X722-DA4FH Intel 4 Ports 10GB PCI-E Ethernet Network Adapter

Overview of Intel Quad-Port 10Gb Ethernet Adapter  

The Intel X722-DA4FH is engineered as a versatile quad-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe adapter designed to meet the evolving demands of modern data centers, enterprise servers, and virtualized workloads. Built on a PCI Express 3.0 x8 interface, this adapter delivers consistent throughput, low latency, and dependable scalability for bandwidth-intensive environments. Its low-profile plug-in card design allows seamless integration into a wide range of rack-mount and compact server platforms without compromising performance.

General Specifications

• Manufacturer: Intel 
• Part Number: X722-DA4FH
• Device type: High-performance network adapter

Technical Specifications

• Form factor: Low-profile PCIe plug-in card
• Interface: PCI Express 3.0 x8
• Supported protocols: 10 Gigabit Ethernet, iSCSI, NFS

Advanced Connectivity and Port Density

• Quad 10GbE ports for parallel data streams
• Optimized for high-availability and load-balanced networking
• Supports aggregation and segmentation use case

Optimized Data Transfer Capabilities

• Maximum transfer speed of 10 Gbps per Ethernet port
• Enhanced bus efficiency with PCIe Gen3 technology
• Designed for low latency and reduced CPU overhead

Quality of Service and Traffic Prioritization

• Traffic shaping and prioritization
• Improved reliability for mission-critical workloads
• Consistent bandwidth allocation across ports

Single Root I/O Virtualization and VM Enhancements

• Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) for direct VM access
• Virtual Machine Device Queues (VMDq) to balance network loads
• Reduced hypervisor overhead and improved scalability

Optimized for Storage and Data Transport

• Compatibility with iSCSI and NFS transport protocols
• Efficient handling of storage traffic over Ethernet
• Improved application responsiveness and reduced jitter

Energy-Aware Design Benefits

• Lower power consumption during idle and low-traffic states
• Dynamic adjustment based on network workload
• Optimized thermal profile for dense server environments

Outline of Intel 4 Ports 10GbE Ethernet Network Adapter  

The Intel X722-DA4FH Quad-Port 10GB Ethernet Network PCIe 3.0 x8 Adapter represents a high-performance networking category designed for modern data centers, cloud infrastructures, enterprise servers, and virtualization-heavy environments. This category focuses on advanced Ethernet adapters engineered to deliver consistent throughput, low latency, and hardware-level offloading capabilities that reduce CPU utilization while maintaining deterministic network performance. Built around Intel’s X722 Ethernet controller, this adapter category is optimized for demanding workloads that require reliable multi-port connectivity, enhanced packet processing, and seamless integration with Intel-based server platforms.

Quad-port 10GbE adapters in this category are specifically developed to address the needs of bandwidth aggregation, network redundancy, and traffic segmentation. By providing four independent 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, the adapter enables administrators to design flexible network topologies that support failover, load balancing, and high availability. The PCI Express 3.0 x8 interface ensures sufficient bandwidth between the adapter and the host system, preventing bottlenecks even when all ports operate at full line rate simultaneously.

Intel X722 Controller Design and Technology Stack

The Intel X722 controller is a cornerstone of this adapter category, delivering a robust combination of throughput efficiency, virtualization support, and hardware acceleration. Designed to integrate tightly with Intel Xeon scalable processors and Intel server chipsets, the controller enables platform-level optimizations that enhance overall system performance. This deep integration allows for features such as dynamic device personalization, advanced power management, and enhanced security capabilities at the network interface level.

Adapters in this category leverage Intel’s mature Ethernet technology stack, which has been refined through generations of enterprise networking products. The X722 controller supports advanced packet filtering, checksum offloading, segmentation offloading, and receive-side scaling, ensuring that network traffic is handled efficiently without overwhelming host CPU resources. This makes the category particularly well suited for virtualized servers, hyper-converged infrastructure, and containerized application environments.

PCIe 3.0 x8 Interface Bandwidth Optimization

The use of a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface is a defining characteristic of this adapter category, providing a balanced approach between throughput capacity and slot utilization. With sufficient bandwidth to sustain multiple 10GbE links concurrently, the interface ensures that network performance remains stable under heavy traffic loads. This design consideration is critical for enterprise servers where multiple high-speed devices compete for PCIe resources.

By utilizing PCIe 3.0 signaling, adapters in this category maintain compatibility with a wide range of modern server platforms while delivering the performance required for east-west traffic within data centers. This ensures predictable latency characteristics, which are essential for real-time applications, storage over Ethernet, and latency-sensitive workloads.

