Network Card HPE 817738-B21 Internal Ethernet 10000 Mbit/s

The HPE 817738-B21 (HPE Ethernet 10Gb 2-port 562 Adapter) is an internal PCI Express network card that provides 10 Gbit/s wired Ethernet connectivity for servers and data center systems. It is designed to deliver high throughput and low latency while minimizing CPU utilization by offloading I/O packet processing to the adapter, making it suitable for environments that require efficient handling of large volumes of small packets.

Advantages

The adapter reduces CPU load by offloading packet processing and supports tunnel offloads (VXLAN, NVGRE) to enable distribution of network traffic across CPU cores. It accelerates small-packet processing through data plane frameworks such as DPDK and supports SR-IOV to increase virtual network performance. Backward compatibility with 1GBASE-T provides a straightforward upgrade path to 10GBASE-T.

Suitable for

• Data centers requiring high-performance 10G Ethernet connectivity
• Telco/NFV environments and network functions virtualization
• High-performance computing (HPC) clusters handling many small packets
• E‑commerce and enterprise servers with I/O‑intensive workloads

Key specifications

• Brand: HP Enterprise (HPE)
• Model / MPN: 817738-B21
• Product type: Internal network card (PCI Express)
• Maximum data transfer rate: 10000 Mbit/s (10 Gbit/s)
• Ports: 2-port 10Gb Ethernet
• Connectivity: Wired Ethernet
• Standards: IEEE 802.1Qbb, IEEE 1588, IEEE 802.1Q, IEEE 802.3x, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.3ae, IEEE 802.3ab, IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.1as, IEEE 802.1ad, IEEE 802.1Qbg, IEEE 802.1Qaz

How to use

Install the HPE 817738-B21 into an available PCI Express slot in the server following the server manufacturer’s service manual. Connect the server to the network using appropriate 10GBASE-T cabling or compatible transceivers. Install vendor drivers and firmware provided by HPE or the server vendor, then configure network settings and virtual functions (SR-IOV) or tunnel offloads (VXLAN/NVGRE) as required by your operating system and virtualization platform.

Recommendations

For optimal performance, use certified 10G cabling and keep firmware and drivers updated. Enable offloads and SR-IOV where supported by the OS and hypervisor to reduce CPU overhead. Verify compatibility with your server model and follow vendor guidance for thermal and power considerations.