Mellanox Technologies ConnectX 3 Pro User manual

www.mellanox.com
ConnectX®-3 Pro 10Gb/s Ethernet Single and
Dual SFP+ Port Network Interface Card User
Manual for Open Compute Project
P/N:
MCX341A-XCPN, MCX342A-XCPN, MCX341A-XCQN, MCX342A-XCQN
Rev 1.1

Document Number: MLNX-15-3455
Rev 1.1
Mellanox Technologies
2
Mellanox Technologies
350 Oakmead Parkway Suite 100
Sunnyvale, CA 94085
U.S.A.
www.mellanox.com
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
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ConnectX®-3 Pro 10Gb/s Ethernet Single and Dual SFP+ Port Network Interface Card User Manual for OCP Rev 1.1
Mellanox Technologies 3
Table of Contents
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
About this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Chapter 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.1 ProductOverview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.2 FeaturesandBenefits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3 OperatingSystems/Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.4 Connectivity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 2 Interfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 EthernetInterface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 PCIExpress Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3 I2C-compatibleInterface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.4 LEDInterface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.5 Network Controller SidebandInterface (NC-SI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 3 Hardware Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.1 SystemRequirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.1.1 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.1.2 Operating Systems/Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.1.3 Software Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2 SafetyPrecautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.3 Pre-installationChecklist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.4 CardInstallationInstructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.5 Cablesand Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.6 Identify the Card in Your System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.6.1 On Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.6.2 On Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Chapter 4 Driver Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.1 LinuxDriver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.1.1 Hardware and Software Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.1.2 Installing the Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.1.3 Loading the Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1.4 Unloading the Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1.5 Uninstalling the Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.2 WindowsDriver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.2.1 Hardware and Software Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.2.2 Downloading MLNX_WinOF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.2.3 Extracting Files Without Running Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.2.4 Installing MLNX_WinOF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.2.4.1 Attended Installation 23
4.2.4.2 Unattended Installation 28
4.2.5 Upgrading MLNX_WinOF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.2.6 Installation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.2.7 OpenSM Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.2.8 Uninstalling MLNX_WinOF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.2.8.1 Attended Uninstall 31
4.2.8.2 Unattended Uninstall 31

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4.2.9 Assigning Port IP After Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.3 VMwareDriver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.3.1 Installing and Running the VBI Driver on ESXi-5.x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.3.2 Installing and Running the offline_bundle Driver on ESXi-5.x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.3.3 Removing the VIB/offline_bundle Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.4 FlexBoot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Chapter 5 Updating Card Firmware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chapter 6 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.1 General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
6.2 Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.3 Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Chapter 7 Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
7.1 MCX341A-XC[P/Q]NSpecifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
7.2 MCX342A-XC[P/Q]NSpecifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
7.3 Board Mechanical Drawing and Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
7.4 AdapterLEDOperation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Appendix A Finding the MAC and Serial Number on the Card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
A.1 Retrieving Card GUID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Appendix B Interface Connectors Pinout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
B.1 PCI Express x8 Connector Pinout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
B.2 I2C-compatible Connector Pinout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
B.3 NC-SI Interface Pinout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Appendix C Safety Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Appendix D Avertissements de sécurité d’installation (Warnings in French). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Appendix E Sicherheitshinweise (Warnings in German). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Appendix F Advertencias de seguridad para la instalación (Warnings in Spanish) . . . . . . . . . 56

ConnectX®-3 Pro 10Gb/s Ethernet Single and Dual SFP+ Port Network Interface Card User Manual for OCP Rev 1.1
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List of Figures
Figure 1: I2C Harness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Figure 2: PCI Device (Example). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Figure 3: Support Download Assistant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Figure 4: Mechanical Drawing of the Single-port MCX341A Mezzanine Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Figure 5: Mechanical Drawing of the Dual-port MCX342A Mezzanine Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Figure 6: MCX341A-XCPN Board Label (Example only - see Note) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Figure 7: MCX341A-XCQN Board Label (Example only - see Note). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Figure 8: MCX342A-XCPN Board Label (Example only - see Note) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Figure 9: MCX342A-XCQN Board Label (Example only - see Note). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Figure 10: PCIe Connector Pinout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Figure 11: Compatible Connector Plug and Pinout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Figure 12: NC-SI Interface Pinout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

