4XC7A08310 Lenovo 10Gbase-t 2-Port OCP Ethernet Adapter Marvell Ql41132

The Lenovo 4XC7A08310 10Gbase-t 2-Port OCP Ethernet Adapter is equipped with the powerful Marvell Ql41132 chipset. This chipset is specifically designed to deliver enhanced performance and reliability for users. With this advanced chipset, users can expect improved network speeds and seamless connectivity.

General Information

• Manufacturer: Lenovo
• Part Number: 4XC7A08310
• Product Type: Dual-Port Network Adapter

Technical Information

• Connector Type: Open Compute Project Mezzanine (OCP)
• Form Factor: Plug-in Card
• Supported Ports: 2 × Gigabit Ethernet / 10Gb Ethernet
• Data Link Protocols: GigE, 10 GigE, RoCE, iWARP
• Transfer Speed: 10 Gigabits per second
• Packet Handling: Up to 60 million packets per second
• Jumbo Frame Capacity: 9600 bytes

Compatibility

• ThinkAgile MX3330-F Appliance
• ThinkAgile MX3330-H Appliance
• ThinkAgile MX3331-F Certified Node
• ThinkAgile MX3331-H Certified Node
• ThinkAgile MX3530-H Hybrid Appliance
• ThinkAgile MX3531-H Hybrid Certified Node
• VX2330 Appliance
• VX3330 Appliance
• VX3530-G Appliance
• VX5530 Appliance
• VX7330-N Appliance
• VX7530 Appliance
• VX75xx Certified Node

Key Advantages

• Optimized for high-throughput enterprise workloads
• Reliable support for advanced virtualization and RDMA technologies
• Compact design suitable for modern data center environments

Usage Scenarios

• Ideal for cloud infrastructure deployments
• Efficient for hybrid and hyper-converged systems
• Supports scalable networking in enterprise-grade servers

Lenovo 4XC7A08310 2-Port OCP Ethernet Adapter

The Lenovo 4XC7A08310 Marvell QL41132 10GBase-T 2-Port OCP Ethernet Adapter is a high-performance network interface solution designed for modern enterprise servers that require scalable, reliable, and energy-efficient networking capabilities. Built on the Open Compute Project (OCP) form factor, this adapter integrates advanced Ethernet controller technology from Marvell, delivering dual-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity optimized for data centers, virtualization environments, cloud infrastructure, and high-throughput enterprise workloads.

This adapter is engineered to meet the increasing demand for bandwidth-intensive applications such as virtualization clusters, storage networking, database replication, high-frequency trading systems, and large-scale cloud computing platforms. By leveraging 10GBase-T technology, it provides backward compatibility with existing RJ-45 copper cabling infrastructures while ensuring high-speed performance and low latency communication across network nodes.

Key Features of the Lenovo OCP Ethernet Adapter

Marvell QL41132 Controller Integration

At the core of the Lenovo 4XC7A08310 adapter is the Marvell FastLinQ QL41132 Ethernet controller. This controller is optimized for dual-port 10GbE performance and supports advanced offload capabilities that significantly reduce CPU utilization. By offloading networking tasks such as TCP/IP processing, checksum calculations, and segmentation operations, the adapter enhances overall system efficiency and ensures consistent performance under heavy workloads.

Hardware Acceleration Features

The hardware acceleration capabilities embedded within the QL41132 controller allow the adapter to handle multiple network operations simultaneously. This includes support for stateless offloads, intelligent interrupt moderation, and adaptive flow control mechanisms that dynamically adjust to traffic conditions in real time.

OCP NIC 3.0 Form Factor

This adapter is designed according to the Open Compute Project (OCP) NIC 3.0 specification, which standardizes network interface designs for modern hyperscale and enterprise servers. The OCP form factor enables improved airflow, simplified serviceability, and enhanced system integration compared to traditional PCIe NIC designs.

Thermal Optimization and Airflow Efficiency

The OCP design ensures optimized thermal performance by aligning the adapter with server airflow paths. This reduces heat accumulation and improves overall system stability, especially in dense rack-mounted environments where thermal management is critical for sustained performance.

Serviceability and Hot-Swap Capability

One of the key advantages of the OCP architecture is the ease of maintenance. The adapter can be installed or replaced without requiring full system downtime in compatible server platforms, thereby improving operational efficiency in enterprise data centers.

Network Performance and Connectivity Features

10GBase-T Dual-Port Ethernet Capability

The Lenovo 4XC7A08310 adapter supports dual 10GBase-T Ethernet ports, enabling aggregated bandwidth of up to 20Gbps per adapter under full-duplex conditions. This high-speed connectivity is essential for workloads that require rapid data transfer, such as distributed storage systems and real-time analytics platforms.

