MikroTik introduces router in PCIe card format

The Latvian company MikroTik has announced a network card that can be inserted into the PCIe interface of a server and then act as a full router. The device runs on RouterOS.

The MikroTik CCR2004-1G-2XS-PCIe combines an Ethernet adapter with a full-fledged router. The device has two SFP28 connections for two times 25 Gbit/s, in addition to a Gigabit Ethernet interface. The router works via PCIe 3.0 x8 and is powered by the motherboard.

By default, the device is represented as four virtual Ethernet interfaces: two pass-through interfaces to the SFP28 duo and two virtual interfaces connected to the Ethernet port for management access. The user can configure the interfaces and settings through RouterOS.

There is also 4GB of RAM and 128MB of NAND storage. The router has the same quad-core CPU as the regular CCR2004-1G-2XS. MikroTik has not opted for a dedicated ASIC to keep costs low. The choice for an ARM CPU does mean that the adapter takes time to boot compared to ASIC-based devices. If the host system is running before the card, it will not be listed among the available devices.

A Polish webshop offers the device for 170 euros.