HPE 538696-B21 PCI Express Quad Port Gigabit Server Network Interface Adapter

Interface

The HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter is equipped with a PCI Express interface, which offers numerous benefits to users. As one of the most advanced and widely used connectivity interfaces, PCI Express ensures optimal performance, reliable data transfer, and enhanced capabilities.

Part Number 538696-B21: A Versatile Network Adapter

Key Manufacturer Information

• Manufacturer: HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise)
• Part Number: 538696-B21
• Product Category: 4-Port Network Adapter

Technical Specifications

Supported Network Standards

• Ethernet 10BASE-T
• Ethernet 100BASE-TX
• Ethernet 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet)

Data Link Protocols

• 10MB LAN
• 100MB LAN
• 1GB LAN (Gigabit LAN)

Data Transfer Speeds

• Up to 1 Gbps (Gigabits per second)

Processing and Memory

Processor Specifications

• Processor Model: Nx3031 (NetXen)
• Processor Count: 1

Memory Configuration

• RAM: 128 MB

Interface and Expansion Details

Ports and Connectivity

• 4 x 1000Base-T RJ-45 Ports

Expansion Slot Compatibility

• PCI Express 2.0 x4 Slot

Certifications and Compliance

Standards Met

• FCC Class B
• CSA Certified
• VCCI, EN55022, ICES-003
• EN55024, UL 60950, CISPR 22
• EMC, MIC, AS/NZS 3548
• FCC CFR47 Part 15, IEC 60950-1
• EN 60950-1

Environmental Operating Conditions

Temperature and Humidity

• Operating Temperature Range: 32°F to 131°F (0°C to 55°C)
• Operating Humidity Range: 10% to 90%

Compatibility and Supported Systems

Compatible HPE ProLiant Servers

• DL120 G6/G7 Series
• DL160 G6
• DL360 G6/G7 Series
• DL380 G6/G7 Series
• ML110 G7, ML150 G6
• SL160s/SL170z G6 Series
• DL585 G6/G7 Series
• DL980 G7

Storage Systems Compatibility

• HPE StorageWorks Network Storage System X1400 G2, X1500 G2, X1600 G2, X1800 G2

Benefits of PCI Express

1. High Bandwidth: The PCI Express interface provides high bandwidth capabilities, allowing for faster data transfer rates compared to older interfaces. This ensures that your server can handle large volumes of data efficiently and without any bottlenecks.

2. Scalability: The PCI Express interface is designed to be scalable, meaning that it can support various expansion cards and devices. This allows for easy upgrades and expansion of your server's capabilities without the need for additional hardware or complicated configurations.

3. Improved Performance: With its advanced architecture and dedicated point-to-point connections, PCI Express offers improved performance compared to other interfaces. It allows for simultaneous communication between multiple devices without any impact on speed or latency.

Importance of PCI Express

The PCI Express interface is crucial for modern servers as it enables them to handle the demanding requirements of today's applications and workloads. By utilizing PCI Express, the HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter ensures that your server can deliver optimal performance and responsiveness.

Compatibility

PCI Express has become the standard interface for most modern servers and devices, ensuring compatibility across a wide range of systems and components. The HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter is designed to work seamlessly with servers that support PCI Express interfaces, providing a hassle-free integration process.

Future-Proofing

Investing in a server network interface adapter with a PCI Express interface ensures future-proofing your infrastructure. As technology continues to evolve, PCI Express is expected to remain the dominant interface for years to come, ensuring compatibility and support for future hardware upgrades and expansions.

Enhanced Networking Capabilities

The PCI Express interface of the HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter allows for enhanced networking capabilities, enabling faster and more efficient data transmission. This is especially important in scenarios where high-speed networking is required, such as data centers or enterprise environments.

Improved Virtualization Performance

For users who rely on virtualization technologies, the PCI Express interface plays a vital role in improving performance. It enables efficient communication between virtual machines and the server's network interface adapter, minimizing latency and ensuring optimal virtualization performance.

Support for High-Speed Storage

In addition to networking capabilities, the PCI Express interface also supports high-speed storage devices. This means that the HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter can be used in conjunction with high-performance storage solutions, allowing for fast data access and retrieval.

Ports

The HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter features 4 ports, providing users with multiple connectivity options and increased flexibility. The presence of multiple ports offers several benefits that enhance the overall functionality and performance of your server.