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List of Tables
Table 1: Revision History Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Table 2: Documents List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Table 3: Single and Dual-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Network Interface Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Table 4: Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Table 5: Software and Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Table 6: Software and Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Table 7: MCX341A-XC[P/Q]N Specifications Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Table 8: MCX342A-XC[P/Q]N Specifications Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Table 9: Physical and Logical Link Indication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Table 10: I2C-compatible Connector Pinout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

ConnectX®-3 Pro 10Gb/s Ethernet Single and Dual SFP+ Port Network Interface Card User Manual for OCP Rev 1.1
Mellanox Technologies 7
Revision History
This document was printed on January 17, 2016.
Table 1 - Revision History Table
Date Rev Comments/Changes
January 2016 1.1 Updated Section 3.4, “Card Installation Instructions,” on page 15.
January 2015 1.0 First Release

Rev 1.1
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About this Manual
This User Manual describes Mellanox Technologies ConnectX®-3 Pro 10 Gigabit Ethernet Single
and Dual SFP+ Port PCI Express x8 network interface cards. It provides details as to the interfaces
of the board, specifications, required software and firmware for operating the board, and relevant
documentation.
Intended Audience
This manual is intended for the installer and user of these cards.
The manual assumes basic familiarity with Ethernet networks and architecture specifications.
Related Documentation
Table 2 - Documents List
Mellanox Firmware Tools (MFT) User Manual
Document no. 2204UG User Manual describing the set of MFT firmware management
tools for a single node.
See http://www.mellanox.com => Products => Software => Firm-
ware Tools
MLNX_EN for Linux README Driver Kit
for Mellanox Adapter Cards with 10GigE
Support
Document no. 2950
This document provides information on the MLNX_EN Linux
driver and instructions for installing the driver on Mellanox Con-
nectX adapter cards supporting 10Gb/s Ethernet.
Mellanox OFED for Linux
User Manual
Document no. 2877
User Manual describing OFED features, performance, InfiniBand
diagnostic, tools content and configuration.See http://www.mella-
nox.com => Products => Software => Linux SW/Drivers => Mel-
lanox OpenFabrics Enterprise Distribution for Linux
(MLNX_OFED)
WinOF VPI for Windows
User Manual
Document no. 3280
User Manual describing WinOF features, performance, InfiniBand
diagnostic, tools content and configuration. See http://www.mella-
nox.com => Products => Software => Windows SW/Drivers =>
Mellanox OFED for Windows (WinOF)
Mellanox MLX4_EN Driver for VMware
README
Document no. 3527
User Manual describing MLX4_EN driver for VMware features,
performance, diagnostic, tools content and configuration. See
http://www.mellanox.com => Products => Software => Ethernet
Drivers => VMware Drivers
IEEE Std 802.3 Specification This is the IEEE Ethernet specification
http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802
PCI Express 3.0 Specifications Industry Standard PCI Express 3.0 Base and Card Electromechanical
Specifications

