QSFP-QSFP Cables - are they all the same?

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Gideon Ravenor

New Member
Nov 17, 2017
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I need to buy 5x QSFP-QSFP passive 2m cables. I have mellanox cards and a mellanox switch. The prescribed parts are very expensive and rare in the used bin, but there are much cheaper 2m cables from NetApp that are QSFP-QSFP.

So, in the infiniband world, are all QSFP cables equally compatible? Or, must I buy something that is explicitely Mellanox compatible because each vendor is doing their own thing?

No idea how this in the infiniband world, I know that this would not be a consideration in the ethernet world - there a 2M ethernet full duplex Cat-6 cable is good from any vendor - as there is one standard only.

Any insights here would be good.
 
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i386

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Mar 18, 2016
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Passive dac cables should work. Active cables and optical transceivers can cause problems.

Do you need cables for qdr or fdr infiniband?
 

Geekness07

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Dec 11, 2017
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"So, in the infiniband world, are all QSFP cables equally compatible? Or, must I buy something that is explicitely Mellanox compatible because each vendor is doing their own thing?"

Manufacturers like Cisco, Dell, Arista have their own code for their optical modules in the market. As the market is getting more and more open, third-party suppliers like FS.COM, CDW, C2G also can provide brand compatible optical cables and modules for users who have limited budget. There is need, there is a market.

Mellanox and Dell are the early vendor to manufacture InfiniBand devices, therefore, some Mellanox switches and optics have their own features. Before you buy QSFP passive DAC, just make sure it is compatible with your Mellanox switch. Or to eliminate the compatible problem, just buy a mellonax DAC is ok.