MCX556A-ECAT Mellanox ConnectX-5 VPI Network Adapter

Mellanox MCX556A-ECAT ConnectX-5 VPI Adapter Card Outline

The Mellanox MCX556A-ECAT ConnectX-5 VPI Adapter Card is a high-performance networking solution designed for enterprise data centers, cloud computing platforms, HPC (High-Performance Computing), virtualization, AI infrastructure, and storage environments. Featuring dual QSFP28 ports, PCI Express 3.0 x16 connectivity, and support for both 100GbE Ethernet and EDR InfiniBand (100Gb/s), this advanced network adapter delivers ultra-low latency, outstanding bandwidth, and intelligent acceleration technologies for modern workloads.

Built on the proven ConnectX-5 architecture, the MCX556A-ECAT provides exceptional networking efficiency while reducing CPU utilization through hardware offloading. It supports virtualization, RDMA, RoCE, NVMe over Fabrics, and advanced traffic management, making it an ideal solution for organizations demanding maximum throughput and reliable connectivity.

General Information of Mellanox MCX556A-ECAT

• Manufacturer: Mellanox
• Part Number: MCX556A-ECAT
• Product Family: ConnectX-5
• Product Type: VPI Adapter Card
• Form Factor: Plug-in Card
• Bracket: Full-Height
• RoHS Compliance: RoHS R6

Hardware Specifications

Interface Specifications

• PCI Express 3.0 x16
• PCIe Revision 3.0
• Dual QSFP28 Ports
• 100Gb Ethernet Support
• 100Gb InfiniBand Support

Performance Specifications

• Maximum Data Transfer Rate: 100 Gbps
• Dual-Port High-Speed Networking
• Low-Latency Packet Processing
• Hardware Traffic Acceleration
• Enterprise-Class Reliability

Physical Dimensions

• Width: 5.6 inches
• Height: 2.7 inches
• Plug-in Card Design

Benefits of 100Gb Connectivity

• Faster application response times
• Reduced network congestion
• Accelerated data movement
• Improved virtualization performance
• Lower infrastructure bottlenecks
• Efficient handling of large-scale workloads

Advantages of Dual QSFP28 Ports

• High availability networking
• Load balancing support
• Network redundancy
• Scalable server connectivity
• Improved traffic distribution
• Simplified infrastructure expansion

Benefits of VPI Technology

• Supports mixed networking environments
• Future-ready deployment flexibility
• Reduced infrastructure complexity
• Lower operational expenses
• Improved investment protection

PCIe 3.0 Benefits

• High bandwidth communication
• Reduced I/O bottlenecks
• Efficient packet processing
• Optimized server performance
• Excellent compatibility with enterprise servers

Advanced Network Protocol Support

Supported Network Protocols

• TCP/IP
• UDP/IP
• iSCSI
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 10 Gigabit Ethernet
• 25 Gigabit Ethernet
• 40 Gigabit Ethernet
• 50 Gigabit Ethernet
• 100 Gigabit Ethernet
• 100 Gigabit InfiniBand

Virtualization Benefits

• Higher VM scalability
• Lower CPU utilization
• Improved virtual network performance
• Faster live migration
• Enhanced cloud infrastructure efficiency

Ideal Storage Applications

• NVMe over Fabrics
• Distributed storage clusters
• Enterprise SAN environments
• Software-defined storage
• High-speed backup infrastructure

Common Deployment Scenarios

• Enterprise servers
• Cloud computing platforms
• Private cloud infrastructure
• Public cloud environments
• High-performance computing clusters
• AI and machine learning servers
• Financial trading platforms
• Media production environments

Comprehensive IEEE Standards Compliance

Supported Standards Include

• IEEE 802.1Q
• IEEE 802.1P
• IEEE 802.3AD (LACP)
• IEEE 802.3AE
• IEEE 802.3AP
• IEEE 802.3AZ
• IEEE 802.3BA
• IEEE 802.1AX
• IEEE 802.1QBB
• IEEE 802.1QAZ
• IEEE 802.1QAU
• IEEE 802.1QBG
• IEEE 1588v2
• IEEE 802.3BJ
• IEEE 802.3BM
• IEEE 802.3BY
• IBTA 1.3

Advantages of the Mellanox MCX556A-ECAT

• Cloud Computing
• Enterprise Data Centers
• High-Performance Computing (HPC)
• Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure
• Machine Learning Clusters
• Virtualization Platforms
• Hyper-Converged Infrastructure
• Big Data Analytics
• Financial Services
• Content Delivery Networks
• Software-Defined Storage
• Research Laboratories
• Telecommunications
• Large Enterprise Networks