ConnectX®-3 Pro 10Gb/s Ethernet Single and Dual SFP+ Port Network Interface Card User Manual for OCP Rev 1.1
Mellanox Technologies 9
Online Resources
• Mellanox Technologies web pages: http://www.mellanox.com
• Mellanox Technologies Firmware download web page:
http://www.mellanox.com => Support => Download Center
Document Conventions
When discussing memory sizes, MB and MBytes are used in this document to mean size in mega
bytes. The use of Mb or Mbits (small b) indicates size in mega bits.
Technical Support
Customers who purchased Mellanox products directly from Mellanox are invited to contact us
through the following methods.
•URL:http://www.mellanox.com => Support
• E-mail: [e-mail]
• Tel: [phone]
Customers who purchased Mellanox M-1 Global Support Services, please see your contract for
details regarding Technical Support.
Customers who purchased Mellanox products through a Mellanox approved reseller should first
seek assistance through their reseller.
Firmware and Software Updates
The Mellanox support downloader contains software, firmware and knowledge database informa-
tion for Mellanox products. Access the data base from the Mellanox Support web page,
http://www.mellanox.com => Support
or use the following link to go directly to the Mellanox Support Download Assistant page,
http://www.mellanox.com/supportdownloader/.

IntroductionRev 1.1
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1 Introduction
This is the User Guide for Mellanox Technologies Ethernet network interface cards based on
the ConnectX®-3 Pro EN integrated circuit device for Open Compute Project (OCP). These
cards' connectivity provide the highest performing and most flexible interconnect solution
for PCI Express Gen3 servers used in Enterprise Data Centers, High-Performance
Computing, and Embedded environments
This chapter covers the following topics:
•Section 1.1, “Product Overview,” on page 10
•Section 1.2, “Features and Benefits,” on page 11
•Section 1.3, “Operating Systems/Distributions,” on page 12
•Section 1.4, “Connectivity,” on page 12
1.1 Product Overview
The following tables provide the ordering part number, port speed, number of ports, and PCI
Express speed.
Table 4 - Single and Dual-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Network Interface Cards
Ordering Part Number (OPN) MCX341A-XCPN, MCX341A-XCQN
MCX342A-XCPN, MCX342A-XCQN
Data Transmission Rate 10GigE
Number of ports
MCX341A-XCPN: single-port SFP+
MCX342A-XCPN: dual-port SFP+
MCX341A-XCQN: single-port SFP+ with IPMI and NC-SI support
MCX342A-XCQN: dual-port SFP+ with IPMI and NC-SI support
PCI Express SERDES Speed PCIe 3.0 x8 8GT/s
RoHS R6
Adapter IC Part Number MT27524A0-FCCR-BE

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1.2 Features and Benefits
Table 5 - Features
PCI Express (PCIe) Uses PCIe Gen 3.0 (1.1 and 2.0 compatible) through an x8 edge connector up to
8GT/s
10 Gigabit Ethernet
Mellanox cards comply with the following IEEE 802.3* standards:
IEEE Std 802.3-2008 Ethernet
IEEE Std 802.3ae 10 Gigabit Ethernet
IEEE Std 802.3ba 40 Gigabit Ethernet
IEEE Std 802.3ad Link Aggregation and Failover
Memory
PCI Express - stores and accesses Ethernet fabric connection information and
packet data
SPI - includes one 4MB SPI Flash device (W25Q32FVSSIG device by WIN-
BOND-NUVOTON)
EEPROM - accessible through the I2C-compatible interface. The EEPROM
capacity is 4KB.
RDMA over Converged
Ethernet (RoCE) Leveraging Data Center Bridging capabilities, RoCE provides efficient low
latency RDMA services over Layer 2 Ethernet.
CPU offload Adapter functionality enabling reduced CPU overhead allowing more available
CPU
Sockets Acceleration
Applications utilizing TCP/UDP/IP transport can achieve industry leading
throughput over 10GbE. The hardware-based stateless offload engines in Con-
nectX-3 Pro reduce the CPU overhead of IP packet transport. Sockets accelera-
tion software further increases performance for latency sensitive applications.
Quality of Service (QoS) Support for port-based Quality of Service enabling various application require-
ments for latency and SLA
Hardware-based I/O
virtualization ConnectX-3 Pro provides dedicated adapter resources and guaranteed isolation
and protection for virtual machines within the server.
Virtualized Overlay
Networks
ConnectX-3 Pro effectively addresses the increasing demand for an overlay net-
work, enabling superior performance by introducing advanced NVGRE and
VXLAN hardware offload engines that enable the traditional offloads to be per-
formed on the encapsulated traffic. With ConnectX-3 Pro, data center operators
can decouple the overlay network layer from the physical NIC performance, thus
achieving native performance in the new network architecture.
SR-IOV
ConnectX-3 Pro SR-IOV technology provides dedicated adapter resources and
guaranteed isolation and protection for virtual machines (VM) within the server.
I/O virtualization with ConnectX-3 Pro gives data center managers better server
utilization while reducing cost, power, and cable complexity.