Benefits of Multiple Ports

1. Increased Bandwidth: The availability of multiple ports allows for increased bandwidth, enabling simultaneous data transfer across multiple connections. This ensures that your server can handle high volumes of traffic without any performance degradation.

2. Load Balancing: With multiple ports, load balancing becomes possible. This means that incoming network traffic can be distributed evenly across the available ports, preventing any single port from becoming overloaded and maintaining optimal performance.

3. Redundancy and Failover: Having multiple ports also provides redundancy and failover capabilities. In the event of a port failure or network issue, the server can automatically switch to a functioning port, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity and minimizing downtime.

Importance of 4 Ports

The presence of 4 ports on the HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter offers significant advantages for users in various scenarios.

High-Density Environments

In high-density environments such as data centers, having 4 ports allows for efficient connectivity with multiple servers or network devices. This ensures that your server can handle the demanding requirements of such environments while maintaining optimal performance and reliability.

Network Segmentation

The availability of multiple ports enables network segmentation, which can be beneficial for security and performance optimization. By connecting different parts of your network to separate ports, you can isolate traffic and control access, improving overall network efficiency and security.

Link Aggregation

With 4 ports, the HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter supports link aggregation, also known as port trunking or bonding. Link aggregation combines multiple physical connections into a single logical connection, increasing overall bandwidth and providing redundancy.

Improved Throughput

By aggregating multiple ports, link aggregation enhances throughput by allowing data to be distributed across the available connections. This results in improved performance and faster data transfer rates, especially in scenarios with high bandwidth requirements.

Enhanced Redundancy

Link aggregation also offers enhanced redundancy as it allows for failover between the aggregated ports. In case of a port failure, traffic is automatically redirected to the remaining active ports, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity and minimizing the impact of hardware failures.

Speed

The HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter provides Gigabit speed, offering users fast and reliable network connectivity. The Gigabit speed feature is essential for handling bandwidth-intensive tasks and ensuring smooth operation in various environments.

Benefits of Gigabit Speed

1. Faster Data Transfer: With Gigabit speed, the HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter can transfer data at a rate of up to 1000 Mbps. This ensures that large files, multimedia content, and other bandwidth-intensive data can be transferred quickly and efficiently.

2. Improved Response Times: The high-speed capability of Gigabit Ethernet reduces latency and improves response times. This is particularly important in scenarios where real-time data processing or communication is required, such as video conferencing or online gaming.

3. Multimedia Streaming: Gigabit speed enables seamless streaming of multimedia content, including high-definition videos and audio. Whether it's streaming media within a local network or accessing media from external sources, Gigabit speed ensures smooth playback without buffering or interruptions.

Importance of Gigabit Speed

Gigabit speed is crucial for modern servers and network environments due to the increasing demands for high-bandwidth applications and services.

Network Intensive Tasks

Tasks such as large file transfers, video editing, and data backups require substantial network bandwidth. The Gigabit speed of the HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter ensures that these tasks can be completed quickly and efficiently without causing bottlenecks or slowdowns.

Data Center Applications

In data center environments where numerous servers are interconnected, Gigabit speed is essential for seamless communication and data transfer between servers. It enables efficient sharing of resources, facilitates virtualization technologies, and supports high-performance computing applications.

Future-Proofing Network Infrastructure

By adopting Gigabit speed, users can future-proof their network infrastructure. As the demand for faster and more reliable connectivity continues to grow, Gigabit Ethernet remains a standard requirement for modern networks. Investing in a Gigabit-capable server network interface adapter ensures compatibility with future network upgrades and expansions.

Compatibility with Existing Infrastructure

Gigabit Ethernet is backward compatible with older Ethernet standards, such as Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) and Ethernet (10 Mbps). This means that the HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter can seamlessly integrate into existing network infrastructures without the need for extensive upgrades or replacements.

Support for Virtualization

Gigabit speed is particularly beneficial for virtualized environments. It enables efficient communication between virtual machines and the network interface adapter, ensuring that virtualized applications can access resources and communicate with other devices without any performance degradation.

In conclusion, the HPE 538696-B21 Server Network Interface Adapter offers a powerful combination of a PCI Express interface, 4 ports, and Gigabit speed. These features provide users with enhanced performance, scalability, and flexibility for their server networking needs. Whether you require high-speed data transfer, increased connectivity options, or future-proofing your network infrastructure, this network interface adapter delivers the reliability and capabilities required in modern computing environments.