Key Features of Mellanox MCX556A-ECAT

• Dual-port QSFP28 network connectivity
• Supports both 100GbE Ethernet and EDR InfiniBand (100Gb/s)
• PCI Express 3.0 x16 high-speed interface
• ConnectX-5 VPI intelligent networking architecture
• Up to 100 Gbps data transfer rate per port
• Hardware acceleration for storage and virtualization
• RDMA and RoCE support for ultra-low latency
• Compatible with modern cloud and enterprise infrastructures
• Full-height bracket included
• RoHS R6 environmental compliance

Mellanox MCX556A-ECAT ConnectX-5 100GbE Adapter Card

The Mellanox MCX556A-ECAT ConnectX-5 VPI Adapter Card is a high-performance enterprise networking solution engineered for modern data centers, cloud computing platforms, virtualization environments, artificial intelligence clusters, high-performance computing infrastructures, and storage networks. Designed with advanced networking technologies, this adapter combines EDR InfiniBand connectivity with 100 Gigabit Ethernet support, allowing organizations to deploy a versatile networking platform that adapts to evolving workloads without requiring additional hardware investments.

Built around the proven ConnectX-5 architecture, the MCX556A-ECAT delivers exceptional bandwidth, ultra-low latency, intelligent packet processing, and hardware acceleration technologies that significantly improve application performance while reducing CPU utilization. The adapter features dual QSFP28 ports capable of supporting both InfiniBand and Ethernet protocols, making it an ideal solution for organizations seeking flexible deployment options across diverse networking environments.

Its PCI Express 3.0 x16 interface ensures sufficient bandwidth between the server and the network, eliminating bottlenecks during high-speed data transfers. Whether deployed in enterprise virtualization clusters, GPU-accelerated AI servers, database systems, or storage fabrics, this adapter consistently delivers outstanding networking performance.

ConnectX-5 Architecture Designed for Modern Data Centers

Next-Generation Networking Performance

The ConnectX-5 architecture introduces multiple enhancements over previous generations, enabling servers to process enormous volumes of data with outstanding efficiency. As application requirements continue to grow, organizations require networking hardware capable of supporting increasingly demanding workloads without compromising latency or throughput.

The MCX556A-ECAT addresses these challenges by integrating intelligent hardware acceleration, optimized packet processing engines, advanced traffic management capabilities, and extensive protocol offloading. These features enable applications to communicate faster while allowing processors to dedicate more resources to business-critical workloads instead of networking operations.

Optimized Server Resource Utilization

One of the primary advantages of the ConnectX-5 platform is its ability to reduce CPU overhead. Many networking operations that traditionally consume processor cycles are handled directly by the adapter through hardware acceleration. This significantly improves overall server efficiency, enabling higher virtual machine density, faster database transactions, and more responsive application performance.

Dual-Port QSFP28 Connectivity for High Availability

Independent Network Connections

The dual-port QSFP28 design enables simultaneous high-speed connectivity across two independent network links. Organizations can configure both ports for redundancy, load balancing, failover, or parallel workload distribution depending on their infrastructure requirements.

Dual-port configurations are especially valuable within enterprise environments where uninterrupted network availability is essential. Should one network path become unavailable, traffic can automatically transition to the alternate connection, minimizing downtime and preserving application availability.

Scalable Network Expansion

As businesses expand their infrastructure, dual-port networking provides additional flexibility when connecting multiple switches, storage arrays, compute nodes, or clustered environments. Administrators can design highly resilient network topologies while maximizing available bandwidth across multiple communication paths.

Support for Both EDR InfiniBand and 100Gb Ethernet

Versatile VPI Technology

The Virtual Protocol Interconnect technology integrated into the MCX556A-ECAT allows each QSFP28 port to operate using either InfiniBand or Ethernet protocols. This flexibility simplifies deployment across hybrid networking environments where different applications require different networking standards.

Organizations can deploy the same adapter throughout multiple server platforms while selecting the protocol best suited for each workload. This reduces inventory complexity, simplifies maintenance, and improves long-term infrastructure planning.

EDR InfiniBand Advantages

EDR InfiniBand provides extremely low latency, deterministic communication, exceptional throughput, and advanced transport capabilities that are particularly beneficial within high-performance computing clusters, scientific research environments, engineering simulations, and artificial intelligence model training.

The combination of RDMA technologies and efficient transport protocols minimizes communication delays between compute nodes, allowing distributed applications to scale efficiently across large clusters.

100 Gigabit Ethernet Deployment

For enterprise networking environments based on Ethernet infrastructure, the adapter provides full 100GbE connectivity while supporting modern data center networking technologies. This enables seamless integration into existing Ethernet architectures while maintaining enterprise-grade performance characteristics.

PCI Express 3.0 x16 Interface Performance

Maximizing Data Transfer Efficiency

The PCI Express 3.0 x16 interface supplies sufficient bandwidth to support full utilization of both QSFP28 network ports. High-speed communication between the server motherboard and the network adapter minimizes internal bottlenecks that could otherwise limit network performance.

