NVIDIA ConnectX-9
Type: Technology Tags: NVIDIA, ConnectX-9, SuperNIC, InfiniBand, Ethernet, RDMA, AI networking, XDR, 1.6Tb/s Related: NVIDIA-ConnectX-InfiniBand, NVIDIA-DOCA-OFED, NVIDIA-Firmware-Tools, NVIDIA-WinOF-2, NVIDIA-BlueField-4, NVIDIA-Spectrum-X, NVIDIA-Silicon-Photonics, GPUDirect-RDMA, NVIDIA-HPC-X, NVIDIA-Enterprise-AI-Factory Sources: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/networking/products/ethernet-adapters/connectx-9-supernic/, https://docs.nvidia.com/networking/display/connectx9supernic/introduction, https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/networking/, https://docs.nvidia.com/doca/sdk/changes-and-new-features/index.html, https://docs.nvidia.com/networking/display/mftv4350/changes-and-new-features, https://docs.nvidia.com/networking/display/nvidiawinof2documentationv26150000/changes-and-new-features Last Updated: 2026-04-29
Summary
NVIDIA ConnectX-9 SuperNIC is NVIDIA’s next-generation high-performance network adapter for AI factories and accelerated data centers. Current NVIDIA docs and product pages position ConnectX-9 as a 1.6 Tb/s-class adapter supporting both InfiniBand and Ethernet, with PCIe Gen 6, CXL-ready interfaces, GPUDirect, RDMA, and in-network computing capabilities.
Detail
Purpose
As AI systems scale into rack-level and multi-rack memory domains, network adapters must carry GPU collectives, storage traffic, inference disaggregation, and multi-tenant data paths without making the CPU the bottleneck. ConnectX-9 extends the ConnectX family for XDR/1.6 Tb/s-class networks and next-generation AI factory fabrics.
Current public capabilities
- Single-port 1.6 Tb/s or dual-port 800 Gb/s configurations in public docs.
- InfiniBand and Ethernet options for AI, HPC, and cloud infrastructure.
- PCIe Gen 6 and CXL-ready host connectivity.
- GPUDirect RDMA, GPU-initiated networking, MPI collectives, and storage acceleration.
- Secure networking, virtualization, isolation, telemetry, and DOCA/driver integration.
- First-GA current software support appears across NVIDIA-DOCA-OFED / DOCA-Host, NVIDIA-Firmware-Tools v4.35.0, and NVIDIA-WinOF-2 v26.1.50000.
NVIDIA context
ConnectX-9 belongs under the existing NVIDIA-ConnectX-InfiniBand family page, but it is current enough to warrant a generation page because it anchors Vera Rubin, BlueField-4/STX, silicon photonics, and next-generation AI networking.
Connections
- NVIDIA-ConnectX-InfiniBand - family page for ConnectX adapters and InfiniBand/Ethernet networking.
- NVIDIA-DOCA-OFED - current Linux host-driver stack with first-GA DOCA-Host support for ConnectX-9.
- NVIDIA-Firmware-Tools - MFT v4.35.0 adds first-GA ConnectX-9 support for firmware/device workflows.
- NVIDIA-WinOF-2 - Windows driver line with first-GA ConnectX-9 and 1600G link-speed reporting support.
- NVIDIA-BlueField-4 - adjacent next-generation infrastructure processor for networking/storage offload.
- NVIDIA-Spectrum-X - Ethernet AI fabric using NVIDIA NICs and switches.
- NVIDIA-Silicon-Photonics - optical networking direction tied to next-generation high-bandwidth AI clusters.
- GPUDirect-RDMA - direct GPU-to-network memory path used by ConnectX adapters.
- NVIDIA-HPC-X - MPI/SHMEM/UCX/UCC stack for NVIDIA network adapters.
- NVIDIA-Enterprise-AI-Factory - AI factory networks depend on this class of low-latency high-bandwidth adapter.
Source Excerpts
- NVIDIA ConnectX-9 docs describe 1.6 Tb/s-class SuperNIC configurations, InfiniBand/Ethernet support, PCIe Gen 6, CXL-ready connectivity, GPUDirect, and storage/offload features.