Today’s enterprise data centers and networking environments are undergoing an infrastructure transformation, requiring higher speeds, greater scalability, and higher levels of performance and reliability to better meet the demands of business. As speed and performance needs increase, modern copper cables have become an integral part of overall system design. QSFP+ direct attach copper breakout cables are designed to meet emerging data center and high performance computing application needs for a short distance and high density cabling interconnect system capable of delivering an aggregate data bandwidth of 40Gb/s. These high speed cables provide a highly cost-effective way to upgrade from 10G to 40G or 40G to 40G interconnect connection.

How to Use a 40G QSFP+ Direct Attach Copper Cable

QSFP+ direct attach copper cables can be mainly divided into two types. One is QSFP+ to 4 SFP+ direct attach breakout copper cable, and the other is QSFP+ to QSFP+ direct attach copper cable. In fact, there is a third type QSFP+ direct attach copper cable called QSFP+ to 4 XFP breakout cable. Since it is not common, this article may not make discussion. However, regardless of what type of cables, they are both used to connect switch to switch or switch to sever. For a QSFP+ to 4 SFP+ direct attach breakout copper cable, it has a QSFP+ connector on one end and four SFP+ connectors on the other end. In terms of a QSFP+ to QSFP+ direct attach copper cable, it has a QSFP+ connector on both ends of the cable. When we use a fiber optic transceiver and patch cable to establish a fiber link, we should firstly plug the transceiver to the switch and then plug the patch cable to the transceiver. But for a QSFP+ direct attach copper cable, either SFP+ connector or QSFP+ connector, can be both directly inserted into the switch and don’t need a transceiver at all, which provides a really cost-effective solution for interconnecting high speed 40G switches to existing 10G equipment or 40G switches to 40G switches.

40G QSFP+ to 4 SFP+ Direct Attach Copper Cabling

 The move from 10G to 40G Ethernet will be a gradual one. It is very likely that one may deploy switches that have 40G Ethernet ports while the servers still have 10G Ethernet ports. For that situation, we should use a QSFP+ to 4 SFP+ direct attach breakout copper cable. These cables connect to a 40G QSFP port of a switch on one end and to four 10G SFP+ ports of a switch on the other end, which allows a 40G Ethernet port to be used as four independent 10G ports thus providing increased density while permitting backward compatibility and a phased upgrade of equipment. As a lower cost alternative to MTP/MPO breakouts for short reach applications up to 5 meters, it helps IT organizations achieve new levels of infrastructure consolidation while expanding application and service capabilities.

40G QSFP+ to 4 SFP+ Cabling Products

40G QSFP+ to QSFP+ Direct Attach Copper Cabling

QSFP+ to QSFP+ direct attach copper cable are suitable for very short distances and offer a highly cost-effective way to establish a 40G link between QSFP+ ports of QSFP+ switches within racks and across adjacent racks. These cables connect to a 40G QSFP port of a switch on one end and to another 40G QSFP port of a switch on the other end. Supporting similar applications to SFP+, these four-lane high speed interconnects were designed for high density applications at 10Gb/s transmission speeds per lane. One QSFP+ to QSFP+ direct attach copper cable link is equivalent to 4 SFP+ cable links, providing greater density and reduced system cost. Passive and active QSFP+ to QSFP+ direct attach copper cables are both available. With a active QSFP+ to QSFP+ direct attach copper cable assembly, the connection is capable of distances of up to 10 meters.

40G QSFP+ to QSFP+ Cabling Products

Besides 40G QSFP+ to 4 SFP+ and QSFP+ to QSFP+ direct attach copper cables, Cozlink also provide other high speed cables such as 10G SFP+ direct attach cables, 40G QSFP+ to 4 XFP breakout copper cables and 40G QSFP+ to 8xLC breakout active optical cables. All these cables work with Cisco or other third-party switches. For more information, welcome to visit www.cozlink.com or contact us via cozlink.com.

Cisco QSFP to Four SFP+ Copper Breakout Cables

Cisco QSFP to four SFP+ copper direct-attach breakout cables are suitable for very short distances and offer a very cost-effective way to connect within racks and across adjacent racks. These breakout cables connect to a 40G QSFP port of a Cisco switch on one end and to four 10G SFP+ ports of a Cisco switch on the other end. Cisco currently offers passive cables in lengths of 1, 3, and 5 meters and active cables in lengths of 7 and 10 meters.

Cisco QSFP to Four SFP+ Active Optical Breakout Cables

Cisco QSFP to four SFP+ active optical breakout cable are suitable for very short distances and offer a flexible way to connect within racks and across adjacent racks. Active optical cables are much thinner and lighter than copper cables, which makes cabling easier. Active optical cables enable efficient system airflow and have no electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues, which is critical in high-density racks. These breakout cables connect to a 40G QSFP port of a Cisco switch on one end and to four 10G SFP+ ports of a Cisco switch on the other end. Cisco currently offers active optical breakout cables in lengths of 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 10 meters.

Cisco QSFP-40G to SFP-10G Adapter Module

The Cisco QSFP to SFP or SFP+ Adapter (QSA) Module offers 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 1 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity for QSFP 40G-only platforms. It allows smooth and cost-effective migration to 40 Gigabit Ethernet by providing an option to use lower-speed SFP or Enhanced Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+) modules in empty QSFP ports or when the other end of the network is running at lower speeds. The Cisco QSA Module  converts a QSFP port to an SFP or SFP+ port. With this adapter, customers have the flexibility to use any SFP+ or SFP module, or cable to connect to a lower-speed port on the other end of the network. This flexibility allows a cost-effective transition to 40 Gigabit Ethernet by maximizing the use of high-density 40 Gigabit Ethernet QSFP platforms. This adapter supports all SFP+ optics and cable reaches and several 1 Gigabit Ethernet SFP modules.