HPE BCM 57504 10/25GBE 4P SFP28 Adptr - P26264-B21

HPE P26264-B21 BCM57504 4-Port 10/25GbE SFP28 Network Adapter

Overview

The HPE P26264-B21 is a four-port 10/25GbE adapter built around the Broadcom BCM57504 controller, designed to provide high-bandwidth server connectivity via SFP28 interfaces. With four SFP28 ports on a single PCIe card, it consolidates network I/O for compute-intensive workloads — reducing slot consumption while delivering the per-port throughput that virtualization-heavy and storage-dense environments demand.

SFP28 is the current-generation 25GbE form factor, backward-compatible with 10GbE SFP+ transceivers and DAC cables. That means you can deploy the P26264-B21 in a 25GbE fabric today and reuse existing 10GbE cabling or optics during a phased infrastructure upgrade — without swapping the adapter.

Key Features

• Four SFP28 Ports: Four independent 10/25GbE lanes on a single adapter slot. In a server with limited PCIe real estate, a four-port card reduces the number of slots consumed for network I/O, freeing slots for storage HBAs or GPU accelerators.
• SFP28 Interface: SFP28 supports both 25GbE and 10GbE, so the same adapter works with existing 10GbE DAC or optical infrastructure and upgrades cleanly to 25GbE switches when the fabric is ready. No forklift swap required.
• Broadcom BCM57504 Controller: The BCM57504 is an enterprise-class controller with a track record in HPE ProLiant and Synergy platforms. Driver and firmware support is maintained through HPE's Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP), which simplifies patching in managed server fleets.

Integration & Compatibility

The P26264-B21 is sourced and positioned for HPE ProLiant and Synergy server platforms. Verify your specific server model's PCIe slot type (Gen3 vs. Gen4) and physical form factor (full-height vs. low-profile) against HPE's server compatibility matrix before ordering. Transceiver and DAC cable selection should be validated against your switch vendor's supported optics list — 25GbE interoperability is generally broad but vendor-specific qualified transceiver lists exist for HPE, Aruba, and major third-party switch platforms.

For HPE HPE server networking adapters across the full portfolio, or to explore compatible network switches and SFP28 transceivers, browse the related categories. If you are planning a high-density 25GbE deployment, review our network adapter selection guide for slot-budget and throughput planning considerations, and pair this adapter with an appropriate 25GbE top-of-rack switch sized for your port count.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What speeds does the P26264-B21 support per port?

A: Each of the four SFP28 ports supports 10GbE and 25GbE operation. SFP28 is backward-compatible with 10GbE SFP+ DAC cables and optics.

Q: Is the P26264-B21 compatible with non-HPE servers?

A: HPE OEM adapters are validated and firmware-supported on HPE ProLiant and Synergy platforms. While the underlying Broadcom BCM57504 silicon may function in other servers, HPE does not qualify or support this part number outside its own server portfolio. Verify compatibility with your specific platform before ordering.

Q: What transceiver types are compatible with the SFP28 ports?

A: SFP28 ports accept 25GbE SFP28 optical transceivers, 25GbE DAC (Direct Attach Copper) cables, and 10GbE SFP+ transceivers and DAC cables. Always validate against the qualified optics list for both the adapter and your switch.

Q: How does a four-port adapter compare to two dual-port adapters?

A: A single four-port card like the P26264-B21 consumes one PCIe slot versus two slots for a pair of dual-port cards. In slot-constrained servers, this frees a PCIe slot for storage or other I/O. Power and thermal draw may also be consolidated. Trade-off: a single-card failure affects all four ports simultaneously.

Karl Wilson

The P26264-B21 is the right call when you need four 10/25GbE uplinks out of a single PCIe slot — the BCM57504-based SFP28 quad-port design is particularly useful in 2U servers where every slot counts and you are running NVMe storage cards or accelerators alongside the NIC.

Technical Highlights:

• 4x SFP28 Ports: Four independent 10/25GbE ports on one card. In a ProLiant DL380 Gen10 or Gen10 Plus with three available PCIe slots, consolidating all network I/O here leaves slots free for HBAs or GPU cards.
• 10/25GbE Dual-Rate: SFP28's backward compatibility with SFP+ means you are not forced to replace all your 10GbE DAC infrastructure on day one. Migrate switch-by-switch and the adapter keeps working throughout the transition.
• Broadcom BCM57504 Platform: HPE ships BCM57504-based adapters with SPP-integrated driver and firmware, so patching this card follows the same iLO-driven workflow as the rest of the server — no manual NIC firmware hunts.

Deployment Considerations:

• Confirm slot type before ordering: PCIe Gen3 x8 electrical is the typical requirement for BCM57504-class quad-port cards; a x4 electrical slot will limit aggregate bandwidth and may not be supported. Check the HPE server QuickSpecs for your exact platform.
• All four ports fail together if the card fails — in availability-critical environments, consider pairing with a second single- or dual-port adapter on a separate PCIe root complex for NIC teaming redundancy.

This adapter fits best in ProLiant rack servers configured for high-throughput north-south traffic — VMware vSphere clusters with NFS or iSCSI storage, Kubernetes worker nodes requiring dedicated storage and management VLANs, or video surveillance servers ingesting multiple high-bitrate 4K streams over a 25GbE fabric where a single dual-port card would be the bottleneck.