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1.3 Operating Systems/Distributions
• Novell SLES, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), Fedora, CentOS and other Linux dis-
tributions.
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008/CCS 2003, HPC Server 2008
• OpenFabrics Enterprise Distribution (OFED)
• OpenFabrics Windows Distribution (WinOF)
• VMware ESX Server 3.5, vSphere 4.0/4.1
1.4 Connectivity
• Interoperable with 10GbE switches
• Passive copper cable with ESD protection
• Powered connectors for optical and active cable support
• QSFP to SFP+ connectivity through QSA module
• Passive copper cable with ESD protection

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2 Interfaces
Each network interface card includes the following interfaces:
•“Ethernet Interface”
•“PCI Express Interface”
•“I2C-compatible Interface”
•“LED Interface”
•“Network Controller Sideband Interface (NC-SI)”
2.1 Ethernet Interface
The network ports of the ConnectX®-3 Pro network interface cards are compliant with the IEEE
802.3 Ethernet standards listed in Table 5, “Features,” on page 11.
2.2 PCI Express Interface
The ConnectX®-3 Pro network interface cards support PCI Express 3.0 (1.1 and 2.0 compatible)
through an x8 edge connector. The device can be either a master initiating the PCI Express bus
operations or a slave responding to PCI bus operations. The following lists the PCIe interface
features:
• PCIe Base 3.0 compliant, 1.1 and 2.0 compatible
• 2.5, 5.0, or 8.0GT/s link rate x8
• Auto-negotiates to x8, x4, x2, or x1
• Support for MSI/MSI-X mechanisms
2.3 I2C-compatible Interface
A three hole footprint for I2C harness is provided as the I2C-compatible interface. See Figure 1.
Figure 1: I2C Harness

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2.4 LED Interface
There are two I/O LEDs per port. For LED specifications please refer to Section 7.4, “Adapter
LED Operation,” on page 43.
2.5 Network Controller Sideband Interface (NC-SI)
The adapter supports a slave Network Controller Sideband Interface (NC-SI) that can be con-
nected to a BMC. The adapter's NC-SI implementation supports all mandatory NC-SI commands
specified in the Network Controller Sideband Interface (NC-SI) Specification, Rev. 1.0.0a.
When the ConnectX-3 Pro network controller drive is running (on the main CPU) messages that
target the adapter's NC-SI are forwarded by the adapter to the host memory, the adapter then
fetches the message from the host memory and forwards it to the BMC over the NC-SI interface.
When the main CPU is powered-down or the adapter network controller is not running, messages
that target the adapter's NC-SI are forwarded directly by the adapter to the BMC using the NC-SI
interface without being copied to the host memory.
See Appendix B.3, “NC-SI Interface Pinout,” on page 49.