Quad-Port Connectivity for High Availability and Scalability

The quad-port configuration of the Intel X722-DA4FH category provides significant advantages for network design and scalability. Multiple ports allow administrators to segment traffic across different networks or VLANs, improving security and performance isolation. This configuration also supports link aggregation technologies that combine multiple physical links into a single logical interface, increasing throughput and providing redundancy.

High availability is a key focus of this adapter category. By distributing network traffic across four ports, organizations can design resilient network architectures that tolerate link failures without service interruption. This is especially important in mission-critical environments such as financial services, healthcare systems, and large-scale e-commerce platforms where downtime is unacceptable.

Support for Network Virtualization and Multi-Tenant Environments

Adapters in this category are engineered to excel in virtualized and multi-tenant environments. The Intel X722 controller supports advanced virtualization technologies such as SR-IOV, enabling the creation of multiple virtual functions that can be directly assigned to virtual machines. This reduces latency and overhead compared to traditional software-based networking models.

The quad-port design further enhances virtualization capabilities by allowing different virtual networks to be mapped to separate physical ports. This enables fine-grained traffic control and simplifies network management in environments where multiple tenants or applications share the same physical infrastructure.

Compatibility with Modern Server Operating Systems  

The Intel X722-DA4FH adapter category is designed for broad compatibility with enterprise operating systems and virtualization platforms. Native driver support is available for major Linux distributions, Microsoft Windows Server editions, and widely used hypervisors. This ensures seamless deployment and simplifies lifecycle management across heterogeneous environments.

Intel’s commitment to long-term driver support and regular firmware updates enhances the reliability of this category. Administrators benefit from predictable behavior, security patches, and performance optimizations that align with evolving data center requirements.

Integration with Software-Defined Networking Frameworks

As software-defined networking continues to shape modern infrastructure, adapters in this category provide the necessary hooks and capabilities to integrate with SDN frameworks. Hardware offloading features reduce the burden on virtual switches, enabling higher packet rates and lower latency for overlay networks.

The combination of quad-port connectivity and advanced offloads makes this category suitable for network function virtualization scenarios, where multiple virtual appliances such as firewalls, load balancers, and intrusion detection systems operate on the same physical host.

Security and Reliability Enhancements

Security is a core consideration for enterprise networking hardware, and this adapter category incorporates features that enhance data integrity and system protection. Hardware-based checksum verification, error detection, and secure firmware mechanisms help maintain reliable operation in demanding environments.

The Intel X722 platform also supports advanced monitoring and diagnostics, allowing administrators to detect and troubleshoot network issues proactively. This level of visibility is essential for maintaining service-level agreements and ensuring consistent application performance.

Use Cases Across Data Center and Enterprise Deployments

The Intel X722-DA4FH Quad-Port 10GB Ethernet Network PCIe 3.0 x8 Adapter category addresses a wide range of deployment scenarios. In data centers, it serves as a foundational networking component for compute nodes, storage servers, and virtualization hosts. Its ability to handle high traffic volumes with low latency makes it suitable for both front-end and back-end networking roles.

In enterprise environments, this category supports centralized applications, database servers, and private cloud platforms. The quad-port design allows organizations to consolidate network interfaces, reducing hardware complexity while maintaining flexibility and resilience.

Support for Storage and High-Performance Computing Workloads

Storage over Ethernet technologies benefit significantly from the capabilities of this adapter category. High throughput, low latency, and reliable packet handling are essential for protocols that depend on consistent network performance. The Intel X722-based design ensures that storage traffic is processed efficiently, minimizing latency and maximizing throughput.

High-performance computing environments also leverage quad-port 10GbE adapters to interconnect compute nodes and facilitate parallel processing. The balanced architecture of this category supports sustained data transfers, which are critical for scientific simulations, analytics, and machine learning workloads.

Energy Efficiency and Thermal Considerations

Energy efficiency is increasingly important in modern data centers, and this adapter category incorporates power management features that align with green IT initiatives. The Intel X722 controller supports dynamic power scaling, allowing the adapter to adjust consumption based on workload demands.

Thermal design considerations ensure reliable operation in dense server configurations. Efficient heat dissipation and optimized component placement contribute to long-term stability and reduce the risk of thermal throttling under sustained loads.

Scalability  

As network demands continue to grow, the quad-port 10GbE adapter category provides a scalable foundation that can adapt to increasing traffic requirements. Multiple ports enable incremental capacity expansion without the need for additional adapters, preserving valuable PCIe slots.

This scalability is particularly beneficial for organizations transitioning to hybrid or private cloud models, where network usage patterns can change rapidly. The flexibility of the Intel X722-based design supports these evolving requirements while maintaining consistent performance.