How to choose DAC high-speed cable?

DAC high-speed cable is a low-cost and short-distance connection solution for data center equipment. It consists of a cable and optical fiber transceiver devices at both ends of the cable. Because of the high cost performance, the interconnection application between short-distance network equipment is widely welcomed. At present, there are many specifications of DAC high-speed cables on the market. If you want to buy a cost-effective high-speed cable product, fiber-mart.com summarizes the following considerations for everyone here.

 

1. There are two types of high-speed cables, active and passive. The difference between the two is that the active DAC high-speed cable has an additional driver chip. At the same time, active optical cables do not need power supply skills to display their characteristics, while active optical cables require external power to display their characteristics. Under normal circumstances, when the transmission distance exceeds 5 meters, in order to reduce the signal interference problem, it is most appropriate to choose an active DAC high-speed cable. Passive high-speed cables do not amplify or equalize optical signals during transmission. The active high-speed cable will also amplify the optical signal while transmitting it, thereby increasing the transmission distance. Therefore, the transmission distance of an active high-speed cable is longer than that of a passive high-speed cable, but its price is also more expensive.

 

2、When purchasing, we need to determine the cable length and AWG value. The common AWG values for high-speed cables are 24AWG, 28AWG and 30AWG. As AWG24 is thicker and heavier than AWG30, the longer the length of AWG24, the less convenient it is to use than AWG30, and the bending sensitivity is also limited. Therefore, in long-distance transmission, it is appropriate to choose a larger AWG.

 

3. Determine the transmission rate and connector type. DAC high-speed cables can be divided into 10G SFP+ DAC high-speed cables, 25G SFP28 DAC high-speed cables, 40G QSFP+ DAC high-speed cables, and 100G QSFP28 DAC high-speed cables according to different transmission rates. It is used for direct connection of short-distance equipment in the data center. In addition, in order to meet the needs of user network upgrades, DAC high-speed cables, 40G QSFP+ DAC high-speed cables and 100G QSFP28 DAC high-speed cables are equipped with branch cable packaging, which can be used for 40G to 4*10G, 100G to 4* In the 25G network upgrade application scenario.