Mellanox Technologies ConnectX-4 MCX413A-BCAT User manual

Mellanox Technologieswww.mellanox.com
ConnectX®-4 Ethernet Single and Dual
QSFP28 Port Adapter Card User Manual
P/N:
MCX413A-BCAT, MCX414A-BCAT, MCX415A-BCAT, MCX416A-BCAT, MCX413A-
GCAT, MCX414A-GCAT, MCX415A-GCAT, MCX416A-GCAT, MCX415A-CCAT,
MCX416A-CCAT
Rev 2.6

Mellanox Technologies
350 Oakmead Parkway Suite 100
Sunnyvale, CA 94085
U.S.A.
www.mellanox.com
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
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NOTE :
THIS HARDWARE , SOFTWARE OR TEST SUITE PRODUCT ( PRODUCT (S) ) AND ITS RELATED
DOCUMENTATION ARE PROVIDED BY MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES AS-ISﺴ WITH ALL FAULTS OF ANY
KIND AND SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF AIDING THE CUSTOMER IN TESTING APPLICATIONS THAT
USE THE PRODUCTS IN DESIGNATED SOLUTIONS . THE CUSTOMER 'S MANUFACTURING TEST
ENVIRONMENT HAS NOT MET THE STANDARDS SET BY MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES TO FULLY
QUALIFY THE PRODUCT (S) AND/OR THE SYSTEM USING IT . THEREFORE , MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES
CANNOT AND DOES NOT GUARANTEE OR WARRANT THAT THE PRODUCTS WILL OPERATE WITH THE
HIGHEST QUALITY . ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES , INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO , THE
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY , FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
NONINFRINGEMENT ARE DISCLAIMED . IN NO EVENT SHALL MELLANOX BE LIABLE TO CUSTOMER OR
ANY THIRD PARTIES FOR ANY DIRECT , INDIRECT , SPECIAL , EXEMPLARY , OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO , PAYMENT FOR PROCUREMENT OF
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HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY , WHETHER IN CONTRACT , STRICT LIABILITY ,
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PRODUCT (S) AND RELATED DOCUMENTATION EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE .
Document Number: MLNX-15-5612 2Mellanox Technologies

