations and bandwidth-intensive workloads. The modular SFP+ architecture allows organizations to upgrade optics and cables as needed, while the adapter’s feature set ensures compatibility with next-generation network fabrics.