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3Hardware Installation
3.1 System Requirements
3.1.1 Hardware
This card requires a PCI Express connector as specified in the Open Compute Project Intel Moth-
erboard spec v2.0.
3.1.2 Operating Systems/Distributions
Please refer to Section 1.3, “Operating Systems/Distributions,” on page 12.
3.1.3 Software Stacks
Mellanox OpenFabric software package - MLNX_EN for Linux, WinOF for Windows and ESX
5.1 for VMware. See Chapter 4, “Driver Installation”.
3.2 Safety Precautions
1. Remove any metallic objects from your hands and wrists.
2. Make sure to use only insulated tools.
3. Verify that the system is powered off and is unplugged.
4. It is strongly recommended to use an ESD strap or other antistatic devices.
3.3 Pre-installation Checklist
1. Verify that your system meets the hardware and software requirements stated above.
2. Shut down your system if active.
3. After shutting down the system, turn off power and unplug the cord.
4. Remove the card from its package. Please note that the card must be placed on an antistatic
surface.
5. Check the card for visible signs of damage. Do not attempt to install the card if damaged.
3.4 Card Installation Instructions
Read all installation instructions before connecting the equipment to the power source.
The cards require a PCI Express x4 or x8 Mezzanine connector. Please consult the host machine
documentation for instructions on how to install a PCI Express Mezzanine connector.
The card is being installed in a system that operates with voltages that can be lethal.
Before opening the case of the system, observe the following precautions to avoid
injury and prevent damage to system components.
This product is with no bracket which is usually a part of the connector cage protec-
tion. Please refrain from touching the cage directly during installation.

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3.5 Cables and Modules
To obtain the list of supported cables for your NIC, go to www.mellanox.com => Products =>
Cables and Transceivers.
3.6 Identify the Card in Your System
3.6.1 On Windows
1. Open Device Manager on the server. Click start => Run, and then enter “devmgmt.msc”.
2. Expand System Devices and locate your Mellanox ConnectX-3 Pro network interface card.
3. Right click the mouse on your card's row and select properties to display the network inter-
face card properties window.
4. Click the Details tab and select Device Instance Id (Windows 2003)
5. Hardware Ids (Windows 2008/R2) from the Properties pull-down menu.
Figure 2: PCI Device (Example)
6. In the Value display box, check the fields VEN and DEV (fields are separated by ‘&’). In the
display example above, notice the sub-string “PCI\VEN_15B3&DEV_1003”: VEN is equal
to 0x15B3 – this is the Vendor ID of Mellanox Technologies; and DEV is equal to 1003 – this
is a valid Mellanox Technologies PCI Device ID.
If the card is installed in a PCI Mezzanine connector with less lanes than the card
requires, then the Mezzanine card will not provide the optimum data transfer.

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Mellanox Technologies 17
3.6.2 On Linux
Get the device location on the PCI bus by running lspci and locating lines with the string “Mella-
nox Technologies”:
If the PCI device does not have a Mellanox adapter ID, return to Step 2 to check
another device.
The list of Mellanox Technologies PCI Device IDs can be found in the PCI ID reposi-
tory at http://pci-ids.ucw.cz/read/PC/15b3.
> lspci |grep -i Mellanox
27:00.0 Network controller: Mellanox Technologies MT27520 Family [ConnectX-3 Pro]

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4 Driver Installation
4.1 Linux Driver
For Linux, download and install the latest MLNX_EN driver software package available via the
Mellanox web site at: http://www.mellanox.com => Products => Software => Ethernet Drivers
=> ConnectX®-3 EN 10/40GigE Linux Driver => Download. Follow the installation instructions
included in the download package (also available from the download page).
Note: The shown versions and/or parameter values in the example below may not reflect the lat-
est or actual values for this product, and are included here for illustration purposes only.
4.1.1 Hardware and Software Requirements
4.1.2 Installing the Driver
Step 1. Download Driver Package
Please download the current driver package from http://www.mellanox.com => Products =>
Software => Ethernet Driver => Linux Driver => Download.
Step 2. Install Driver
Run the following commands to install the driver:
Table 6 - Software and Hardware Requirements
Requirements Description
Platforms CPU architectures:
• x86_64
• x86
• power-pc
Device ID For the latest list of device IDs, please visit http://pci-ids.ucw.cz/read/PC/
15b3.
Operating System Linux Operating Systems:
• RedHat EL5.8
• RedHat EL5.9
• RedHat EL6.2
• RedHat EL6.3
• OEL6.2 + 2.6.32-279.19.1
• OEL6.3 + 2.6.32-279.19.1
• SLES11 SP1
• SLES11 SP2
Software Dependencies To install the driver software, kernel sources must be installed on the
machine. MLNX_EN driver cannot coexist with OFED software on the same
machine. Hence when installing MLNX_EN all OFED packages should be
removed (done by the mlnx_en install script)
#> tar xzvf mlnx_en-1.5.10.tgz file
#> cd mlnx_en-1.5.10
#> ./install.sh

