MCX631102AS-ADAT Mellanox ConnectX-6 Lx EN Card 25GBE SFP28 PCI-E 4.0X8 Adapter

Mellanox MCX631102AS-ADAT ConnectX-6 PCIe Adapter Outline

The Mellanox MCX631102AS-ADAT ConnectX-6 Lx EN is a high-performance Ethernet network adapter engineered to deliver exceptional connectivity, low latency, and reliable data transfer for enterprise data centers, cloud computing platforms, virtualization environments, and modern storage infrastructures. Featuring dual SFP28 ports with support for Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and 25 Gigabit Ethernet connections, this adapter provides flexible networking options that scale with evolving business requirements.

Designed with a PCI Express 4.0 x8 interface, the ConnectX-6 Lx adapter maximizes bandwidth while maintaining backward compatibility with PCIe 3.0 systems. The Secure Boot feature enhances platform security by ensuring trusted firmware execution, while the No Crypto version complies with deployment environments requiring encryption-free hardware. Whether deployed in virtualization clusters, enterprise servers, software-defined networking, or high-speed storage applications, this network interface card delivers dependable performance, efficient packet processing, and outstanding reliability.

Main Information about this Mellanox MCX631102AS-ADAT

• Manufacturer: Mellanox
• Part Number: MCX631102AS-ADAT
• Product Type: Network Adapter
• Form Factor: Plug-in Card

Physical Specifications

• Host Interface: PCI Express 4.0 x8
• PCIe Support: PCIe 3.0 and PCIe 4.0
• Dimensions: 3.8 in x 2.7 in
• Ports: Dual SFP28

Flexible Multi-Speed Connectivity

• 1 Gigabit Ethernet
• 10 Gigabit Ethernet
• 25 Gigabit Ethernet
• Dual SFP28 optical or direct-attach cable connectivity

Benefits of PCIe Gen4

• Higher bandwidth between server and adapter
• Lower communication latency
• Improved application responsiveness
• Efficient support for virtualization workloads
• Excellent scalability for future infrastructure upgrades

Ideal Deployment Environments

• Enterprise data centers
• Cloud service providers
• Virtualization clusters
• Software-defined networking (SDN)
• Network function virtualization (NFV)
• Private and hybrid cloud environments
• Hyper-converged infrastructure
• High-performance computing (HPC)

Supported Network Protocols

• TCP/IP
• UDP/IP
• iSCSI
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 10 Gigabit Ethernet
• 25 Gigabit Ethernet

Supported IEEE Standards

• IEEE 802.1Q VLAN
• IEEE 802.1P Priority Tagging
• IEEE 802.3ad LACP
• IEEE 802.3ae
• IEEE 802.3ap
• IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet
• IEEE 802.1Qbb Priority Flow Control
• IEEE 802.1Qaz Enhanced Transmission Selection
• IEEE 802.1Qbg
• IEEE 1588v2 Precision Time Protocol
• IEEE 802.3by
• IEEE 1149.1
• IEEE 1149.6
• OCP 3.0

Key Features of Mellanox MCX631102AS-ADAT

• Dual-port 25GbE SFP28 network adapter
• Supports 1GbE, 10GbE, and 25GbE Ethernet connectivity
• PCI Express 4.0 x8 host interface
• Backward compatible with PCIe 3.0 platforms
• Secure Boot technology for enhanced firmware protection
• No Crypto hardware version for regulatory compliance
• Optimized for enterprise servers and cloud infrastructures
• Supports TCP/IP, UDP/IP, and iSCSI networking
• Designed for virtualization, storage, and data center networking

Mellanox MCX631102AS-ADAT 25GbE SFP28 2 Ports Adapter

The Mellanox MCX631102AS-ADAT ConnectX-6 Lx EN Card 25GbE SFP28 PCIe 4.0 x8 Secure Boot No Crypto 2 Ports Adapter is engineered to deliver enterprise-grade Ethernet connectivity for modern data centers, virtualization environments, cloud infrastructure, edge computing platforms, and high-performance enterprise networks. Designed with the advanced ConnectX-6 Lx architecture, this dual-port network interface card provides dependable 25 Gigabit Ethernet performance while maintaining excellent compatibility with current server platforms. Organizations seeking a reliable, scalable, and energy-efficient networking solution benefit from the combination of PCI Express 4.0 bandwidth, dual SFP28 interfaces, intelligent packet processing, and integrated Secure Boot technology. The No Crypto version is specifically designed for deployments where cryptographic acceleration is unnecessary while maintaining outstanding networking capabilities and advanced hardware reliability.

Advanced ConnectX-6 Lx Ethernet Adapter Architecture

The ConnectX-6 Lx family represents a significant advancement in Ethernet adapter technology by combining high throughput, reduced latency, enhanced virtualization support, and intelligent offloading capabilities. The Mellanox MCX631102AS-ADAT leverages this architecture to improve server efficiency while minimizing CPU utilization during network-intensive workloads. By shifting numerous networking operations from the processor to dedicated hardware acceleration, the adapter enables applications to achieve higher overall performance while preserving valuable compute resources for business-critical workloads.

