The maximum length of SFP+ copper is typically around 10 meters (33 feet) when using a passive cable, and up to 30 meters (98 feet) when using an active cable.

10G DAC Twinax Cables up to 15m

Connect SFP+ to SFP+ ports over short distances

SFP+ 10G Direct Attach Copper (DAC) cables (sometimes referred to as a Twinax cable) are a low-cost 10G Ethernet solution for connecting SFP+ ports over short distances. They are perfectly suited for connections in racks or to adjacent cabinets between switch, router, and server ports.

DAC cables are pre-connected with SFP+ interfaces. These cables are supplied in fixed lengths of 0.5m, 1m, 2m, 3m, 4m, 5m, and 7m for Passive DAC cables, and 10m, 12m, and 15m for Active DAC cables, but each can also be made by our team to a custom length.

Passive or active?

SFP+ DAC cables are available in two versions, passive and active. Passive DAC cables are typically used over short distances, up to 7m, where no additional electrical components for longer signal conditioning is used.

However, Active DAC cables do use electronics in the modules so they are able to transmit over a slightly longer distance, typically up to 15m. Active cables can be used for shorter distance transmission that passive DAC cables would normally be used for, if required.

10GBASE-CR transmission

Supporting 10G transmission, this cable is also able to offer backward compatibility to 1G data rates that use the SFP+/SFP interface. Passive SFP+ 10G DAC cables have a low power consumption per port, typically less than <0.1W.

Compliance

All SFP+ 10G DAC cables are compliant with MSA (Multi-Source Agreement) SFF-8432, SFF-8472.

SFP vs. SFP+

Here is a table of comparison between SFP and SFP+