CX516A 2x 100GbE QSFP28 Interface Inteligent RDMA Ethernet Adpater 

 1. CX516A is a PCIE Gen 4.0 X16 (256Gb/s Bandwidth) Interface to Dual 100GbE QSFP28 Fiber Ports Intelligent RDMA Ethernet Adapter. Powered by the Mellanox ConnectX-5 EX converged Ethernet controller, it delivers 2x 100GbE network connections simultaneously to servers, with advanced application offloading capabilities optimized for Web 2.0, cloud, storage and telco environments.
2. Ethernet Controller: Mellanox ConnectX-5 EX MT28808A0; Bus Interface: PCIE Gen 4.0 x16; Ethernet Speed: 2x 100GbE (200GbE Totally); Connector Type: 2x QSFP28 Fiber Ports; Remote Boot: RoCE, PXE, iSCSI; Supports RDMA over RoCE; Support I/O Virtualization and SR-IOV; Support Overlay Networks by providing advanced VXLAN, NVGRE, MPLS, GENEVE, and NSH. Storage Protocols: SRP, ISER, NFS RDMA, SMB Direct, NVME-OF.
3. Support IEEE 802.3cd, 50Gb/s and 100Gb/s; IEEE 802.3bj, 802.3bm 100Gb/s; IEEE 802.3by 25Gb/s, 50Gb/s; IEEE 802.3ba 40Gb/s; IEEE 802.3ae 10Gb/s; IEEE 802.3az; IEEE 802.3ap; IEEE 802.3ad; 802.1AX Link Aggregation; IEEE 802.1Q; 802.1P VLAN tags and priority; IEEE 802.1Qau Congestion Notification; IEEE 802.1Qaz; IEEE 802.1Qbb; IEEE 802.1Qbg; IEEE 1588 V2; Support Jumbo frame (9.6KB).
4. PCIE Gen 4.0 Standard, 16Gb/s Per Lane. PCIE X16 Interface, 256Gb/s Bandwidth Totally, Ensure 2X QSFP28 Fiber Ports Archive 100GbE Speed Simultaneously. Auto-Negotiates to PCIE x8, x4 Lane. Auto-Switch to PCIE Gen 5.0, Gen 4.0, Gen 3.0 and Gen 2.0. Support MSI/MSI-X mechanisms. PCIE switch Downstream Port Containment Enablement for PCIE Hot-Plug.
5. Support plug and play on Windows 11, 10 64bit and Windows Server 2012, 2012R2, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2025 64bit. Compatible with RHEL, CentOS, FreeBSD, VMware and other Linux kernel-based systems. ATTENTION: The Linkstek CX516A serves as a drop-in alternative to the MCX516A-CDAT for server applications.
6. Support Open Fabrics Enterprise Distribution (OFED) and Open Fabrics Windows Distribution (WinOF-2). Compatible with QSFP28 Transceivers, QSFP28 DAC cables and QSFP28 AOC cables with 50GbE, 100GbE, 200GbE PAM4 ethernet links. 

Technical Specifications:

A.  1. Select the Mellanox ConnectX-5 EX MT28808A0 converged ethernet controller, provide 2X 100GbE ports on Servers or PCs will reduce the power consumption. 2. Will works on Intel, ARM and AMD platform. 

B. Support IEEE 802.3cd, 50Gb/s and 100Gb/s; IEEE 802.3bj, 802.3bm 100Gb/s; IEEE 802.3by 25Gb/s, 50Gb/s; IEEE 802.3ba 40Gb/s; Support IEEE 802.3ae 10Gb/s;

C.  1. Plug and play on Windows Server 2025, 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012R2, 2012 systems. 2. NO Need to install driver on Windows 11, 10, 8.x 32/64bit systems. 3. Compatible with RHEL, CentOS, FreeBSD, VMware and other Linux kernel systems. 

D.  1. PCI Express x16 interface design, will works on PCIE x16 LANE slot ONLY. 2. PCIE version 4.0 standard, will compatible with PCIE 3.x, 4.x and 5.x standard. Provide 256Gbps Bus speed, ensure 2X QSFP28 hit 100GbE max speed simultaneously. 

E.  1. Support 100Gb/s, 50Gb/s, 40Gb/s, 25Gb/s and 10Gb/s standard, when using QSFP28 transceivers. 2. Support 100GbE, 50GbE or 40GbE only when connected DAC or AOC Cables. 3. CX516A MUST works with QSFP28 transceivers, direct attach twin axial cable ( DAC up to 10meters) and AOC cables. 

F.  1. Full height bracket mounted on the PCIE nic adapter will supports full height Server or PCs. 2. The Low profile bracket in the package, will works on Slim PCs. 

CX516A is a PCIE Gen 4.0 x16 to dual 100GbE QSFP28 fiber ports intelligent RDMA Ethernet adapter. Operating at the PCIE Gen 4.0 standard with a PCIE x16 interface, it delivers a total bandwidth of 256Gb/s, ensuring both QSFP28 fiber ports achieve 100GbE network connectivity simultaneously. Based on the Mellanox ConnectX-5 EX MT28808A0 converged Ethernet controller, it provides dual 100GbE network connections with advanced application offload capabilities for Web 2.0, cloud, storage and telco servers. It supports I/O virtualization with SR-IOV technology, providing dedicated adapter resources and guaranteed isolation and protection for virtual machines (VMs) within the server. It also supports Network Function Virtualization, allowing a VM to act as a virtual appliance. Full data path operation offloading, hairpin hardware capabilities and service chaining enable data to be processed by the virtual appliance with minimal CPU utilization. It supports overlay networks including VXLAN, NVGRE, MPLS, GENEVE and NSH. In addition, it supports RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE), delivering efficient low-latency and high-performance RDMA services that greatly enhance storage application performance.

Ethernet Specification:

Support IEEE 802.3cd, 50Gb/s and 100Gb/s; IEEE 802.3bj, 802.3bm 100Gb/s;

IEEE 802.3by 25Gb/s, 50Gb/s; IEEE 802.3ba 40Gb/s; Support IEEE 802.3ae 10Gb/s;

IEEE 802.3az; IEEE 802.3ap; IEEE 802.3ad; 802.1AX Link Aggregation; IEEE 802.1Q;

802.1P VLAN tags and priority; Support IEEE 802.1Qau Congestion Notification;

IEEE 802.1Qaz; IEEE 802.1Qbb; IEEE 802.1Qbg; IEEE 1588 V2; Support Jumbo frame (9.6KB).

Compatible System:

Support plug and play on Windows 11, 10 64bit and Windows Server 2012, 2012R2, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2025 64bit.

Compatible with RHEL, CentOS, FreeBSD, VMware and other Linux kernel systems.

Package List: 1X CX516A, 1X Low Profile Bracket.

ATTENTION: The Linkstek CX516A serves as a drop-in alternative to the MCX516A-CDAT for server applications.