A quad small form-factor pluggable plus (QSFP+) cable is a fiber optic cable capped at either end with the QSFP+ transceiver, which is designed for data rates up to 40Gb/s supporting Fibre Channel, Ethernet, Infiniband standards and so on. It is a solution with high density, high bandwidth and relatively low cost. In the market, there are now four common types of QSFP+ cables: QSFP+ AOC cable, QSFP+ to 4×SFP+ breakout cable, QSFP+ to CX4 copper cable and QSFP+ to 4×XFP cable. This article will introduce these types of QSFP+ cables respectively.
Being compliant with the QSFP MSA and IEEE P802.3ba 40GBASE-SR4, the QSFP+ active optical cable (AOC) is a high performance, low power consumption integrated cable for short-range multi-lane data communication and interconnect applications. QSFP+ AOC cable can integrate four data lanes in each direction with 40 Gb/s aggregate bandwidth. Each of the data lane is capable of transmitting data at rates up to 10Gb/s with lengths ranging from one to 100 m. Furthermore, it can be applied to 40 Gigabit Ethernet, fiber channel and peripheral component interface express (PCIE).
Providing much needed space for data centers and cost cuts, QSFP+ to 4×SFP+ breakout cables may make a great cost-effective interconnect solution to IT professionals. Through the use of QSFP+ to 4×SFP+ breakout cables, users can connect their QSFP+ and SFP+ Switches and Network cards without upgrading the entire data center or storage array. The QSFP+ to 4×SFP+ breakout cable has a single QSFP connector rated for 40 Gb/s on one end and four SFP+ connectors, each rated for 10 Gb/s, on the other. It is mainly used for quad date rate (QDR) infiniBand, 40 Gigabit Ethernet and 10Gigabit applications.
QSFP+ to CX4 copper cable has a QSFP connector on one end and a CX4 connector on the other end, which permits auto-negotiation between the two connected devices for optimal network throughput. Adapting the cutting edge technology, QSFP+ to CX4 copper cables provide an excellent hybrid cable solution for CX4/InfiniBand and QSFP rated switches, network adapters, and storage arrays.
QSFP+ to 4×XFP cable features a single QSFP connector rated for 40 Gb/s on one end and 4 XFP connectors on the other end, each rated for 10 Gb/s. Since the QSFP+ to 4×XFP cable can merge 40G QSFP and 10G XFP enabled host adapters, switches and servers, users can install it between an available QSFP port on their 40Gb/s rated switch and feed up to four upstream 10Gb/s XFP enabled switches.
QSFP+ cables are ideal for high density signal transmission. And there are various QSFP+ cables sold in the market. As a professional supplier of optical communication products, Fiberstore supplies a wide variety of 40G QSFP+ cables with high quality. Customers may choose the proper QSFP+ cables according to their needs.
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Direct Attach Copper Cable VS Active Optical Cable (AOC)