Large-scale databases, virtualization platforms, backup servers, storage gateways, and AI clusters benefit significantly from the available PCIe bandwidth, ensuring smooth operation even during sustained high-volume traffic.

Compatibility Across Enterprise Servers

The PCIe 3.0 x16 interface maintains compatibility with a broad range of enterprise servers from leading manufacturers. This allows organizations to deploy the adapter within existing infrastructure while extending the lifespan of current server investments.

Advanced RDMA Capabilities

Remote Direct Memory Access Technology

Remote Direct Memory Access enables systems to transfer data directly between memory locations without extensive processor involvement. This substantially reduces latency while improving throughput for latency-sensitive applications.

Applications including distributed databases, storage clusters, machine learning frameworks, virtualization platforms, and financial computing environments benefit greatly from RDMA acceleration.

Improved Application Responsiveness

By reducing communication delays, RDMA helps applications respond faster while improving consistency under heavy workloads. This contributes to improved user experience, faster transaction processing, and enhanced scalability across distributed computing environments.

Intelligent Hardware Offloading Technologies

TCP/IP Offload

The adapter incorporates hardware acceleration for TCP/IP processing, allowing networking tasks to be handled directly by the network controller rather than consuming valuable processor resources. This improves server efficiency while supporting higher overall workload capacity.

Checksum Offloading

Hardware checksum calculation reduces processor overhead during packet transmission and reception. The result is improved networking efficiency alongside lower CPU utilization.

Large Send and Receive Offload

Large packet processing technologies decrease interrupt frequency and improve overall network throughput. These optimizations become increasingly valuable within high-bandwidth enterprise environments.

Virtualization Performance Optimization

Cloud Infrastructure Support

The MCX556A-ECAT is engineered to support highly virtualized infrastructures where multiple virtual machines or containers share networking resources. Hardware-assisted virtualization technologies improve traffic isolation while maintaining consistent networking performance.

Cloud providers and enterprise virtualization administrators benefit from predictable network performance even when server utilization remains extremely high.

Virtual Machine Density

Reduced networking overhead enables administrators to deploy more virtual machines per server while maintaining acceptable performance levels. This improves infrastructure utilization and lowers operational costs.

Storage Networking Applications

High-Speed Storage Access

Enterprise storage systems increasingly depend upon ultra-fast networking to eliminate bottlenecks between servers and storage resources. The MCX556A-ECAT supports demanding storage workloads through high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity.

NVMe over Fabrics Support

NVMe over Fabrics deployments benefit from the adapter's RDMA capabilities, enabling storage devices to deliver near-local performance across the network while reducing access latency.

Enterprise Security Features

Secure Network Communications

Modern enterprise environments require networking hardware capable of supporting secure communication frameworks without sacrificing performance. The ConnectX-5 platform incorporates advanced capabilities that assist organizations in implementing secure networking architectures while maintaining high throughput.

Reliable Data Integrity

Hardware validation mechanisms help ensure data integrity throughout transmission, reducing errors and improving communication reliability across mission-critical enterprise networks.

Energy-Efficient Network Design

Optimized Power Consumption

Despite delivering exceptionally high networking performance, the MCX556A-ECAT is engineered for efficient power utilization. Intelligent hardware management technologies dynamically optimize resource consumption according to workload requirements.

Lower power usage contributes to reduced cooling requirements and improved operational efficiency within large-scale data centers.

RoHS R6 Compliance

Environmentally Responsible Manufacturing

The MCX556A-ECAT complies with RoHS R6 environmental standards, demonstrating adherence to internationally recognized regulations restricting hazardous substances within electronic equipment. Organizations seeking environmentally responsible IT infrastructure can confidently deploy this adapter while supporting sustainability initiatives.

Ideal Enterprise Deployment Scenarios

High-Performance Computing Clusters

Scientific simulations, engineering analysis, weather forecasting, financial modeling, and research computing environments benefit from the adapter's combination of extremely low latency and exceptional bandwidth.

Cloud Data Centers

Public cloud providers, private cloud infrastructures, and managed hosting environments utilize the adapter to deliver consistent networking performance across thousands of virtual workloads.

Enterprise Databases

Large relational databases, distributed database clusters, and in-memory database platforms require rapid communication between compute and storage resources. The MCX556A-ECAT helps reduce transaction latency while improving query performance.

Long-Term Infrastructure Investment

Scalable Enterprise Networking

The Mellanox MCX556A-ECAT ConnectX-5 VPI Adapter Card represents a future-ready networking solution that combines dual-port 100Gb connectivity, flexible VPI operation, PCIe 3.0 x16 performance, RDMA acceleration, intelligent hardware offloading, virtualization optimization, storage acceleration, AI networking capabilities, and enterprise-class reliability into a single adapter. Its balanced architecture enables organizations to modernize network infrastructure while maintaining compatibility, scalability, and operational efficiency across demanding enterprise computing environments.