It Is Not Just About Faster NICs
Dell'Oro Group, Tuesday, October 27th, 2026
Dell'Oro Group argues server network adapters should be judged on performance, programmability and power efficiency, not just port speed.
Frank Yang of Dell'Oro Group argues that evaluating server network adapters by port speed or PCIe generation alone misses key factors, highlighting performance, programmability, and power efficiency.
Dell'Oro projects the Ethernet adapter and Smart NIC market will reach 53.6 billion dollars by 2030, and the piece distinguishes general-purpose NICs, DPUs and IPUs that offload networking, security, and storage from host CPUs, and AI-optimized NICs.
It projects adapters at 100 Gbps and below will make up 86 percent of 2030 port shipments in front-end networks, and discusses scale-up networking efforts such as ESUN and SUE-T.
It concludes no single adapter design is likely to dominate.