QSFP+ Passive Copper Cable (PCC)

Today’s enterprises are undergoing migration from 10GbE to 40GbE and establishing a framework for 100 Gigabit Ethernet network as a result of the ever-increasing server speeds requirement. QSFP+ passive copper cables provide a cost-effective solution for interconnecting high speed 40GbE switches and servers. This post will provide an overview of the 40G QSFP+ passive copper cables, helping users to take maximum advantage of the 40GbE architecture with appropriate interconnects and cost-effective selection.

What Is PCC?
PCC is short for passive copper cables, which contains no electrical components. Fiberstore has released 10G SFP+ and QSFP+ passive copper cabling and products family for its products line. The SFP+ copper cable assemblies were developed as a lower-power alternative to optical cables for short reach links in high-speed interconnect applications such as high-performance computing, enterprise networking and network storage systems. The low latency assemblies support data transfer rates up to 10Gb/s per lane. Since QSFP+ cables have something in common with SFP+ cables, let us first get to know about 10G SFP+ passive copper cable.

Select 10G SFP+ Passive Copper Cable to Optimize Your Design
SFP+ direct attach passive copper cable assemblies are a high-speed, cost-effective alternative to fiber optics in 10Gb Ethernet. It uses in physical infrastructure, businesses can achieve 10 Gigabit performance port-to-port without additional signal processing or conversion, providing a low power, low latency 10 Gb/s server interconnect option for top of rack switching applications. For example: Arista CAB-SFP-SFP-1M compatible SFP+ to SFP+ passive copper cable can support short-length of 1m.

QSFP+ (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable Plus) copper cable assemblies were developed for high-density applications, offering a cost-effective, and low-power option for high-speed data center interconnects up to 10 meters. The QSFP+ form factor can replace up to four standard SFP+ connections, providing greater density and reduced system cost.

What Is QSFP+ Passive Copper Cable?
QSFP+ passive copper cable is an extension of the established interface system SFP+ and was developed for 40Gb Ethernet and 40Gb/s Infiniband QDR applications. 40GbE passive copper cables provide robust connections for leading edge 40G systems. 40G passive copper cables fill the need for short, cost-effective connectivity in the data center. Passive copper cables require no additional power to ensure quality connectivity. 40GE QSFP+ passive copper cables have extremely low power consumption which improves data center power consumption and thermal efficiency. The QSFP+ passive cable assemblies are high performance, cost effective solutions for 40G LAN, HPC and SAN applications. QSFP+ to QSFP+ passive direct attach cables is one of the common types of QSFP+ passive copper cables and it will be introduced in the following passage.

QSFP+ to QSFP+ passive direct attach cables are hot-removable and hot-insertable. A QSFP+ to QSFP+ passive copper cable consists of a cable assembly that connects directly into two QSFP+ modules, one at each end of the cable. The cables use integrated duplex serial data links for bidirectional communication and are designed for data rates up to 40Gbps. There are various QSFP+ to QSFP+ passive copper cables branded by famous brands, like Cisco, HP, Juniper, Brocade, etc. The following picture shows a Juniper QFX-QSFP-DAC-1M Compatible QSFP+ to QSFP+ passive copper cable.

Summary
Designed for short length, high speed interconnects, this low power, low latency passive copper cable is a cost-effective alternative to fiber optic cable assemblies and is intended for short distance applications. Fiberstore provide SFP+ direct attached cables and QSFP+ passive direct attached cables can reach up to 10 meters. Both passive and active SFP+ and QSFP+ devices are available in addition to other various devices.