MCX512A-ACAT Mellanox Connectx 5 Dual Port 10 25gbe Sfp28 EN Adapter Card PCIe 3

The NVIDIA ConnectX-5 EN MCX512A-ACAT is a dual-port 25GbE Ethernet adapter card designed for data centers that demand high throughput, low latency, and efficient server utilization. Built on the ConnectX-5 architecture, this adapter supports 25GbE, 10GbE, and 1GbE speeds, providing seamless migration from 10GbE to 25GbE infrastructure. With ultra-low latency, high message rate, and PCIe 3.0 x8 host interface, the MCX512A-ACAT delivers industry-leading performance for virtualized and bare-metal environments. Key capabilities include RoCE (RDMA over Converged Ethernet), SR-IOV virtualization with up to 512 Virtual Functions, ASAP2 accelerated switching and packet processing for vSwitch/vRouter offloads, NVMe over Fabric offloads, T10-DIF Signature Handover, comprehensive overlay network offloads (VXLAN, NVGRE, GENEVE), and UEFI support. This adapter is available in a low-profile PCIe form factor and is ideal for top-of-rack server connectivity.

The ConnectX-5 EN ASIC delivers record-setting performance with advanced acceleration engines. Key technological innovations include:

• PeerDirect (GPUDirect) – Eliminates unnecessary PCIe data copies between GPU and CPU, accelerating HPC, AI, and machine learning workloads.
• Adaptive Routing on Reliable Transport – Enables out-of-order RDMA and adaptive routing for optimized fabric utilization.
• Tag Matching and Rendezvous Offloads – Hardware offload of MPI tag matching and rendezvous protocol, reducing CPU overhead in HPC clusters.
• Burst Buffer Offloads – Hardware acceleration for background checkpointing in large-scale simulations and ML training.
• Embedded PCIe Switch – Supports up to 8 bifurcations, enabling host chaining and elimination of backend switches in storage racks.
• On-Demand Paging (ODP) – Registration-free RDMA memory access, simplifying application development.
• Extended Reliable Connected (XRC) and Dynamically Connected Transport (DCT) – Scales RDMA to tens of thousands of nodes.
• T10-DIF Signature Handover – Hardware-based data integrity protection for storage workloads at wire speed.

The MCX512A-ACAT is compatible with a wide range of operating systems: RHEL/CentOS, Ubuntu, Windows Server, FreeBSD, VMware ESXi, and Citrix XenServer. It supports standard 25GbE SFP28 optics, passive DAC cables, active optical cables (AOC), and breakout configurations. The adapter integrates seamlessly with NVIDIA Spectrum switches and any standards-based 10GbE/25GbE infrastructure. Software support includes OFED (OpenFabrics Enterprise Distribution), DPDK, and WinOF-2 for Windows. UEFI support enables modern server boot environments.

Hong Kong Starsurge provides end-to-end support for NVIDIA/Mellanox adapters, including compatibility verification, firmware updates, and technical troubleshooting. Standard warranty aligns with NVIDIA's limited hardware warranty (1 year return-and-repair). Extended support options are available upon request. Our team can assist with driver installation, performance tuning, RoCE configuration, and integration into existing server, storage, and network environments.

1. Confirm server has an available PCIe x8 (or larger) slot – Gen 3.0 or higher.
2. Determine required cable type: passive DAC (short distance), active optical (medium distance), or optical transceivers (long distance) for 25GbE operation.
3. Verify operating system driver availability from NVIDIA/Mellanox official site (latest OFED or inbox drivers).
4. Ensure your switch supports 25GbE SFP28 ports (most modern top-of-rack switches do).
5. For RoCE deployments, confirm switch support for DCB (PFC, ETS, ECN) and congestion notification.
6. For NVMe-oF target offloads, verify your storage software stack compatibility.
7. If upgrading from 10GbE, confirm existing SFP+ optics can be used at 10GbE mode on this adapter.
8. For UEFI boot, verify server firmware compatibility.

• RoCE Deployment Guide for ConnectX-5 Series
• 25GbE Migration: Best Practices from 10GbE to 25GbE
• ASAP2 Open vSwitch Offload Configuration Guide
• NVMe over Fabric with ConnectX-5 Best Practices
• SR-IOV Configuration on VMware ESXi with Mellanox Adapters

Hong Kong Starsurge Group Co., Limited is a technology-driven provider of network hardware, IT services, and system integration since 2008. Serving government, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, education, and enterprise clients worldwide. We deliver switches, NICs, wireless solutions, IoT systems, and custom software with multilingual support and global delivery. With a customer-first approach, Starsurge ensures reliable quality, responsive service, and tailored network infrastructure solutions.