Direct Attach Copper (DAC) Cables

Direct Attach Copper (DAC) Cables

Volex is a leading manufacturer and supplier of Direct Attach Copper (DAC) cables

The Volex DAC cable product family includes cable assemblies with Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP), Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP), and Octal Small Form-factor Pluggable (OSFP) single and double density modules. Volex offers a comprehensive range of active and passive DAC cables, supporting data rates of 10Gbps, 25Gbps, 40Gbps, 50Gbps, 100Gbps, 200Gbps, 400Gbps, 800Gbps and 1.6Tbps. These high-performance solutions are designed to meet the rigorous demands of modern data centres, delivering industry-leading quality, reliability and performance.

Direct Attach Copper DAC Cable
Direct Attach Copper (DAC) Cable

Technical Information

DAC cable from Volex is offered with many different form factors, total speeds, lane speeds and lengths in straight and various breakout configurations. See table below:

Volex Direct Attach Copper Cable Products Speed Passive, ACC, AEC Cable Type Total Speed (Gbps) Lanes, Lane Speed (Gbps) Lengths (M) Twinax (n-pair) Application

10Gbps SFP+ Cable and 40Gbps QSFP+ Cable
10G SFP+ Passive DAC Cable 10 Gbps Passive Straight 10 1, 10 0.5 – 7 2 E, F
40G QSFP+ Passive DAC Cable 40 Gbps Passive Straight 40 4, 10 0.5 – 7 8 E, I, F
40G QSFP+ to 4x SFP+ Passive DAC Breakout Cable 40 Gbps Passive Breakout 40/ 4x 10 4, 10 0.5 – 7 4x 2 E. F

25Gbps SFP28 Cable and 100G QSFP28 Cable
25G SFP28 Passive DAC Cable 25 Gbps Passive Straight 25 1, 25 0.5 – 5 2 E, F
25G SFP28 ACC Cable 25 Gbps ACC Straight 25 1, 25 4 – 9 2 E, F
100G QSFP28 ACC Cable 100 Gbps ACC Straight 100 4, 25 4 – 9 8 E, I, F
100G QSFP28 Passive DAC Cable 100 Gbps Passive Straight 100 4, 25 0.5 – 5 8 E, I , F
100G QSFP28 to 2x QSFP28 ACC Breakout Cable 100 Gbps ACC Breakout 100/ 2x 50 4, 25 4 – 9 2x 4 E, I
100G QSFP28 to 2x QSFP28 Passive DAC Breakout Cable 100 Gbps Passive Breakout 100/ 2x 50 4, 25 0.5 – 5 2x 4 E, I
100G QSFP28 to 4x SFP28 Passive DAC Breakout Cable 100 Gbps Passive Breakout 100/ 4x 25 4, 25 0.5 – 5 4x 2 E, F

50Gbps SFP56 Cable
50G SFP56 Passive DAC Cable 50 Gbps Passive Straight 50 1, 50 0.5 – 3 2 E. F

100Gbps SFP-DD Cable
100G SFP-DD Passive DAC Cable 100 Gbps Passive Straight 100 2, 50 0.5 – 3 4 E, F

100Gbps DSFP Cable
100G DSFP Passive DAC Cable 100 Gbps Passive Straight 100 2, 50 0.5 – 3 4 E

200Gbps QSFP56 Cable
200G QSFP56 ACC Cable 200 Gbps ACC Straight 200 4, 50 3– 7 8 E, F
200G QSFP56 Passive DAC Cable 200 Gbps Passive Straight 200 4, 50 0.5 – 3 8 E, I², F
200G QSFP56 to 2x QSFP56 ACC Breakout Cable 200 Gbps ACC Breakout 200/ 2x 100 4, 50 3 – 7 2x 4 E
200G QSFP56 to 2x QSFP56 Passive DAC Breakout Cable 200 Gbps Passive Breakout 200/ 2x 100 4, 50 0.5 – 3 2x 4 E, I²
200G QSFP56 to 4x SFP56 Passive DAC Breakout Cable 200 Gbps Passive Breakout 200/ 4x 50 4, 50 0.5 – 3 4x 2 E, F

400Gbps QSFP-DD, OSFP and QSFP112 Cables
400G QSFP-DD ACC Cable¹ 400 Gbps ACC Straight 400 8, 50 3 – 7 16 E
400G QSFP-DD AEC Cable¹ 400 Gbps AEC Straight 400 8, 50 1 – 7 16 E, I
400G QSFP-DD Passive DAC Cable 400 Gbps Passive Straight 400 8. 50 0.5 – 3 16 E, I²
400G QSFP-DD to QSFP56 ACC Breakout Cable¹ 400 Gbps ACC Breakout 400/ 2x 200 or 4x 100 8, 50 3 – 7 2x 8 E
400G QSFP-DD to QSFP56 Passive DAC Breakout Cable 400 Gbps Passive Breakout 400/ 2x 200 or 4x 100 8, 50 0.5 – 3 2x 8 E, I²
400G OSFP ACC Cable¹ 400 Gbps ACC Straight 400 8, 50 3 – 7 16 E
400G OSFP AEC Cable¹ 400 Gbps AEC Straight 400 8, 50 1 – 7 16 E, I
400G OSFP Passive DAC Straight Cable 400 Gbps Passive Straight 400 8, 50 0.5 – 3 16 E, I²
400G OSFP to QSFP56 ACC Breakout Cable¹ 400 Gbps ACC Breakout 400/ 2x 200 or 4x 100 8, 50 3 – 7 2x 8 E
400G OSFP to QSFP56 Passive DAC Breakout Cable 400 Gbps Passive Breakout 400/ 2x 200 or 4x 100 8, 50 0.5 – 3 2x 8 E, I²
400G QSFP112 ACC Cable 400 Gbps ACC Straight 400 4, 100 3 – 5 8 E
400G QSFP112 AEC Cable 400 Gbps AEC Straight 400 4, 100 1 – 5 8 E, I
400G QSFP112 Passive DAC Cable 400 Gbps Passive Straight 400 4, 100 0.5 – 2 8 E, I

