linux-drivers/
drivers/net/ethernet/mellanox/mlx5/core/en

NVIDIA/Mellanox ConnectX-4 through ConnectX-7 Ethernet NICs (mlx5)

The Ethernet personality of NVIDIA's (formerly Mellanox's) ConnectX-4 through ConnectX-7 network adapters, covering 25, 50, 100, 200, and 400 Gbps PCIe NICs widely deployed in cloud, hyperscale, HPC, and enterprise data centers from the mid-2010s onward. It handles the netdevice side, hardware offloads, and switchdev features for cards still actively sold by NVIDIA in 2025.

keep conf=0.95 deploy=high replacement=none subsystem=net category=networking-ethernet
95%

recommendation

It should stay because this is the Ethernet half of the mlx5 driver that powers NVIDIA/Mellanox ConnectX-4, ConnectX-5, ConnectX-6, and ConnectX-7 adapters — the workhorse 25/50/100/200/400 Gbps NICs found across modern data centers, cloud providers, and HPC clusters. The hardware is still being sold new in 2025, the code saw nearly 500 substantive commits and 78 contributors in the last five years, and no replacement driver exists for this family.

repository signals

116 files
29,998 source lines
673 commits, 5y
+21,507 / −9,093 lines added / removed, 5y
94 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 673 total · active in 59/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 22 commits · +2,329 −209 2021-05: 7 commits · +52 −43 2021-06: 17 commits · +1,601 −300 2021-07: 21 commits · +1,918 −349 2021-08: 30 commits · +2,371 −767 2021-09: 15 commits · +729 −140 2021-10: 15 commits · +285 −100 2021-11: 14 commits · +318 −95 2021-12: 17 commits · +149 −239 2022-01: 53 commits · +1,135 −559 2022-02: 10 commits · +140 −86 2022-03: 16 commits · +126 −133 2022-04: 17 commits · +234 −210 2022-05: 6 commits · +916 −767 2022-06: 3 commits · +20 −9 2022-07: 11 commits · +479 −55 2022-08: 4 commits · +195 −10 2022-09: 38 commits · +762 −552 2022-10: 12 commits · +327 −119 2022-11: 20 commits · +488 −146 2022-12: 18 commits · +403 −174 2023-01: 23 commits · +275 −358 2023-02: 31 commits · +427 −283 2023-03: 19 commits · +360 −342 2023-04: 17 commits · +424 −151 2023-05: 8 commits · +261 −97 2023-06: 8 commits · +31 −21 2023-07: 7 commits · +67 −26 2023-08: 10 commits · +369 −121 2023-09: 8 commits · +315 −9 2023-10: 9 commits · +492 −859 2023-11: 12 commits · +151 −61 2023-12: 5 commits · +37 −8 2024-01: 1 commit · +106 −506 2024-02: 5 commits · +248 −113 2024-03: 2 commits · +26 −17 2024-04: 12 commits · +231 −111 2024-05: 1 commit · +2 −2 2024-06: 6 commits · +223 −53 2024-07: 3 commits · +15 −1 2024-08: 5 commits · +89 −26 2024-09: 1 commit · +3 −0 2024-10: 3 commits · +4 −4 2024-11: 1 commit · +1 −1 2024-12: 1 commit · +11 −2 2025-01: 3 commits · +399 −80 2025-02: 12 commits · +260 −90 2025-03: 8 commits · +101 −30 2025-04: 3 commits · +33 −9 2025-05: 2 commits · +29 −20 2025-06: 3 commits · +36 −17 2025-07: 16 commits · +444 −97 2025-08: 8 commits · +46 −25 2025-09: 17 commits · +225 −124 2025-10: 8 commits · +75 −37 2025-11: 1 commit · +16 −7 2025-12: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-01: 2 commits · +8 −2 2026-02: 9 commits · +208 −190 2026-03: 1 commit · +0 −1 2026-04: 0 commits · +0 −0

sources

  1. docs.kernel.org

    Official kernel documentation lists CONFIG_MLX5_CORE_EN as the basic Ethernet netdevice/offload support for mlx5, showing the driver is current upstream functionality rather than legacy code.

  2. nvidia.com

    NVIDIA's Ethernet NIC product page still markets ConnectX-7 and ConnectX-6 Dx Ethernet NICs, indicating mlx5-supported hardware was still sold new in 2025.

  3. docs.nvidia.com

    The ConnectX-6 Dx Ethernet Adapter Cards manual was updated on March 1, 2025 and includes ordering part numbers, supporting that mlx5 Ethernet hardware remained an active product line in 2025.

  4. cateee.net

    LKDDb shows CONFIG_MLX5_CORE_EN present across many kernel releases, consistent with a long-lived, still-supported in-tree driver family.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Real driver directory, not a helper library. Static evidence is strongly active: 498 substantive commits in the last 5 years, 78 authors, and most recent substantive touch on 2026-03-07. No credible removal signal was found; lore-http MCP was unavailable, `lei` was not installed, and direct lore web searches returned no hits for removal/deprecation discussions. URLs were obtained via web search tool except none by canonical recall. Kernel docs show mlx5 Ethernet support as current upstream functionality; NVIDIA product/manual pages show ConnectX-6 Dx and ConnectX-7 were still sold/documented in 2025, implying ongoing datacenter/HPC/cloud deployment. There is no natural replacement driver for the same hardware family, so recommendation is keep.