Network adapter INTEL E830-CQDA2 PCIe 5.0 x8, dual 10Gb / 100Gb Ethernet ports

The INTEL E830-CQDA2 PCIe 5.0 x8 network adapter delivers high-bandwidth connectivity for servers and high-performance workstations. It supports dual ports that can operate at 10Gb or 100Gb Ethernet speeds, and uses a PCIe 5.0 x8 interface to provide increased throughput and reduced latency. The adapter is engineered to handle virtualization, storage networking and data center traffic by offloading network processing tasks to dedicated hardware and maintaining consistent packet delivery under heavy load.

Advantages

The card provides dual-port flexibility with both 10Gb and 100Gb link support, enabling mixed-speed deployments without replacing hardware. PCIe 5.0 x8 interface increases available host bandwidth compared with previous PCIe generations. Built-in hardware offloads reduce CPU utilization for tasks such as checksum, segmentation and tunneling, improving overall system efficiency. The design focuses on low latency and reliable throughput, which is important for virtualization, storage and high-performance networking.

Suitable for

• Hypervisor hosts and virtual machine servers
• Storage area networks and high-throughput storage servers
• High-performance computing and data center top-of-rack servers
• Network aggregation and core switching environments

Key specifications

• Interface: PCI Express 5.0 x8
• Network ports: 2 physical Ethernet ports supporting 10Gb and 100Gb
• Supported link speeds: 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 100 Gigabit Ethernet
• Offload features: hardware acceleration for checksum, segmentation and tunneling
• Latency: optimized for low-latency packet processing
• Form factor: standard full-height add-in card suitable for server chassis

How to use

Install the adapter into an available PCIe 5.0 x8 (or compatible) slot on the host motherboard, secure the card to the chassis and connect SFP+/QSFP+ modules or cables appropriate to the chosen link speed. Ensure the host system firmware and operating system network drivers are up to date and configured to recognize the adapter. Configure network settings, VLANs and teaming in the OS or hypervisor management tool as required for your environment. Monitor link status and performance using standard network management tools.

Recommendations

Use vendor-supported transceivers that match the desired 10Gb or 100Gb links and follow INTEL driver and firmware guidance to ensure full feature support and stability. For best performance, pair the adapter with PCIe 5.0-capable motherboards and allocate appropriate CPU and memory resources when deploying in virtualized or storage-heavy configurations.