- Virtual CIO
The IT Due Diligence Checklist for Mergers and Acquisitions
11 Mar, 2026

£248.59 inc. VAT
AI-generated summary
For £207 ex-VAT, this Lenovo-branded 1Gb Ethernet card is mostly a “make the server behave again” purchase rather than a performance upgrade. In a lot of UK B2B environments, you’re buying it because you need a known-good, firmware-compatible NIC for a Lenovo server rather than gambling on cheaper generics. That matters more than people think: you want stable drivers, predictable offloads, and fewer “why is it flapping on a firmware update?” calls. If you’re restoring a specific Lenovo server build, it’s a sensible spend.
That said, I wouldn’t buy this if you’re just looking to add networking to a box that already has working Ethernet, or if you don’t specifically need Lenovo validation. At this price point, you can often source alternatives with similar 1Gb capability that don’t lock you into Lenovo ecosystem assumptions—provided you’re comfortable with driver matching and your support path. If this is for a mission-critical system and you value “it just works” over saving a bit up front, then yes, it’s a safe bet. If not, it’s probably overpriced for the raw connectivity you’re getting.

STARTECH
StarTech.com 4-Port USB-A PCIe Card, USB 3.2 5Gbps, 4x USB Controllers - USB adapter - PCIe 2.0 x4 - USB 3.2 Gen 1 x 4 - black - for P/N: FCREADMICRO3V2, USB315AC1M, USB3S2SAT3CB

STARTECH
StarTech.com Dual Port 40G QSFP+ Network Card, Intel XL710 Open QSFP+ Converged Adapter, PCIe 40 Gigabit Ethernet Server NIC, 40GbE Fiber Optic LAN Card, Dell PowerEdge HPE ProLiant, 40Gb - Network Interface Card (PEX40GQSFPI) - Network adapter - PCIe 3.0 x8 low profile - 40 Gigabit QSFP+ x 1 - black

Lenovo
Emulex VFA5.2 ML2 - Network adapter - PCIe 3.0 x8 Mezzanine - 10Gb Ethernet x 2 - for ThinkAgile VX Certified Node 7Y94, 7Z12, ThinkAgile VX7820 Appliance, ThinkSystem SR590

Lenovo
Lenovo ThinkSystem - Network adapter - LAN-on-motherboard (LOM) - 10 Gigabit SFP+ x 2 - for ThinkAgile HX2320 Appliance, VX3320 Appliance