Rev 2.6 3Mellanox Technologies
Table of Contents
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Revision History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
About this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Intended Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Related Documentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Document Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Firmware Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.1 Product Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.2 Features and Benefits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.3 Operating Systems/Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.4 Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 2 Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.1 Ethernet QSFP28 Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2 PCI Express Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.3 LED Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter 3 Hardware Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.1 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.1.1 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.2 Operating Systems/Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.2.1 Software Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.3 Safety Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.4 Pre-installation Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.5 Bracket Installation Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.5.1 Removing the Existing Bracket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.5.2 Installing the New Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.6 Adapter Card Installation Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.7 Cables and Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.7.1 Cable Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.8 Adapter Card Un-installation Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.8.1 Safety Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Rev 2.6 4Mellanox Technologies
3.8.2 Card Un-installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.9 Identify the Card in Your System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.9.1 On Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.9.2 On Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Chapter 4 Driver Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.1 Linux Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.1.1 Hardware and Software Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.1.2 Downloading Mellanox OFED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.1.3 Installing Mellanox OFED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
4.1.3.1 Installation Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.1.3.2 Installation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.1.3.3 Installation Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.1.3.4 openibd Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.1.3.5 Driver Load Upon System Boot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.1.3.6 mlnxofedinstall Return Codes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.1.4 Uninstalling Mellanox OFED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.1.5 Installing MLNX_OFED using YUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.1.5.1 Setting up MLNX_OFED YUM Repository . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.1.5.2 Installing MLNX_OFED using the YUM Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.1.5.3 Uninstalling Mellanox OFED using the YUM Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.1.6 Installing MLNX_OFED using apt-get . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.1.6.1 Setting up MLNX_OFED apt-get Repository . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.1.6.2 Installing MLNX_OFED using the apt-get Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.1.6.3 Uninstalling Mellanox OFED using the apt-get Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.1.7 Updating Firmware After Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.1.7.1 Updating the Device Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.1.7.2 Updating the Device Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.1.7.3 Updating the Device Firmware Automatically upon System Boot . . . . . 35
4.1.8 UEFI Secure Boot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.1.8.1 Enrolling Mellanox's x.509 Public Key On your Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.1.8.2 Removing Signature from Kernel Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.1.9 Performance Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.2 Windows Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.2.1 Hardware and Software Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.2.2 Downloading Mellanox WinOF-2 Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.2.3 Installing Mellanox WinOF-2 Driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.2.3.1 Attended Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.2.3.2 Unattended Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.2.4 Installation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.2.5 Extracting Files Without Running Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.2.6 Uninstalling Mellanox WinOF-2 Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.2.6.1 Attended Uninstallation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Rev 2.6 5Mellanox Technologies
4.2.6.2 Unattended Uninstallation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.2.7 Firmware Upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.2.8 Deploying the Driver on a Nano Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.2.8.1 Offline Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.2.8.2 Online Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.2.9 Performance Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4.3 VMware Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.3.1 Hardware and Software Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.3.2 Installing VMware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.3.3 Removing Previous Mellanox Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.3.4 Loading/Unloading Driver Kernel Modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.3.5 Firmware Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Chapter 5 Updating Adapter Card Firmware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.1 Firmware Update Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Chapter 6 Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6.1 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6.2 Linux. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
6.3 Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Chapter 7 Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
7.1 MCX413A-BCAT Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
7.2 MCX414A-BCAT Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
7.3 MCX415A-BCAT Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
7.4 MCX416A-BCAT Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7.5 MCX413A-GCAT Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
7.6 MCX414A-GCAT Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
7.7 MCX415A-GCAT Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
7.8 MCX416A-GCAT Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
7.9 MCX415A-CCAT Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
7.10 MCX416A-CCAT Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
7.11 Airflow Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
7.12 Adapter Card LED Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
7.13 Board Mechanical Drawing and Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
7.14 Bracket Mechanical Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Appendix A Finding the MAC and Serial Number on the Adapter Card . . . . 72
Appendix B Safety Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Appendix C Avertissements de sécurité d’installation (Warnings in French) 78
Appendix D Advertencias de seguridad para la instalación (Warnings in Spanish) 80
Appendix E Sicherheitshinweise (Warnings in German) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Rev 2.6 6Mellanox Technologies
List of Tables
Table 1: Revision History Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Table 2: Documents List. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Table 3: Single and Dual-port EDR Adapter Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Table 4: Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Table 5: Hardware and Software Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Table 6: Hardware and Software Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Table 7: Hardware and Software Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Table 8: MCX413A-BCAT Specifications Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Table 9: MCX414A-BCAT Specifications Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Table 10: MCX415A-BCAT Specifications Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Table 11: MCX416A-BCAT Specifications Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Table 12: MCX413A-GCAT Specifications Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Table 13: MCX414A-GCAT Specifications Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Table 14: MCX415A-GCAT Specifications Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Table 15: MCX416A-GCAT Specifications Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Table 16: MCX415A-CCAT Specifications Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Table 17: MCX416A-CCAT Specifications Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Table 18: Airflow Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Table 19: Physical and Logical Link Indications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Rev 2.6 7Mellanox Technologies
List of Figures
Figure 1: PCI Device (Example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Figure 2: Installation Results (Example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Figure 3: Mechanical Drawing of the Single-port x8 Adapter Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Figure 4: Mechanical Drawing of the Dual-port x8 Adapter Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Figure 5: Mechanical Drawing of the Single-port x16 Adapter Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Figure 6: Mechanical Drawing of the Dual-port x16 Adapter Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Figure 7: Single-port Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Figure 8: Dual-port Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Figure 9: MCX413A-BCAT Board Label (Example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Figure 10: MCX414A-BCAT Board Label (Example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Figure 11: MCX415A-BCAT Board Label (Example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Figure 12: MCX416A-BCAT Board Label (Example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Figure 13: MCX413A-GCAT Board Label (Example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Figure 14: MCX414A-GCAT Board Label (Example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Figure 15: MCX415A-GCAT Board Label (Example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Figure 16: MCX415A-CCAT Board Label(Example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Figure 17: MCX416A-GCAT Board Label (Example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Figure 18: MCX416A-CCAT Board Label (Example) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Rev 2.6 8Mellanox Technologies
Revision History
This document was printed on November 20, 2017.
Table 1 - Revision History Table
Date Rev Comments/Changes
November 2017 2.6 • Updated the following Specifications Tables:
• MCX413A-BCAT Specifications on page 58
•MCX414A-BCAT Specifications on page 59
• MCX415A-BCAT Specifications on page 60
•MCX416A-BCAT Specifications on page 61
•MCX413A-GCAT Specifications on page 62
• MCX414A-GCAT Specifications on page 63
•MCX415A-GCAT Specifications on page 64
• MCX416A-GCAT Specifications on page 65
• MCX415A-CCAT Specifications on page 66
• MCX416A-CCAT Specifications on page 67
July 2017 2.5 • Updated Bracket Installation Instructions on page 17
• UpdatedAdapter Card LED Operations on page 68
September
2016
2.4 • Updated Adapter Card Installation Instructions on page 18
•Added Adapter Card Un-installation Instructions on page 21
• Updated Troubleshooting on page 55
August 2016 2.3 • Updated Airflow Specifications on page 58
• Updated Cable Installation on page 20
July 2016 2.2 • Updated Adapter Card Installation Instructions on page 18
• Added the following mechanical drawings:
•Mechanical Drawing of the Single-port x8 Adapter Cards on page 69
•Mechanical Drawing of the Dual-port x8 Adapter Cards on page 69
•Mechanical Drawing of the Single-port x16 Adapter Card on page 70
• Updated PCIe x8 Connector Pinout on page 67
June 2016 2.1 • Added Mellanox logo "25 is the New 10™" in the Cover page on page 1
• Updated Safety Warnings on page 76.
April 2016 2.0 • Updated the following specification tables:
•MCX413A-BCAT Specifications on page 58
•MCX414A-BCAT Specifications on page 59
• MCX415A-BCAT Specifications on page 60
•MCX416A-BCAT Specifications on page 61
April 2016 1.9 • Updated Adapter Card Installation Instructions on page 18
• Updated Airflow Specifications on page 58
March 2016 1.8 • Removed I2C-compatible Interface from Interfaces on page 17
March 2016 1.7 • Updated Product Overview on page 13
• Updated Features and Benefits on page 14
• Updated the following tables:
• MCX415A-CCAT Specifications on page 66
• MCX416A-CCAT Specifications on page 67

Rev 2.6 9Mellanox Technologies
February 2016 1.6 • Added 56GbE support to the following sections:
• Product Overview on page 13
• Windows Driver on page 37
•MCX413A-BCAT Specifications on page 58
•MCX414A-BCAT Specifications on page 59
• MCX415A-BCAT Specifications on page 60
• MCX416A-BCAT Specifications Table on page 61
• Updated Installing the New Bracket on page 18
• Updated Linux Driver on page 24
• Updated Windows Driver on page 37
• Updated VMware Driver on page 50
•Added a note to Finding the MAC and Serial Number on the Adapter
Card on page 72
•Updated the following Board Labels:
• MCX413A-BCAT Board Label (Example) on page 72
• MCX414A-BCAT Board Label (Example) on page 72
• MCX415A-BCAT Board Label (Example) on page 73
• MCX416A-BCAT Board Label (Example) on page 73
December 2015 1.5 • Updated Airflow Specifications on page 58.
December 2015 1.4 • Updated MCX414A-GCAT Specifications on page 63
• Updated MCX416A-GCAT Specifications on page 65
December 2015 1.3 • Added port numbers to the specification tables. See Specifications on
page 58
• Updated MCX416A-CCAT Specifications on page 67
December 2015 1.2 • Updated the following tables:
•MCX413A-BCAT Specifications on page 58
•MCX414A-BCAT Specifications on page 59
• MCX415A-BCAT Specifications on page 60
•MCX416A-BCAT Specifications on page 61
•MCX413A-GCAT Specifications on page 62
• MCX414A-GCAT Specifications on page 63
•MCX415A-GCAT Specifications on page 64
• MCX416A-GCAT Specifications on page 65
•MCX415A-CCAT Specifications on page 66
• MCX416A-CCAT Specifications on page 67
• Updated Features and Benefits on page 14
• Updated Section 3.8.1, “On Windows,” on page 22
Table 1 - Revision History Table
Date Rev Comments/Changes

Rev 2.6 10Mellanox Technologies
November
2015
1.1 • Updated power numbers in:
•MCX413A-BCAT Specifications on page 58
•MCX414A-BCAT Specifications on page 59
• MCX415A-BCAT Specifications on page 60
•MCX413A-GCAT Specifications on page 62
• MCX416A-GCAT Specifications on page 65
•Added
Airflow Specifications on page 58
•Added VMware Driver on page 50
• Updated Updating Adapter Card Firmware on page 54
November
2015
1.0 First Release
Table 1 - Revision History Table
Date Rev Comments/Changes

Rev 2.6 11Mellanox Technologies
About this Manual
This User Manual describes Mellanox Technologies ConnectX®-4 Ethernet Single and Dual
QSFP28 port PCI Express x8 or x16 adapter cards. The User Manual provides details as to the
interfaces of the adapter card, specifications, required software and firmware for operating the
adapter card, and relevant documentation.
Intended Audience
This manual is intended for the installer and user of these cards.
The manual assumes basic familiarity with Ethernet network architecture specifications.
Related Documentations
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
Mellanox Firmware Utility (mlxup) User
Manual and Release Notes Mellanox firmware update and query utility used to update the firmware. See http://www.mellanox.com => Products => Software
=> Firmware Tools => mlxup Firmware Utility
Mellanox OFED for Linux
User Manual
Document no. 2877
User Manual describing OFED features, performance, InfiniBand
diagnostic, tools content and configuration.
See http://www.mellanox.com => Products => Software => Ether-
net Drivers => Mellanox OpenFabrics Enterprise Distribution for
Linux (MLNX_OFED)
Mellanox OFED for Linux Release Notes Release Notes for Mellanox OFED for Linux driver kit for Mella-
nox adapter cards:
See: http://www.mellanox.com =>Products => Software => Ether-
net Drivers => Linux SW/Drivers => Release Notes
WinOF-2 for Windows
User Manual
Document no. MLX-15-3280
User Manual describing WinOF-2 features, performance, Ethernet
diagnostic, tools content and configuration.
See http://www.mellanox.com => Products => Software => Ether-
net Drivers => Windows SW/Drivers
Mellanox OFED for Windows Driver
Release Notes Release notes for Mellanox Technologies' MLNX_EN for Linux driver kit for Mellanox adapter cards:
See http://www.mellanox.com => Products => Software => Ether-
net Drivers => Windows SW/Drivers
Mellanox EN for Linux Driver Release
Notes Release notes for Mellanox Technologies' MLNX_EN for Linux driver kit for Mellanox adapter cards: See http://www.mella-
nox.com => Products => Software => Ethernet
Drivers => Mellanox EN for Linux

Rev 2.6 12Mellanox Technologies
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. In this document PCIe is
used to mean PCI Express.
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: [email protected]om
• 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 Updates
The Mellanox support downloader contains software, firmware and knowledge database infor-
mation for Mellanox products. Access the database 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/.
Mellanox VMware for Ethernet Release
Notes Release notes for Mellanox ConnectX®-4 NATIVE ESXi stack: See http://www.mellanox.com => Software => Ethernet Drivers
=> VMware Driver => Release Notes
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 Electromechan-
ical Specifications
https://pcisig.com/specifications
Table 2 - Documents List

Introduction
Rev 2.6 13Mellanox Technologies
1 Introduction
This is the User Guide for Mellanox Technologies Ethernet adapter cards based on the Con-
nectX®-4 integrated circuit device. These adapters 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 13
•Section 1.2, “Features and Benefits,” on page 14
•Section 1.3, “Operating Systems/Distributions,” on page 15
•Section 1.4, “Connectivity,” on page 15
1.1 Product Overview
The following section provides the ordering part number, port speed, number of ports, and PCI
Express speed. Each adapter comes with two bracket heights - short and tall.
Table 3 - Single and Dual-port EDR Adapter Cards
Ordering Part Number (OPN)
Single-port cards:
MCX413A-BCAT / MCX413A-GCAT / MCX415A-BCAT
MCX415A-GCAT / MCX415A-CCAT
Dual-port cards:
MCX414A-BCAT / MCX414A-GCAT / MCX416A-BCAT
MCX416A-GCAT / MCX416A-CCAT
Data Transmission Rate
MCX413A-BCAT / MCX414A-BCAT / MCX415A-BCAT /
MCX416A-BCAT- 1/10/25/40/56GbE
MCX413A-GCAT/ MCX414A-GCAT / MCX415A-GCAT /
MCX416A-GCAT- 1/10/25/40/50GbE
MCX415A-CCAT/MCX416A-CCAT - 1/10/25/40/50/100GbE
Network Connector Types Single and dual-port QSFP2
PCI Express (PCIe) SerDes Speed
PCIe 3.0 x8 8GT/s:
MCX413A-BCAT / MCX414A-BCAT / MCX413A-GCAT /
MCX414A-GCAT
PCIe 3.0 x16 8GT/s:
MCX415A-BCAT / MCX416A-BCAT / MCX415A-GCAT /
MCX416A-GCAT / MCX415A-CCAT / MCX416A-CCAT
RoHS R6
Adapter IC Part Number MT27708A0-FDCF-CE
Device ID 4115 for Physical Function (PF)
4116 for Virtual Function (VF)

Introduction
Rev 2.6 14Mellanox Technologies
1.2 Features and Benefits
Table 4 - Featuresa
PCI Express (PCIe) Uses PCIe Gen 3.0 (1.1 and 2.0 compatible) through an x8 or x16 edge connector
up to 8GT/s
Up to 100 Gigabit Ethernet
Mellanox adapters comply with the following IEEE 802.3 standards:
– 100GbE / 50GbE / 40GbE / 25GbE / 10GbE / 1GbE
– IEEE 802.3bj, 802.3bm 100 Gigabit Ethernet
– 25G Ethernet Consortium 50 Gigabit Ethernet
– IEEE 802.3ba 40 Gigabit Ethernet
– IEEE 802.3by 25 Gigabit Ethernet
–IEEE 802.3ae 10 Gigabit Ethernet
– IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet
– IEEE 802.3ap based auto-negotiation and KRstartup
– IEEE 802.3ad, 802.1AX Link Aggregation
– IEEE 802.1Q, 802.1P VLAN tags and priority
– IEEE 802.1Qau (QCN)
–Congestion Notification
– IEEE 802.1Qaz (ETS)
– IEEE 802.1Qbb (PFC)
–IEEE 802.1Qbg
– IEEE 1588v2
–Jumbo frame support (9.6KB)
Memory
PCI Express - stores and accesses Ethernet fabric connection information and
packet data.
SPI - includes one SPI Flash device (M25PX16-VMN6P device by ST Microelec-
tronics)
EEPROM capacity is 128Kb.
Overlay Networks
In order to better scale their networks, data center operators often create overlay
networks that carry traffic from individual virtual machines over logical tunnels
in encapsulated formats such as NVGRE and VXLAN. While this solves network
scalability issues, it hides the TCP packet from the hardware offloading engines,
placing higher loads on the host CPU. ConnectX-4 effectively addresses this by
providing advanced NVGRE and VXLAN hardware offloading engines that
encapsulate and decapsulate the overlay protocol.
RDMA and RDMA over
Converged Ethernet (RoCE)
ConnectX-4, utilizing IBTA RDMA (Remote Data Memory Access) and RoCE
(RDMA over Converged Ethernet) technology, delivers low-latency and high-
performance over InfiniBand and Ethernet networks. Leveraging data center
bridging (DCB) capabilities as well as ConnectX-4 advanced congestion control
hardware mechanisms, RoCE provides efficient low-latency RDMA services over
Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks.
Mellanox PeerDirect™
PeerDirect™ communication provides high efficiency RDMA access by eliminat-
ing unnecessary internal data copies between components on the PCIe bus (for
example, from GPU to CPU), and therefore significantly reduces application run
time. ConnectX-4 advanced acceleration technology enables higher cluster effi-
ciency and scalability to tens of thousands of nodes.

Introduction
Rev 2.6 15Mellanox Technologies
1.3 Operating Systems/Distributions
• RHEL/CentOS
•Windows
• FreeBSD
•VMware
• OpenFabrics Enterprise Distribution (OFED)
• OpenFabrics Windows Distribution (WinOF-2)
1.4 Connectivity
• Interoperable with 1/10/25/40/50/100 Gb/s Ethernet switches
• Passive copper cable with ESD protection
• Powered connectors for optical and active cable support
CPU offload Adapter functionality enabling reduced CPU overhead allowing more available
CPU for computation tasks.
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-4 provides dedicated adapter resources and guaranteed isolation and
protection for virtual machines within the server.
Storage Acceleration
A consolidated compute and storage network achieves significant cost-perfor-
mance advantages over multi-fabric networks. Standard block and
file access protocols can leverage RDMA for high-performance storage access.
SR-IOV ConnectX-4 SR-IOV technology provides dedicated adapter resources and
guaranteed isolation and protection for virtual machines (VM) within the server.
a. This section describes hardware features and capabilities. Please refer to the driver release notes for feature availability. See
Table 2, “Documents List,” on page 11.
Table 4 - Featuresa

Interfaces
Rev 2.6 16Mellanox Technologies
2 Interfaces
Each adapter card includes the following interfaces:
•“Ethernet QSFP28 Interface”
• “PCI Express Interface”
• “LED Interface”
The adapter cards include special circuits to protect from ESD shocks to the card/server when
plugging copper cables.
2.1 Ethernet QSFP28 Interface
The network ports of the ConnectX®-4 adapter card are compliant with the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet
standards listed in Table 4, “Features,” on page 14. Ethernet traffic is transmitted through the
cards' QSFP28 connectors.
2.2 PCI Express Interface
The ConnectX®-4 adapter card supports PCI Express 3.0 (1.1 and 2.0 compatible) through an x8
or x16 edge connector.The device can be either a master initiating the PCI Express bus opera-
tions, or a slave responding to PCI bus operations. The following lists PCIe interface features:
• PCIe Gen 3.0 compliant, 1.1 and 2.0 compatible
• 2.5, 5.0, or 8.0 GT/s link rate x8/x16
• Auto-negotiates tox16, x8, x4, x2, or x1
• Support for MSI/MSI-X mechanisms
2.3 LED Interface
There is a one bi-color I/O LED per port located on the adapter card. For LED specifications,
please refer to Section 7.12, “Adapter Card LED Operations,” on page 68.

Hardware Installation
Rev 2.6 17Mellanox Technologies
3 Hardware Installation
3.1 System Requirements
3.1.1 Hardware
A system with a PCI Expressx16 slot is required for installing the card.
3.2 Operating Systems/Distributions
Please refer to Section 1.3, “Operating Systems/Distributions,” on page 15.
3.2.1 Software Stacks
Mellanox OpenFabric software package MLNX_OFED for Linux, WinOF-2 for Windows and
VMware. See Chapter 4,“Driver Installation” on page 24.
3.3 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.
3.4 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.
5. Please note that the card must be placed on an antistatic surface.
6. Check the card for visible signs of damage. Do not attempt to install the card if damaged.
3.5 Bracket Installation Instructions
The adapter card is usually shipped with a tall bracket installed. If this form factor is suitable for
your requirements, you can skip the remainder of this section and move to Section 3.6, “Adapter
The adapter 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.

Hardware Installation
Rev 2.6 18Mellanox Technologies
Card Installation Instructions,” on page 18. If you need to replace it with the short bracket that is
included in the shipping box, please follow the instructions in this section.
To replace the bracket you will need the following parts:
• The new bracket of the proper height
• The 2 screws saved from the removal of the bracket
3.5.1 Removing the Existing Bracket
1. Remove the two screws holding the bracket in place. The bracket comes loose from the card.
2. Save the two screws.
3.5.2 Installing the New Bracket
1. Place the bracket onto the adapter card until the screw holes line up.
2. Screw on the bracket using the screws saved from the bracket removal procedure above.
3. Make sure that the LEDs are aligned onto the bracket holes.
4. Use a torque driver to apply up to 2.9 lbf-in torque on the screws.
3.6 Adapter Card Installation Instructions
1. Before installing the card, make sure that the system is off and the power cord is not con-
nected to the server. Please follow proper electrical grounding procedures.
2. Open the system case.
Do not force the bracket onto the adapter card as to not damage the EMI fingers on the
cages.
Please note that the following figures are for illustration purposes only.

Hardware Installation
Rev 2.6 19Mellanox Technologies
3. Locate an available PCI Express slot for the adapter card.
4. Applying even pressure at both corners of the card, insert the adapter card into the PCI
Express slot until firmly seated.

Hardware Installation
Rev 2.6 20Mellanox Technologies
5. When the adapter is properly seated, the port connectors are aligned with the slot opening,
and the adapter faceplate is visible against the system chassis.
6. Secure the adapter with the adapter clips or screws.
7. Close the system case.
3.7 Cables and Modules
To obtain the list of supported cables for your adapter, please refer to:
http://www.mellanox.com/products/interconnect/cables-configurator.php
3.7.1 Cable Installation
1. All cables can be inserted or removed with the unit powered on.
2. To insert a cable, press the connector into the port receptacle until the connector is firmly
seated.
a. Support the weight of the cable before connecting the cable to the adapter card. Do this by using a cable
holder or tying the cable to the rack.
b. Determine the correct orientation of the connector to the adapter card before inserting the connector. Do not
try and insert the connector upside down. This may damage the adapter card.
c. Insert the connector into the adapter card. Be careful to insert the connector straight into the cage. Do not
apply any torque, up or down, to the connector cage in the adapter card.
d. Make sure that the connector locks in place.
When installing cables make sure that the latches engage.
Always install and remove cables by pushing or pulling the cable and connector in a
straight line with the card.