Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series 100Gb 2-Port Ethernet Card

The Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series 100Gb 2-Port Ethernet Card is a high-performance dual-port network adapter engineered for data centers, enterprise IT, and modern cloud infrastructures. Designed to meet the demanding needs of large-scale deployments, this 100 Gigabit Ethernet card delivers exceptional throughput, ultra-low latency, and robust scalability without escalating overall infrastructure costs. Built to integrate seamlessly with Lenovo ThinkSystem DM servers, it empowers you to accelerate data movement, support bandwidth-intensive workloads, and maximize server utilization across virtualized environments, AI workloads, and hyper-converged deployments. Whether you’re consolidating workloads, running big data analytics, or enabling high-speed interconnects for storage and compute nodes, this card is engineered to keep pace with your growth while simplifying deployment and management.

• The ThinkSystem DM Series 100Gb 2-Port Ethernet Card provides two 100 Gigabit Ethernet ports (QSFP28) for dense, scalable connectivity. This dual-port design enables you to achieve line-rate performance for large-scale data transfers, live migrations, and multi-tenant workloads while preserving CPU resources for application processing. With each port capable of delivering up to 100Gbps in full duplex operation, you gain headroom for peak traffic bursts, AI-model training data shuffles, and high-speed interconnects between compute nodes and storage arrays. This makes it ideal for data centers pursuing aggressive performance targets without sacrificing efficiency or cost-per-bit.
• Built for low latency and high efficiency, the card supports advanced networking features such as RDMA (Remote Direct Memory Access) and SR-IOV (Single Root I/O Virtualization). RDMA reduces CPU overhead and memory copy operations, delivering near wire-speed performance for latency-sensitive applications like HPC, financial computing, and real-time analytics. SR-IOV enables fine-grained virtualization of network I/O, allowing virtual machines and containers to access dedicated network resources with minimal virtualization overhead. Together, these capabilities help you scale virtualized environments, minimize CPU contention, and improve application responsiveness under heavy traffic.
• Designed for seamless integration with Lenovo ThinkSystem DM servers and a broad ecosystem of data-center operating systems, the card supports major Linux distributions, Windows Server, and enterprise hypervisors such as VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V. It is built to work with Lenovo management tools and drivers, ensuring straightforward firmware updates and driver maintenance through familiar Lenovo support channels. This broad OS and hypervisor compatibility means you can standardize your networking stack across diverse workloads while keeping management consistent and centralized.
• Designed for flexibility in deployment, the DM Series 100Gb 2-Port Ethernet Card supports a range of rack and slot configurations. It fits standard PCIe slots and offers a robust form factor suitable for full-height and low-profile server configurations, enabling scalable density in dense data-center racks. The card is engineered to deliver stable performance in multi-node clusters, AI data pipelines, and storage networks, with features that help maintain predictability under mixed workloads. Its thermal and power characteristics are tuned to blend with Lenovo’s enterprise-grade hardware, contributing to reliable operation in 24/7 data-center environments.
• With a clear focus on future-proofing and total cost of ownership, this Ethernet card is designed for straightforward lifecycle management. It supports firmware and driver updates via Lenovo’s standard support channels, ensuring you can keep pace with evolving network features, security patches, and performance optimizations. The combination of high throughput, virtualization-ready features, and Lenovo-backed software support translates into a scalable, future-ready networking solution that minimizes downtime during upgrades and reduces the risk of compatibility issues as your infrastructure evolves.

Technical Details of Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series 100Gb 2-Port Ethernet Card

• Interface: 2 x 100GbE QSFP28 ports for dense, high-throughput networking
• Host Interface: PCIe 3.0 x16 (capable of supporting high-bandwidth data transfers to the host CPU and memory subsystem)
• Form Factor: Standard PCIe add-in card with full-height and low-profile bracket options to fit diverse server chassis
• Performance Features: RDMA (e.g., RoCEv2) and SR-IOV support to enable accelerated data paths and virtualization efficiency
• OS and Hypervisor Support: Linux, Windows Server, VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, and other common data-center operating environments; driver and firmware updates available through Lenovo support

How to install Lenovo ThinkSystem DM Series 100Gb 2-Port Ethernet Card

Power down the Lenovo ThinkSystem DM server and unplug all cables before beginning installation. Open the server chassis and locate an appropriate PCIe slot that accommodates a 2 x 100GbE QSFP28 adapter. If your chassis requires a full-height bracket, remove the existing bracket and replace it with the one supplied with the card; for low-profile slots, use the alternative bracket included in the package. Carefully align the card with the PCIe slot and press firmly until it seats securely. Fasten the bracket screws to the chassis, ensuring the card is level and properly grounded.

Connect any required external cables or breakout cables according to your networking design. Depending on your network fabric, you may connect QSFP28 DACs or optical transceivers to achieve the desired reach and link topology. After physically installing the card, replace the server cover and reconnect all power and data cables. Power up the server and enter the operating system. Install the latest Lenovo drivers and firmware for the DM Series NIC from the Lenovo support portal. Reboot if prompted, and verify that the card is detected by the system using appropriate commands or device managers for your OS. Configure NIC settings such as jumbo frames, RSS (Receive Side Scaling), and SR-IOV virtual functions per your virtualization platform and workload requirements. Finally, validate network performance with a profiling tool or a network benchmarking utility to confirm that the two 100GbE ports operate at expected bandwidth and latency levels in your environment.

Note: For best results, keep firmware and driver versions synchronized with other fabric components and follow Lenovo’s published best practices for RDMA-enabled networks and virtualized workloads. If your deployment relies on RoCE or iWARP, ensure network switches and QoS policies are configured to support low-latency RDMA paths. As always, refer to Lenovo’s official installation guides and compatibility matrices to verify slot compatibility, OS driver availability, and required firmware baselines for your specific server model and revision.

Frequently asked questions

• Q: What performance can I expect from the 2-Port 100Gb Ethernet Card? A: The card provides two 100GbE QSFP28 interfaces, enabling up to 200Gb/s of aggregate bandwidth in full duplex operation. Real-world throughput depends on workload characteristics, driver version, and network configuration, but the design targets line-rate performance for current data-center traffic, including large data transfers, virtualization traffic, and storage interconnects.
• Q: Which virtualization features does this card support? A: It supports SR-IOV for efficient virtualization of NIC resources and RDMA (RoCEv2) to minimize CPU overhead on latency-sensitive workloads. These features help reduce virtualization-induced overhead and improve performance for virtual machines and containers in dense environments.
• Q: Is this card compatible with VMware, Hyper-V, and Linux? A: Yes. The ThinkSystem DM Series 100Gb 2-Port Ethernet Card is designed for broad OS and hypervisor support, including VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, and common Linux distributions. Always verify the latest driver and firmware compatibility on Lenovo’s support portal for your exact OS version.
• Q: What kind of maintenance and updates are available? A: Lenovo provides driver and firmware updates through its standard support channels, enabling you to keep the NIC current with performance and security improvements. Regular updates help preserve compatibility with evolving data-center fabrics and virtualization environments.
• Q: What are typical deployment scenarios for this card? A: This dual-port 100GbE NIC is ideal for high-density data centers requiring scalable east-west traffic, storage networks, and interconnects between compute nodes. It fits well in AI/ML pipelines, HPC clusters, virtualization hosts, and hyper-converged environments where bandwidth, low latency, and reliability are critical.