QLogic QME2572
$ 56.22 Price excluding tax
The Dell / QLogic QME2572 is a dual-port 8Gb Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter (HBA) designed specifically for Dell PowerEdge blade servers. Based on QLogic 2500-series Fibre Channel technology, it provides up to 8Gb/s per port, supports 8Gb/s and 4Gb/s Fibre Channel operation, and connects blade servers to enterprise Fibre Channel SAN environments. The adapter uses a Dell PowerEdge mezzanine card form factor with a PCI Express 2.0-based interface.
Description
The QLogic QME2572 is an enterprise Fibre Channel mezzanine adapter developed for Dell PowerEdge blade-server environments. It provides two independent 8Gb Fibre Channel ports, enabling high-speed access to shared SAN storage while keeping storage traffic separate from conventional Ethernet networking.
The QME2572 is based on the QLogic 2500 Fibre Channel architecture and supports 8Gb/s, 4Gb/s, and 2Gb/s Fibre Channel speeds with automatic negotiation. Each port is capable of up to 200,000 initiator IOPS, making the adapter suitable for demanding storage workloads, virtualization, databases, backup systems, and other applications requiring reliable block-level SAN connectivity.
Designed specifically for Dell PowerEdge blade infrastructure, the adapter installs into the server’s Dell mezzanine slot rather than a conventional full-height or low-profile PCIe slot. The underlying host interface complies with PCI Express Base Specification 2.0. Dell’s M-Series documentation identifies the QME2572 as a dual-port 8Gb Fibre Channel mezzanine adapter.
The dual-port architecture also allows organizations to establish redundant connections to Fibre Channel SAN fabrics. For example, each port can be connected through a separate SAN path, improving storage availability and reducing the impact of a single connection failure.
Key Specifications
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Dell / QLogic |
| Model | QME2572 |
| Product Type | Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter |
| Adapter Type | Mezzanine Card |
| Fibre Channel Ports | 2 |
| Maximum Port Speed | 8Gb/s per port |
| Supported FC Speeds | 2Gb/s, 4Gb/s, 8Gb/s |
| FC Speed Negotiation | Automatic |
| Architecture | QLogic 2500 Series |
| Host Interface | PCI Express 2.0 |
| PCIe Lane Configuration | Up to x4 at Gen2 / x8 at Gen1 |
| Physical Interface | Dell PowerEdge mezzanine slot connector |
| Fibre Channel Topology | Point-to-point, switched fabric, FC-AL, FC-AL2 |
| Protocols | FCP-3 SCSI, FC-Tape / FCP-2 |
| IOPS | Up to 200,000 initiator IOPS per port |
| Typical Power Consumption | 5.6 W |
| Form Factor | Dell PowerEdge blade mezzanine card |
| Cooling | PowerEdge enclosure airflow |
| FC Boot Support | Yes |
| Operating Temperature | 0°C to 55°C |
| Non-Operating Temperature | -40°C to 70°C |
| Operating Humidity | 10%–90%, non-condensing |
| Non-Operating Humidity | 5%–93%, non-condensing |
| RoHS | RoHS 6 compliant |
Specifications are based on Dell/QLogic’s QME2572 technical datasheet.
Key Features & Benefits
- Dual 8Gb Fibre Channel Ports — Provides two independent high-speed FC connections for enterprise SAN connectivity.
- 8Gb/s Fibre Channel Performance — Delivers up to 8Gb/s per port for high-bandwidth storage traffic.
- Multi-Speed Support — Automatically negotiates between 2Gb/s, 4Gb/s, and 8Gb/s Fibre Channel speeds for compatibility with supported SAN infrastructure.
- Dual-Port Architecture — Enables redundant SAN paths and improved storage availability.
- QLogic 2500-Series Technology — Provides a proven Fibre Channel architecture for enterprise blade-server environments.
- PCI Express 2.0 — Provides the high-speed host connection required for Fibre Channel data transfers.
- FC Boot Support — Supports Fibre Channel boot configurations where the server and SAN environment are properly configured.
- High I/O Capability — Supports up to 200,000 initiator IOPS per port according to the QLogic specification.
- Low Power Consumption — Typical power consumption is approximately 5.6 W.
- Enterprise SAN Protocol Support — Supports FCP-3 SCSI and Fibre Channel tape protocols.
- Blade-Optimized Design — Uses the dedicated Dell PowerEdge mezzanine architecture to integrate Fibre Channel connectivity into compatible blade servers.
Fibre Channel & SAN Connectivity
The QME2572 is designed for environments where Dell PowerEdge blade servers need direct access to centralized Fibre Channel storage.
The adapter supports:
- Point-to-point Fibre Channel
- Switched Fibre Channel fabric
- FC-AL
- FC-AL2
- FCP-3 SCSI
- Fibre Channel tape / FCP-2
This makes it suitable for connecting compatible PowerEdge blades to Fibre Channel switches, SAN fabrics, and enterprise storage arrays.
Redundant Storage Connectivity
The two-port configuration allows administrators to establish multiple physical storage paths. In a typical SAN deployment, the two ports can be connected through separate SAN fabrics or redundant switching paths.
This configuration can improve availability by providing an alternate path if one Fibre Channel connection, switch path, or SAN component becomes unavailable.
Supported Dell PowerEdge Servers
Dell’s M-Series Blade I/O documentation lists the QME2572 for the following PowerEdge blade servers:
- PowerEdge M420
- PowerEdge M520
- PowerEdge M620
- PowerEdge M820
- PowerEdge M630
- PowerEdge M830
Dell/Marvell’s current adapter compatibility documentation also identifies the QME2572 as a 13th-generation blade-server mezzanine card for M630 and M830, while M640 is listed in the later 14G compatibility mapping.
Important: The QME2572 should not be confused with the newer QME2662, which is a dual-port 16Gb Fibre Channel mezzanine adapter.
Operating System & Management Support
Dell provides QLogic driver and management documentation for the QME2572. Dell’s supported-product listings identify the adapter as the FC8 Embedded Mezz Card QME2572.
The original QLogic datasheet lists support for enterprise operating environments including:
- Microsoft Windows Server
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
- VMware ESX / ESXi
Actual OS support depends on the specific PowerEdge server generation, driver version, firmware, and operating-system release.
Recommended Applications
The Dell/QLogic QME2572 is suitable for:
- Enterprise Fibre Channel SAN
- Dell PowerEdge blade-server storage
- Server-to-SAN connectivity
- Virtualization environments
- Database servers
- Shared enterprise storage
- Storage consolidation
- Backup and recovery infrastructure
- Fibre Channel boot environments
- High-performance storage applications
- Fibre Channel tape environments
- Mission-critical blade-server deployments
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