NVIDIA® ConnectX NIC Series Overview and Comparison

In today's data-driven world, high-performance networking is essential for powering the most demanding applications. As businesses and industries continue to embrace digital transformation, the need for efficient, scalable, and low-latency networking solutions has never been greater. The NVIDIA® ConnectX family of NICs leads the industry with advanced hardware offloading and acceleration, offering the best ROI and lowest total cost of ownership for hyperscale environments, clouds, storage, AI, and more.

To meet this demand, FS.com — a provider of high-speed network solutions — has joined the NVIDIA Partner Network (NPN). By working with NVIDIA, FS delivers smart networking solutions based on NVIDIA Spectrum Ethernet, Quantum InfiniBand, and BlueField DPU platforms, helping build next-generation data center architectures more efficiently and cost-effectively. This article provides an in-depth comparison of the various FS-provided NVIDIA® ConnectX series, helping you identify the best-fit solution for your workload and infrastructure needs.

NVIDIA® ConnectX Series Comprehensive Guide

The ConnectX series, including the ConnectX-5 EN, ConnectX-6 DX, ConnectX-6 Lx, and newer models like the ConnectX-7 and ConnectX-8, offers a comprehensive range of NICs designed to meet diverse networking requirements.

NVIDIA® ConnectX Ethernet Adapters

1. ConnectX-5 EN

Key Features:

High Performance:

Up to two 100GbE ports, 750ns latency, and 200 million messages per second

Storage Acceleration:

Hardware accelerations: T10-DIF, PCIe switch, NVMe-oF offloads

Efficient Offload:

Offloads Open vSwitch to improve packet processing and reduce CPU usage

Flexible Form Factors:

Supports PCIe Gen 3.0/4.0; available in PCIe, OCP 2.0, and OCP 3.0 with Multi-Host® and Socket Direct®

Use Cases: Ideal for cloud and telecom data centers, enhancing packet processing efficiency and reducing CPU usage. They also accelerate storage-intensive workloads with advanced hardware offloads like NVMe-oF and T10-DIF.

2. ConnectX-6 Lx

Key Features:

High Performance:

Provides connectivity at 25GbE speeds, with support for up to two 25GbE ports or one 50GbE port.

Security Features:

Offers advanced security capabilities for enterprise data centers.

Cost Efficiency:

Delivers the best total cost of ownership for modern infrastructure.

PCIe Support:

Compatible with PCIe Gen3 and Gen4 x8 host interfaces.

Use Cases: Ideal for cloud, data centers, and edge environments handling modern workloads.

3. ConnectX-6 Dx

Key Features:

High Performance:

Supports up to two 100Gb/s or one 200Gb/s Ethernet ports for enhanced throughput.

Network Offloads:

Offloads switching, routing, SR-IOV, and VirtIO to reduce CPU usage and improve efficiency.

Built-in Security:

Includes encryption and packet filtering for robust protection.

Storage Acceleration:

Enhances RoCE and NVMe-oF performance for modern storage workloads.

Use Cases: Optimized for cloud, data center workloads including security, AI, and storage.

4. ConnectX-7

Key Features:

High Throughput:

Up to four ports and 400Gb/s throughput for high-bandwidth needs.

Advanced Networking:

Supports ASAP2, RoCE, and GPUDirect Storage for high-performance networking.

Security Offloads:

Hardware acceleration for TLS, IPsec, and MACsec encryption/decryption.

Data Center Scalability:

Designed for cloud, telecommunications, AI, and enterprise workloads.

Use Cases: Optimized for cloud, telecommunications, AI, and enterprise data center workloads, especially in high-bandwidth and high-density environments.

NVIDIA® ConnectX InfiniBand Adapters

1. ConnectX-5

Key Features:

High Performance:

Up to two 100Gb/s ports for InfiniBand and Ethernet connectivity with low latency.

RDMA-enabled:

Provides advanced application offload capabilities for HPC, cloud hyperscale, and storage platforms.

Hardware Offloads:

Includes PCIe switch and NVMe over Fabrics offloads for improved efficiency.

Form Factor Options:

Available in PCIe Gen3/Gen4 and OCP Spec 2.0, with Multi-Host and Socket Direct technologies in selected models.

Use Cases: Designed for high-performance computing (HPC), cloud hyperscale, and storage platforms, particularly for environments requiring high-speed networking and offloads.

2. ConnectX-6

Key Features:

High Performance:

Up to two 200Gb/s InfiniBand and Ethernet ports with low latency and high message rate.

NVIDIA In-Network Computing:

Includes smart offloads and In-Network Computing acceleration for improved efficiency.

Broad Compatibility:

Works within the NVIDIA Quantum InfiniBand platform for scalability and performance.

Advanced Applications:

Designed to optimize performance for HPC, AI, cloud, hyperscale, and storage platforms.