800Gbps QSFP-DD and OSFP Cables
800G QSFP-DD ACC Cable 800 Gbps ACC Straight 800 8, 100 1 – 5 16 E
800G QSFP-DD AEC Cable 800 Gbps AEC Straight 800 8, 100 1 – 5 16 E, I
800G QSFP-DD Passive DAC Cable 800 Gbps Passive Straight 800 8, 100 0.5 – 2 16 E, I
800G QSFP-DD to QSFP112 ACC Breakout Cable 800 Gbps ACC Breakout 800/2x 400 or 4x 200 8, 100 1 – 5 16 E
800G QSFP-DD to QSFP112 AEC Breakout Cable 800 Gbps AEC Breakout 800/2x 400 or 4x 200 8, 100 1 – 5 16 E, I
800G QSFP-DD to QSFP112 Passive DAC Breakout Cable 800 Gbps Passive Breakout 800/2x 400 or 4x 200 8, 100 1 – 2 16 E, I
800G OSFP ACC Cable¹ 800 Gbps ACC Straight 800 8, 100 1 – 5 16 E
800G OSFP AEC Cable 800 Gbps AEC Straight 800 8, 100 1 – 5 16 E, I
800G OSFP Passive DAC Cable 800 Gbps Passive Straight 800 8, 100 0.5 – 2 16 E, I
800G OSFP to QSFP112 ACC Breakout Cable¹ 800 Gbps ACC Breakout 800/2x 400 or 4x 200 8, 100 1 – 5 16 E
800G OSFP to QSFP112 AEC Breakout Cable 800 Gbps AEC Breakout 800/2x 400 or 4x 200 8, 100 1 – 5 16 E, I
800G OSFP to QSFP112 Passive DAC Breakout Cable 800 Gbps Passive Breakout 800/2x 400 or 4x 200 8, 100 1 – 2 16 E, I

1.6Tbps OSFP-XD and OSFP1600 Cables
OSFP-XD Passive DAC Cable¹ 1.6 Tbps Passive Straight 1600 16, 100 0.5 – 1.5 32 E, I
OSFP1600 Passive DAC Cable¹ 1.6 Tbps Passive Straight 1600 8, 200 0.5 – 1.0 16 E, I
OSFP1600 ACC Cable¹ 1.6 Tbps ACC Straight 1600 8, 200 1 – 2.5 16 E

Remarks:
“1” – Cables are under development. Length listed above are preliminary.
“2” – Maximum cable reach of passive DAC will be shorter in InfiniBand HDR application.

For each product line, different lengths (meters) and wire gauges (AWG) and other customisation options including pull-tab colour, low-smoke zero-halogen cable jacket and colour, and EEPROM custom programming and pages are available.

Direct Attach Copper (DAC) Cable

Applications / Market

DAC cable is used for data connection applications in high-speed data centres.

  • Servers
  • Switches
  • Routers
  • High performance computing
  • Storage

What is Direct Attach Copper (DAC) Cable?

Direct attach cables are factory terminated copper cable assemblies with SFP, QSFP and OSFP single and double density series pluggable modules.

Low cost and low power consumption with no heat produced and very high reliability make passive DAC the preferred choice for short distance (1-5M) data centre in-rack equipment interconnect application. Active DAC can preserve signal integrity with embedded retimer or redriver extending the reach up to 9M for inter-rack interconnect application. Active DAC also can be an option for cabling high density rack with thinner and more flexible cables.

Direct Attach Copper (DAC) Cable

Benefits

DAC Cables from Volex are optimised for Ethernet, Infiniband and Fibre Channel data connection applications in data centres, with benefits that include:

Near-zero power consumption, low heat dissipation, very low cost

Complete cable assembly uniquely terminated at the factory to provide the most reliable operation

100% tested for signal integrity with serial number traceability

Product customisation available to meet customer specifications

Production capacity to meet mega sized global data centre demand

Innovative design development to support next-generation interconnect technology and deployment

Why Choose Volex for Direct Attach Copper (DAC) Cable?

Volex’s engineering teams can customise a solution to a customer’s specific requirements and provide quick turn custom design samples supported by skilled local sales and field applications engineering (FAE) teams. A global factory footprint, which includes tariff-free manufacturing sites, efficient global supply chain and logistics support, enables reduced product lead time and efficient cost management.

By partnering with Volex on data centre high-speed interconnect solutions, customers benefit from strong technical expertise and manufacturing prowess to help future-proof data centres and fulfil infrastructure development and growth goals.

Contact Volex