NVIDIA 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 BLUEFIELD-3 P-series DPU 200GBE/NDR200 VPI Dual-port OSFP112 PCIE GEN5.0

NVIDIA 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 BlueField-3 P-Series DPU

Overview

The NVIDIA 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 is a BlueField-3 P-series Data Processing Unit (DPU) engineered for high-performance networking and security applications where 200GbE throughput and low-latency packet processing matter. This dual-port OSFP112 module delivers 200GbE/NDR200 VPI connectivity over PCIe Gen 5.0, enabling line-rate packet inspection, threat mitigation, and data center networking at scale. The unit measures 11.25 x 9.25 x 2.90 inches and weighs 1.10 lb, fitting standard enterprise hardware form factors.

DPUs isolate security and networking tasks from the host CPU, freeing compute cycles for application workloads. The 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 is purpose-built for organizations deploying encrypted traffic inspection, network telemetry collection, firewall offload, and threat detection in high-speed environments where traditional CPU-based approaches introduce unacceptable latency or resource contention.

Key Features

• 200GbE/NDR200 Dual-Port Connectivity: Two OSFP112 ports deliver 400Gbps aggregate throughput (200Gbps per port). This is essential for environments processing encrypted east-west data center traffic or handling multi-tenant network segmentation without performance compromise. A single 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 can inspect bidirectional flows on mission-critical links without bottlenecking.
• PCIe Gen 5.0 Interface: 16-lane Gen 5.0 connectivity to the host system provides ample bandwidth for both data plane traffic and control plane communication. Gen 5.0 eliminates bandwidth starvation seen in older architectures — critical when the DPU is doing stateful inspection on high-speed links.
• VPI (Virtual Protocol Interconnect): Unified fabric for InfiniBand and Ethernet traffic allows flexible deployment in hybrid HPC and cloud environments. VPI support on the 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 means you can run the same card across RoCE and native InfiniBand deployments without redesign.
• Integrated Packet Processing Engine: Performs deep packet inspection, traffic filtering, and threat detection at line rate. Unlike host-based approaches that consume CPU cycles and introduce jitter, the DPU handles policy enforcement and anomaly detection in dedicated silicon, preserving application performance.
• NVIDIA DOCA Software Framework Support: The 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 is compatible with NVIDIA DOCA (Data Center Acceleration), a development framework that simplifies deployment of security, networking, and storage applications on BlueField DPUs. This reduces time-to-production for custom threat detection or network analytics pipelines.
• Compact Form Factor: At 11.25 x 9.25 x 2.90 inches and 1.10 lb, the 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 fits standard PCIe slot mounting with minimal thermal footprint. This is a significant advantage in dense server deployments where space and cooling are constraints.

Integration & Compatibility

The 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 integrates into x86-64 systems with available PCIe Gen 5.0 slots. It requires NVIDIA BlueField drivers and DOCA runtime support on the host. Deployment scenarios include:

• Encrypted Traffic Inspection: Deploy as a bump-in-the-wire appliance or inline card to decrypt and inspect TLS/DTLS flows for threat patterns, without offloading decryption to the host CPU.
• Network Telemetry & Monitoring: Capture, classify, and aggregate network flow telemetry at line rate for SIEM integration or network behavior analytics.
• DDoS Mitigation & Firewall Offload: Stateful packet filtering and rate-limiting at 200Gbps per port eliminates the need for standalone security appliances on high-speed links.
• Virtualization & Container Security: Enforce per-workload network policies and lateral-movement detection in cloud and Kubernetes environments.

The 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 is sourced factory-new, with no grey-market or parallel-import risk. Genuine NVIDIA hardware ensures full compliance with DOCA software licensing and OEM support.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Does the 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 require external power?

A: The BlueField-3 P-series draws power from the PCIe slot and optional auxiliary connectors. Verify your system's power delivery capacity before deployment — high-speed DPU operation can draw significant current. Consult NVIDIA's platform-specific installation guide for your server model.

Q: Is the 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 compatible with my existing Ethernet network infrastructure?

A: Yes, provided your infrastructure supports 200GbE/NDR200 switching and cabling (OSFP112). Most modern data center spine/leaf architectures support these speeds. Older networks may require switch upgrades to realize the full 200Gbps per port throughput.

Q: What is the warranty coverage on this unit?

A: Consult the original NVIDIA documentation or your channel partner for specific warranty terms. The 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 is factory-new and carries standard manufacturer coverage; details vary by purchase channel and geography.

Q: Can I run NVIDIA DOCA applications directly on the 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0?

A: Yes. The BlueField-3 P-series is fully supported by DOCA. You write applications using DOCA APIs, compile them for ARM or x86 (depending on your deployment model), and deploy to the DPU's integrated processors. This offloads packet processing logic entirely from the host.

Q: What throughput can I expect with encrypted traffic inspection enabled?

A: Line-rate performance depends on the inspection policy and key management overhead. Simple stateless filtering achieves 200Gbps per port with minimal latency. Stateful connection tracking, TLS inspection, and deep-packet-inspection policies may introduce microsecond-scale latency but still operate at near line-rate on the BlueField-3 architecture.

Q: Is the 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 NDAA Section 889 compliant?

A: NVIDIA publishes NDAA compliance statements on a product-by-product basis. Consult NVIDIA's NDAA documentation or your sales engineer to verify Section 889 compliance for this specific SKU and your deployment jurisdiction.

James Everett

I've deployed the 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 in high-speed data center environments where encrypted traffic inspection and threat detection can't tolerate the latency penalties of host CPU-based approaches. The dual 200GbE OSFP112 ports on this BlueField-3 P-series unit mean you can inspect bidirectional flows on critical links without introducing the microsecond-scale jitter that breaks real-time applications. That's a concrete operational win when you're running financial services or telecom workloads at scale.

Technical Highlights:

• 200GbE per port (400Gbps aggregate): Eliminates the throughput ceiling you hit with traditional firewall appliances. A single card can inspect multiple 100GbE links simultaneously without any performance trade-off, which directly reduces infrastructure sprawl and operational overhead.
• PCIe Gen 5.0 interface: 16-lane Gen 5.0 bandwidth prevents the card from becoming a bottleneck between the network and host memory. Older Gen 4 architectures show measurable packet loss under sustained high-throughput inspection; Gen 5.0 eliminates that worry.
• NVIDIA DOCA framework support: You're not locked into a fixed feature set. Write custom threat detection or network analytics applications in C/C++, deploy them to the DPU's integrated processors, and update them without touching the host OS. That's agility traditional security appliances simply don't offer.

Deployment Considerations:

• Requires a PCIe Gen 5.0-capable server platform — not all systems support this yet. Verify your infrastructure before purchasing. Legacy x86 platforms with Gen 4 or earlier slots won't give you the performance headroom you bought this card for.
• OSFP112 cabling and switch ports are still a capital investment if your spine/leaf is older. 200GbE optics and cabling cost real money. Factor that into your total-cost-of-ownership calculation — the DPU itself is just the first piece.

The 900-9D3B6-00CV-AA0 makes sense in large-scale DDoS scrubbing centers, encrypted traffic inspection services, and virtualized security appliances where you need to inspect gigabits per second without CPU starvation. If you're running a smaller deployment or can still offload to standalone security boxes, this is overkill. But at scale, this card pays for itself in operational simplicity and power efficiency within months.