Its PCIe 4.0 x8 interface supplies ample bandwidth between the server motherboard and the adapter, allowing applications to fully utilize dual 25GbE network connections without creating communication bottlenecks. This architecture is especially valuable in environments running virtual machines, software-defined storage, artificial intelligence workloads, container orchestration platforms, and large-scale enterprise databases.

Dual 25GbE SFP28 Connectivity

The dual-port SFP28 configuration provides two independent 25 Gigabit Ethernet connections, allowing organizations to increase bandwidth, improve redundancy, and simplify high-availability network designs. Each SFP28 port supports high-speed optical or Direct Attach Copper (DAC) cabling depending on deployment requirements. The flexibility of SFP28 interfaces enables administrators to select appropriate transceivers for short-distance rack deployments or long-distance fiber connections across enterprise campuses and data centers.

Dual-port connectivity also supports network redundancy through link aggregation, failover configurations, load balancing, and traffic separation. These capabilities ensure continuous application availability while maximizing available bandwidth across mission-critical infrastructure.

PCI Express 4.0 x8 High-Speed Interface

The PCI Express 4.0 x8 host interface significantly increases communication bandwidth between the adapter card and server platform. Compared to earlier PCIe generations, PCIe 4.0 delivers higher throughput that supports modern high-speed networking applications with minimal latency. This bandwidth improvement is especially important when handling simultaneous traffic across both 25GbE interfaces.

Servers equipped with PCIe Gen4 slots benefit from lower communication overhead, faster packet movement, and improved scalability for virtualization clusters, storage servers, cloud computing nodes, and high-density application servers.

Designed for Enterprise Data Centers

The Mellanox MCX631102AS-ADAT is developed specifically for demanding enterprise environments requiring continuous network availability, consistent throughput, and dependable hardware performance. Large organizations depend on network adapters that can process millions of packets while maintaining low latency under sustained workloads. The ConnectX-6 Lx platform fulfills these requirements through intelligent packet acceleration and optimized hardware processing.

Whether installed in private cloud infrastructure, enterprise virtualization clusters, financial institutions, research facilities, healthcare systems, educational campuses, or telecommunications networks, the adapter provides reliable Ethernet connectivity that supports both current workloads and future infrastructure expansion.

Cloud Computing Infrastructure

Cloud environments require network adapters capable of supporting thousands of simultaneous connections while maintaining predictable application response times. The ConnectX-6 Lx Ethernet adapter efficiently handles cloud-native workloads including virtual machines, Kubernetes clusters, distributed applications, and software-defined networking architectures.

Its hardware acceleration features reduce processor overhead, allowing cloud servers to dedicate more resources to tenant workloads rather than network processing tasks.

Virtualization Optimization

Virtualized environments place significant demands on server networking due to multiple operating systems sharing common physical resources. The MCX631102AS-ADAT supports advanced virtualization technologies that improve communication between virtual machines and physical networks while reducing latency and CPU consumption.

Support for technologies such as SR-IOV enables virtual machines to access hardware resources more directly, improving performance for enterprise applications while maintaining infrastructure flexibility.

Secure Boot Technology

Enhanced Hardware Integrity

One of the distinguishing features of this adapter is Secure Boot support. Secure Boot helps verify firmware authenticity during initialization, reducing the risk of unauthorized firmware modifications and helping organizations maintain trusted hardware environments. This feature supports enterprise security policies by ensuring only authenticated firmware executes during startup.

As organizations strengthen supply chain security and infrastructure protection, Secure Boot provides another layer of confidence in network hardware deployment without impacting normal networking performance.

No Crypto Configuration

The No Crypto edition is intended for deployments where cryptographic acceleration capabilities are not required. This configuration allows organizations operating under specific regulatory requirements or deployment policies to benefit from the advanced networking performance of ConnectX-6 Lx while utilizing the non-cryptographic hardware variant.

Despite omitting hardware cryptographic acceleration, the adapter retains its enterprise networking capabilities, hardware offloading functions, virtualization enhancements, and high-speed Ethernet performance.

Low Latency Network Performance

Optimized Packet Processing

Modern enterprise applications require predictable latency and consistent packet delivery. The ConnectX-6 Lx architecture incorporates advanced packet processing engines that accelerate networking functions while reducing software processing overhead. Hardware acceleration contributes to improved response times across latency-sensitive workloads such as database synchronization, cloud services, virtualization, media streaming, and distributed computing.

Reduced CPU Utilization

Intelligent offloading allows networking operations to be handled directly by the adapter instead of relying exclusively on the server processor. This approach reduces CPU utilization during heavy network traffic, enabling servers to allocate more computational power toward business applications, analytics, virtualization hosts, and storage services.

