HPE Ethernet 10Gb 2-Port 561T Adapter

The HP Ethernet 10GbE dual port 561T adapter features the Intel® Ethernet Controller X540 and is designed for HP ProLiant Gen8 rack, tower and scalable servers. This dual‑port 10GBASE‑T standup adapter delivers up to 20 Gbps full‑duplex per card using standard CAT6 or better UTP cabling and is intended for data center and virtualization environments requiring reliable, energy‑efficient 10 GbE connectivity.

Advantages

The HP 561T offers a low‑cost, low‑power solution with proven HP reliability and compatibility with ProLiant Gen8 platforms. It supports virtualization‑oriented features and scalable networking options, enabling efficient use of server resources while maintaining high throughput and broad industry support.

Key specifications

• Controller: Intel® Ethernet Controller X540
• Ports: Dual 10GBASE‑T
• Throughput: 20 Gbps full‑duplex per card (10 Gbps per port)
• Cabling: Compatible with CAT6 or better UTP
• Offloads and features: TCP/UDP checksum offload, VLAN tagging, low latency interrupts, MSI‑X
• Advanced networking: NIC teaming (bonding), Receive Side Scaling (RSS), jumbo frames
• Boot and virtualization: PXE boot, VMDq and SR‑IOV ready
• Wake support: Wake on LAN (WOL)

How to use

Install the HP 561T into a compatible PCIe slot in an HP ProLiant Gen8 server following the server maintenance and safety instructions. Connect each 10GBASE‑T port to the network using CAT6 or higher UTP cabling and configure network settings in the operating system or hypervisor. Enable supported offloads and virtualization features (VMDq, SR‑IOV) in firmware and driver settings as required for your workload. Update to the latest HP/Intel drivers and firmware for optimal performance and stability.

Recommendations

For stable 10 GbE links, use CAT6A or better cabling for longer runs; verify server BIOS and driver compatibility with ProLiant Gen8 systems and apply vendor firmware updates. Enable appropriate offloads and RSS for virtualized environments to improve throughput and CPU efficiency.