Backward Compatibility with Copper Infrastructure

One of the major advantages of 10GBase-T technology is its compatibility with existing RJ-45 cabling, including Cat6a and Cat7 cables. This allows enterprises to upgrade to 10GbE networking without replacing entire cable infrastructures, significantly reducing deployment costs.

Low Latency Data Transmission

Despite using copper-based transmission, the adapter is optimized for low latency performance. This ensures minimal packet delay, which is essential for latency-sensitive applications such as financial trading systems, virtualization clusters, and high-performance computing workloads.

Advanced Network Offloading Capabilities

The adapter incorporates multiple offloading technologies designed to reduce host CPU workload. These include TCP segmentation offload (TSO), large receive offload (LRO), and checksum offload mechanisms that collectively enhance throughput and system efficiency.

Virtualization Optimization

The adapter is optimized for virtualized environments, supporting technologies such as Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV). This allows multiple virtual machines to share a single physical network adapter while maintaining isolated and secure network channels.

Enterprise and Data Center Use Cases

Cloud Computing Infrastructure

The Lenovo 4XC7A08310 Ethernet adapter is ideal for cloud computing environments where scalability and reliability are essential. Its dual-port 10GbE capability enables efficient east-west traffic handling within distributed cloud architectures.

Multi-Tenant Environment

In multi-tenant cloud environments, the adapter supports network isolation and segmentation, ensuring secure data transmission between tenants while maintaining high throughput and low latency.

Storage Area Network (SAN) Integration

This adapter is well-suited for storage networking applications, including iSCSI and NAS deployments. Its high bandwidth ensures fast data replication, backup operations, and storage synchronization across distributed systems.

High-Speed Data Replication

For enterprise backup solutions, the adapter enables rapid replication of large datasets between primary and secondary storage systems, reducing recovery time objectives (RTO) and improving disaster recovery readiness.

Virtualized Server Environments

In virtualization-heavy infrastructures, the adapter enhances virtual machine communication by providing dedicated bandwidth allocation and efficient packet processing capabilities.

Hypervisor Compatibility

The adapter is compatible with major hypervisor platforms, enabling seamless integration into existing virtualized server ecosystems without requiring extensive configuration changes.

Energy Efficiency and Performance Optimization

Power-Aware Network Processing

The Marvell QL41132 controller is designed with energy efficiency in mind, utilizing dynamic power scaling techniques to reduce energy consumption during low network utilization periods.

Adaptive Power Management

The adapter intelligently adjusts power usage based on traffic load, ensuring optimal energy efficiency without compromising network performance during peak demand periods.

Reduced CPU Utilization

By offloading network processing tasks to dedicated hardware, the adapter significantly reduces CPU overhead. This allows server processors to focus on application-level tasks rather than network packet processing.

Improved System Throughput

Lower CPU utilization translates into higher overall system throughput, enabling data centers to achieve better performance per watt and improved workload consolidation ratios.

Reliability, Scalability, and Deployment Flexibility

Enterprise-Grade Reliability

The Lenovo 4XC7A08310 adapter is built for mission-critical environments where network uptime is essential. It includes robust error detection and correction mechanisms to ensure data integrity across all transmission channels.

Redundant Network Path Support

Dual-port design allows for network redundancy configurations, ensuring continuous connectivity even in the event of a single-port failure.

Scalable Network Architecture

This adapter supports scalable deployment across large server clusters, making it suitable for hyperscale data centers and enterprise-grade infrastructure expansion projects.

Seamless Infrastructure Expansion

Organizations can easily expand their network capacity by deploying additional OCP-compatible servers equipped with this adapter, ensuring consistent performance across the entire infrastructure.

Security Features and Network Protection

Hardware-Based Security Enhancements

The adapter includes hardware-level security features designed to protect network traffic from unauthorized access and potential vulnerabilities.

Secure Boot and Firmware Integrity

Secure boot mechanisms ensure that only verified firmware is executed on the adapter, reducing the risk of malicious firmware injection.

Data Integrity Protection

Advanced error detection and correction features help maintain data integrity during transmission, ensuring reliable communication across enterprise networks.

Deployment Scenarios and Infrastructure Optimization

High-Density Server Environments

The compact OCP design allows the adapter to be deployed in high-density server racks where space optimization and thermal efficiency are critical considerations.

Rack-Level Network Efficiency

By consolidating dual-port 10GbE connectivity into a single OCP module, organizations can reduce cabling complexity and improve overall rack organization.

Edge Computing Applications

The adapter is also suitable for edge computing environments where low latency and high reliability are required for distributed processing workloads closer to data sources.

Distributed Processing Optimization

In edge deployments, the adapter ensures stable and high-speed connectivity between edge nodes and central data centers, supporting real-time data processing requirements.