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The package consists of several source RPMs. The install script rebuilds the source RPMs and
then installs the created binary RPMs. The created kernel module binaries are placed under /lib/
modules/<kernel-ver>/updates/kernel/drivers/net/mlx4. mlnx_en installer supports 2 modes of
installation.The install scripts selects the mode of driver installation depending of the running
OS/kernel version.
1. Kernel Module Packaging (KMP) mode, where the source rpm is rebuilt for each installed
flavor of the kernel. This mode is used for RedHat and SUSE distributions.
2. Non KMP installation mode, where the sources are rebuilt with the running kernel. This mode
is used for vanilla kernels.
Note: If the Vanilla kernel is installed as rpm, please use the "--disable-kmp" flag when installing
the driver.
The kernel module sources are placed under /usr/src/mellanox-mlnx-en-1.5.10/.Run the follow-
ing commands to recompile the driver:
The uninstall and performance tuning scripts are installed.
Note: If the driver was installed without kmp support, the sources would be located under /usr/
srs/mlnx_en-1.5.10/
4.1.3 Loading the Driver
Step 1. Make sure no previous driver version is currently loaded
Run:
Step 2. Load the new driver version
Run:
The result is a new net-device appearing in 'ifconfig -a' output.
4.1.4 Unloading the Driver
To unload the Ethernet driver run:
4.1.5 Uninstalling the Driver
To uninstall the mlnx_en driver run:
#> cd /usr/src/mellanox-mlnx-en-1.5.10/
#> scripts/mlnx_en_patch.sh
#> make
#> make install
#> modprobe -r mlx4_en
#> modprobe mlx4_en
#> modprobe mlx4_en
#> /sbin/mlnx_en_uninstall.sh

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4.2 Windows Driver
For Windows, download and install the latest Mellanox WinOF VPI for Windows software pack-
age available via the Mellanox web site at: http://www.mellanox.com=> Products => Software
=> Ethernet Drivers => Windows SW/Driver => Download. Follow the installation instructions
included in the download package (also available from the download page).
Note: The shown versions and/or parameter values in the example below may not reflect the lat-
est or actual values for this product, and are included here for illustration purposes only.
4.2.1 Hardware and Software Requirements
4.2.2 Downloading MLNX_WinOF
Follow these steps to download the .exe according to your Operating System.
Step 1. Verify the machine architecture.
1. Open a CMD console (Click start-->Run and enter CMD).
2. Enter the following command:
On an x64 (64-bit) machine, the output will be “AMD64”.
Step 2. Go to the MLNX_WinOF for Windows Web page at
http://www.mellanox.com => Products => Software => Ethernet Drivers => Windows SW/
Drivers.
Step 3. Download the .exe image according to the architecture of your machine (see step Step 1.). The
name of the .exe is in the following format MLNX_VPI_WinOF-<ver-
sion>_All_<OS>_<arch>.exe.
Table 7 - Software and Hardware Requirements
Requirements Description
Required Disk Space for
Installation 100 MB
Operating Systems Windows Server 2012 (64 bit only)
Windows Server 2008 R2 (64 bit only)
Installer Privileges The installation requires administrator privileges on the target machine.
> echo %PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE%
Installing the incorrect .exe file is prohibited. If you do so, an error message will be dis-
played.
For example, if you try to install a 64-bit .exe on a 32-bit machine, the wizard will dis-
play the following (or a similar) error message: