The MCX556A-EDAT is a ConnectX-5 Ex VPI adapter card with dual QSFP28 ports, supporting both EDR InfiniBand and 100GbE Ethernet. It uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface and includes a tall bracket, so it’s best for compatible full-height server or workstation PCIe slots.

This is an enterprise-grade NVIDIA Mellanox network adapter built for data centers, HPC, storage, and cloud environments. It offers low latency, high throughput, RoCE and NVMe-oF offloads, PCIe Gen 4.0 support, and a robust full-height bracket design suitable for demanding 24/7 workloads.

For best results, keep the card free of dust, ensure proper airflow in the server, and use updated Mellanox/NVIDIA firmware and drivers. If the card is not detected or links won’t come up at 100Gb, check PCIe slot compatibility, BIOS settings, cable or transceiver support, and whether your environment is configured for InfiniBand or Ethernet mode.