Improved Server Efficiency

By minimizing processor interruptions and accelerating networking tasks through dedicated hardware, organizations can improve server density, consolidate workloads, and increase overall infrastructure efficiency without sacrificing network responsiveness.

Support for Modern Networking Technologies

Comprehensive Ethernet Compatibility

The adapter supports modern Ethernet standards utilized throughout enterprise networking environments. Its flexible SFP28 connectivity enables deployment with compatible optical transceivers, active optical cables, and direct attach copper cables, allowing organizations to build infrastructure tailored to specific distance, performance, and budget requirements.

The flexible design simplifies migration from existing 10GbE deployments to faster 25GbE networks while preserving familiar Ethernet management practices and infrastructure planning methodologies.

Intelligent Network Offloading

The MCX631102AS-ADAT incorporates numerous hardware acceleration capabilities that improve packet handling efficiency across enterprise workloads. Offloaded operations reduce host processor intervention, increase throughput, and improve application responsiveness during sustained network activity.

These optimizations are particularly valuable for storage traffic, virtualization hosts, backup systems, cloud computing platforms, analytics clusters, and software-defined infrastructure.

Enterprise Storage Networking

Storage Performance Enhancement

Storage environments increasingly rely on high-speed Ethernet connectivity for efficient movement of large datasets. The dual 25GbE interfaces provide sufficient bandwidth for storage replication, backup operations, distributed file systems, and network-attached storage infrastructure.

Organizations deploying hyper-converged infrastructure benefit from the adapter's low latency characteristics and high packet processing capabilities, allowing storage communication to remain responsive even during periods of heavy utilization.

Backup and Disaster Recovery

Fast Ethernet connectivity significantly reduces backup windows while accelerating disaster recovery replication between storage systems. High-throughput networking allows organizations to move larger data volumes efficiently while minimizing operational disruption.

Server Compatibility and Integration

Flexible Platform Deployment

The PCI Express 4.0 x8 interface allows installation in numerous enterprise server platforms supporting compatible expansion slots. The standardized form factor simplifies upgrades for existing servers while supporting deployment within newly constructed infrastructure.

System administrators benefit from straightforward installation procedures, broad operating system compatibility, and support for enterprise-class server management environments.

Broad Operating System Support

The ConnectX-6 Lx platform supports multiple enterprise operating systems commonly deployed throughout business environments. Compatibility with Linux, Windows Server, VMware virtualization platforms, and additional enterprise operating systems enables seamless integration into heterogeneous infrastructures.

This broad compatibility allows organizations to standardize networking hardware across multiple server platforms while simplifying administration and long-term maintenance.

Network Reliability for Business-Critical Applications

Continuous Availability

Business-critical applications require uninterrupted network connectivity to maintain productivity and service availability. Dual-port networking provides multiple deployment options for redundancy, ensuring continued communication if one network path experiences interruption. High availability remains essential for enterprise databases, cloud applications, storage platforms, ERP systems, virtualization clusters, and customer-facing services.

Load Distribution

Multiple network interfaces allow administrators to distribute workloads efficiently across available connections. Balanced network traffic improves resource utilization while reducing congestion during periods of elevated application demand.

Fault Tolerance

Redundant network paths enhance infrastructure resilience by supporting automatic failover strategies. This capability minimizes service disruption while improving operational continuity across enterprise environments.

Energy-Efficient Enterprise Networking

Optimized Power Consumption

Modern data centers prioritize performance alongside operational efficiency. The ConnectX-6 Lx Ethernet adapter is engineered to provide high-speed networking while maintaining responsible power consumption characteristics. Reduced processor overhead and efficient hardware acceleration contribute to improved overall server energy utilization.

Organizations operating large-scale server environments benefit from improved power efficiency, lower cooling demands, and reduced operational costs without compromising networking performance.

Ideal Enterprise Applications

Business Deployment Scenarios

The Mellanox MCX631102AS-ADAT ConnectX-6 Lx EN Card is suitable for a wide variety of enterprise networking environments including virtualization hosts, cloud computing infrastructure, storage servers, enterprise databases, software-defined networking, container platforms, media production systems, telecommunications infrastructure, financial services, healthcare information systems, government data centers, educational research environments, and high-performance enterprise applications requiring dependable dual-port 25 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.

Long-Term Infrastructure Investment

Organizations planning long-term infrastructure modernization benefit from adopting advanced 25GbE Ethernet technology built upon the proven ConnectX-6 Lx architecture. Combining dual SFP28 connectivity, PCIe 4.0 x8 performance, Secure Boot protection, intelligent hardware acceleration, virtualization enhancements, efficient packet processing, and enterprise-class reliability, the Mellanox MCX631102AS-ADAT provides a scalable networking solution capable of supporting today's demanding workloads while remaining prepared for future expansion and evolving data center requirements.