HPE ETHERNET 10G/25G SFP28 x4

Data centers and high-performance computing clusters demand low-latency, high-bandwidth connectivity to keep virtualized workloads and storage traffic moving without bottlenecks. The HPE Ethernet 10G/25G SFP28 x4 adapter installs directly into a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, delivering four independent SFP28 ports that auto-negotiate between 10 and 25 Gigabit Ethernet. This quad-port card is built around the Mellanox ConnectX-5 EN controller, enabling advanced offloads and virtualization features that free up CPU cycles for applications rather than network processing.

Key specifications

• Four SFP28 ports supporting 10GbE and 25GbE speeds
• PCI Express 3.0 x16 host interface, low-profile form factor
• Mellanox ConnectX-5 EN controller chip
• RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) v2 for low-latency data movement
• SR-IOV with up to 128 virtual functions for efficient VM networking
• Hardware offloads for VXLAN, NVGRE, and NVMe over Fabrics
• Jumbo frame support up to 9.6 KB
• Typical power consumption: 18 W
• Compatible with Windows Server, RHEL, SLES, and VMware ESXi

Why choose it

This adapter is engineered for environments where every microsecond counts. RoCE v2 enables remote direct memory access, dramatically reducing latency for distributed storage and database clusters. SR-IOV allows a single physical port to be partitioned into multiple virtual functions, giving each VM near-native performance without hypervisor overhead. The ConnectX-5 EN chip also accelerates overlay network processing, so VXLAN and NVGRE encapsulation tasks don't consume valuable CPU resources.

Ideal use cases

• High-density server virtualization with VMware ESXi or KVM
• Software-defined storage (SDS) and hyper-converged infrastructure
• NVMe over Fabrics target and initiator deployments
• High-frequency trading and financial analytics platforms
• AI/ML training clusters requiring 25GbE east-west traffic

Good to know

The card includes both full-height and low-profile brackets, so it fits in 1U and 2U rack servers as well as tower workstations. Management is simplified with NC-SI for out-of-band monitoring and UEFI support for pre-boot configuration. HPE validates this adapter across its ProLiant and Apollo server lines, ensuring firmware compatibility and reliable performance under sustained load.