SFP+ Cable Question for Mellanox Infinaband?

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DBayPlaya2k3

Member
Nov 9, 2012
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Houston
I recently purchased 3 Mellanox Connectx-2 EN Adapters and then mistakenly purchased the incorrect cables.

My adapter seems will call for SFP+ to SFP+ instead of CX4 (I Mistakenly Purchased CX4 to CX4).


Question is does Mellanox Connectx-2 Adapters require Mellanox cables or can any SFP+ cable work?

The Mellanox branded cables are much more than a few other the other options (like Tyco for example).
 

dba

Moderator
Feb 20, 2012
1,477
184
63
San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA
I recently purchased 3 Mellanox Connectx-2 EN Adapters and then mistakenly purchased the incorrect cables.

My adapter seems will call for SFP+ to SFP+ instead of CX4 (I Mistakenly Purchased CX4 to CX4).


Question is does Mellanox Connectx-2 Adapters require Mellanox cables or can any SFP+ cable work?

The Mellanox branded cables are much more than a few other the other options (like Tyco for example).
I tested my Mellanox EN adapters with generic SFP+ cables and had no issues.
 

dba

Moderator
Feb 20, 2012
1,477
184
63
San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA

Aluminum

Active Member
Sep 7, 2012
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just so nobody gets confused later

dba said:
His cards are the "-EN" version, which has SFP+ connectors, so he can't go with QSFP cables unfortunately.
EN and QSFP are not mutually exclusive, I have an X-3 EN with QSFP. It was a steal :)

ConnectX-2 QSFP VPI cabling can't be used for ENs? Good to know. Thanks.
There is no such thing as "VPI" cabling, and I notice some mixing of SFP and QSFP in your posts...be extra sure of what you are buying. SFP and SFP+ are distinct as well. To paraphase: check the specs twice, click buy it now once.

If you are looking at QSFP there are similar SAS direct attach cables that might not match (documentation is spotty on this) so at least be sure you are getting ones meant for ethernet/infiniband.