MikroTik CCR2004-1G-2XS-PCIe Router – Enterprise PCIe Networking Solution

The MikroTik CCR2004-1G-2XS-PCIe is a PCIe network card with full router capabilities, combining two 25 Gigabit SFP28 interfaces with the processing power of a real CCR — installed directly in a server's PCIe slot. It is widely used in server rooms where saving rack space is a priority, in file and media servers requiring firewall, access control, and traffic management without a separate dedicated router, and in data centers where integrating advanced routing functionality directly into the server eliminates an infrastructure layer from the topology. The 4 GB DDR4 RAM and quad-core ARM64 CPU enable handling of complex RouterOS v7 scenarios without impacting data transfer performance.

The card is built on a quad-core ARM64 ARMv8 with 4 GB RAM and 128 MB NAND storage, managed via fully functional RouterOS v7 — with no additional licensing required. The PCIe interface exposes four virtual Ethernet interfaces by default: two in passthrough mode directly to the 25G SFP28 ports, and two virtual PCIe-Ethernet interfaces bridged with the Gigabit Ethernet port for management access. Passthrough mode with FastForward FastPath passes hardware link statuses, and the card can reach wire-speed 100 Gbps with Jumbo frames — without becoming a bottleneck in typical server configurations.

The CCR2004-1G-2XS-PCIe installs in any compatible PCIe slot and operates on Linux (minimum kernel 5.15.25) and RouterOS (minimum version 7.x) host systems. All interfaces and settings are freely configurable via RouterOS v7, supporting firewall, user management, access control, VPN, VLANs, bandwidth shaping, and all standard RouterOS functionality. An important installation note: the card requires longer boot-up time compared to ASIC-based solutions — if the host system starts before the CCR card, a PCIe device initialization delay must be configured in the BIOS, or PCIe devices must be re-initialized from the host system.

It is recommended for server administrators seeking to add 25G connectivity and full router capabilities without occupying additional rack space, file, media, and virtualization servers requiring granular traffic control, firewall, and user management directly at the NIC level, data centers where consolidating routing functionality into the server reduces infrastructure complexity, and any scenario where the combination of a wire-speed 25G NIC and a fully functional CCR router in a single PCIe card represents the desired architectural advantage. Linux and RouterOS compatibility confirms suitability for professional server environments.