SMUGDESK ConnectX-3 Pro Dual-Port 40/56GbE QSFP+ Network Card

Dual-Port 40/56GbE QSFP+ Adapter

The SMUGDESK ConnectX-3 Pro is a dual-port network interface card built on the Mellanox ConnectX-3 Pro chipset. It targets data-centre operators and HPC administrators who need high-throughput Ethernet connectivity for storage, virtualisation and cluster workloads. The card installs into mainstream rack servers or workstations via a standard PCIe slot. It suits environments requiring hardware-accelerated offloads to reduce CPU overhead.

40GbE and 56GbE throughput with 10G step-down

Each of the two QSFP+ ports auto-negotiates at 10, 40 or 56 Gbps, supporting both copper DAC cables and optical transceivers for flexible reach. The PCIe 3.0 x8 host interface delivers 8GT/s bandwidth, while backward compatibility with PCIe 2.0 and 1.1 slots ensures deployment in older chassis. Hardware offload handles TCP/UDP checksum, VXLAN, NVGRE and RoCE v1 RDMA, preserving CPU cycles under sustained load. Performance scales until the PCIe 3.0 x8 ceiling or cable limits are reached.

Full-height and low-profile brackets included

The package supplies both full-height and low-profile mounting brackets, allowing the same card to fit full-tower servers and slim rack units without extra procurement. A passive heatsink maintains stable operation across a 0 to 55 °C range for continuous IDC duty. Broad driver support covers Windows Server, Linux distributions, VMware ESXi and FreeBSD, simplifying integration into existing clusters. No additional software licences or active cooling accessories are bundled.