Use Cases: Optimized for high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence, cloud, hyperscale, and storage platforms, where performance and scalability are critical.

3. ConnectX-7

Key Features:

High Speed:

Supports speeds up to 400Gb/s with InfiniBand and Ethernet protocols.

Scalable Solutions:

Offers advanced, scalable, and secure networking for various applications.

Broad Use Cases:

Designed to address both traditional enterprise needs and demanding workloads.

Support for Demanding Workloads:

Optimized for AI, scientific computing, and hyperscale cloud data center environments.

Use Cases: Designed for AI, scientific computing, and hyperscale cloud data center workloads, as well as traditional enterprise needs.

4. ConnectX-8

Key Features:

High Speed:

Supports up to 800Gb/s InfiniBand and Ethernet networking.

Optimized for AI:

Designed to accelerate hyperscale AI computing workloads.

Efficient Connectivity:

Delivers fast, efficient network connectivity for enhanced system performance.

Cloud Support:

Enhances performance in AI factories and cloud data center environments.

Use Cases: Optimized for hyperscale AI computing workloads, particularly for AI factories and cloud data center environments.

FS-Provided NVIDIA® NIC Comparison

FS offers a range of high-performance NVIDIA® Ethernet NICs and NVIDIA® InfiniBand NICs designed to meet the needs of various application scenarios. ConnectX NIC series supports speeds ranging from 25G to 400G, catering to the needs of small to large-scale enterprises and data centers. The following are NVIDIA® ConnectX series models offered by FS.

ConnectX Series	Products	Techonology	Ports	Host Interface	Data Transmission Rate	IB RDMA/RoCE
ConnectX-5 EN	MCX516A-CCAT	Ethernet	Dual-Port QSFP28	PCIe 3.0 x 16	100/50/40/25/10/1Gb/s	RoCE
	MCX515A-CCAT	Ethernet	Single-Port QSFP28	PCIe 3.0 x 16	100/50/40/25/10/1Gb/s	RoCE
ConnectX-6 Lx	MCX631102AN-ADAT	Ethernet	Dual-Port SFP28	PCIe 4.0 x 8	25/10/1Gb/s	RoCE
ConnectX-6 Dx	MCX623106AN-CDAT	Ethernet	Dual-Port QSFP56	PCIe 4.0 x 16	100/50/40/25/10/1Gb/s	RoCE
	MCX621202AC-ADAT	Ethernet	Dual-Port SFP28	PCIe 4.0 x 8	25/10/1Gb/s	RoCE
ConnectX-7	MCX75510AAS-NEAT	InfiniBand	Single-Port OSFP	PCIe 5.0 x 16	NDR/NDR200/HDR/HDR100/EDR/FDR/SDR	IB RDMA
ConnectX-6 VPI	MCX653105A-HDAT-SP	Ethernet, InfiniBand	Single-Port QSFP56	PCIe 4.0 x 16	HDR and 200Gb/s	IB RDMA, RoCE
	MCX653106A-ECAT-SP	Ethernet, InfiniBand	Dual-Port QSFP56	PCIe 4.0 x 16	HDR and 100Gb/s	IB RDMA, RoCE
	MCX653105A-ECAT-SP	Ethernet, InfiniBand	Single-Port QSFP56	PCIe 4.0 x 16	HDR and 100Gb/s	IB RDMA, RoCE
	MCX653106A-HDAT-SP	Ethernet, InfiniBand	Dual-Port QSFP56	PCIe 4.0 x 16	HDR and 200Gb/s	IB RDMA, RoCE
ConnectX-7 VPI	MCX75310AAS-NEAT	Ethernet, InfiniBand	Single-Port OSFP	PCIe 5.0 x 16	IB: NDR/NDR200/HDR/HDR100/EDR/FDR/SDR Eth: 400/200/100/50/40/10/1Gb/s	IB RDMA, RoCE
	MCX75310AAC-NEAT	Ethernet, InfiniBand	Single-Port OSFP	PCIe 5.0 x 16	IB: NDR/NDR200/HDR/HDR100/EDR/FDR/SDR Eth: 400/200/100/50/40/10/1Gb/s	IB RDMA, RoCE
	MCX755106AS-HEAT	Ethernet, InfiniBand	Dual-Port QSFP112	PCIe 5.0 x 16	IB: NDR200/HDR/HDR100/EDR/FDR/SDR Eth: 200/100/50/25/10Gb/s	IB RDMA, RoCE

This table compares the key features of FS offered NVIDIA® ConnectX series to help select the most suitable solution based on your organization's needs.

Summary

With the increasing demand for high-speed, low-latency, and scalable networking, choosing the right NIC is essential to maximize application performance and investment value. By reviewing the comparison tables and feature overviews, you can confidently identify the model that best aligns with your performance, scalability, and budget requirements. For personalized assistance, please visit FS.COM. Our experts are ready to help you find the ideal solution for your data center environment.