Mellanox ConnectX-6 EN Single Port 200Gb Ethernet Adapter Card - Socket Direct 2x PCIe 3.0 x16 - Part ID: MCX614105A-VCAT

Mellanox Socket Direct technology improves the performance of dual-socket servers in numerous ways, such as by enabling each of their CPUs to access the network through a dedicated PCIe interface. As the connection from each CPU to the network bypasses the QPI (UPI) and the second CPU, Socket Direct reduces latency and CPU utilization. Moreover, each CPU handles only its own traffic (and not that of the second CPU), thus optimizing CPU utilization even further.

Socket Direct also enables GPUDirect® RDMA for all CPU/GPU pairs by ensuring that GPUs are linked to the CPUs closest to the adapter card. Socket Direct enables Intel® DDIO optimization on both sockets by creating a direct connection between the sockets and the adapter card.

Socket Direct technology is enabled by a main card housing the ConnectX-6 and an auxiliary PCIe card bringing in the remaining PCIe lanes. The ConnectX-6 Socket Direct card is installed into two PCIe x16 slots and connected using a 350mm long harness. The two PCIe x16 slots may also be connected to the same CPU. In this case the main advantage of the technology lies in delivering 200GbE to servers with PCIe Gen3-only support.