The direct attach copper or DAC cable is is a dual-coaxial copper cable that directly connects a port (or line card) in an active device (such as a switch, router, server, or data storage device) in a data network. It is a low-cost short-range connection solution that replaces optical consceivers. It consists of cables and transceivers at both ends of the cable. The price is much cheaper than similar types of optical consceivers. It is used for short-distance connection between network equipment.
To further understand their advantages, let's discuss in detail about what is a direct attach copper (DAC) cable and how to use them.
DAC is an acronym for Direct Attach Cable, which is generally called direct copper cable. DAC is a kind of low-cost short-distance connection solution to replace optical transceiver modules. Both of its ends have cable assemblies of a modules, which are connected to fixed ports only. However, compared with active optical cables, the connector modules on high-speed cables require no expensive optical lasers and other electronic components. Therefore, both cost and power consumption are saved for short-distance connections.
The DAC cable is made of twin-core copper and is terminated at the factory with optical transceiver that directly connect electrical connections to active equipment. The optical transceiver cannot be removed from the copper cable, so the length of all DAC cables is fixed. This is one of the disadvantages of using a DAC cable compared to using a combination of fiber optic cable and optical transceiver.
DAC cable come with pre-terminated connectors, such as SFP or QSFP, at both ends. These connectors can be directly plugged into compatible ports without the need for additional optical transceiver module. This plug-and-play feature simplifies installation and reduces deployment time.
DAC cables offer high-speed data transmission capabilities, supporting various data rates like 10Gbps, 25Gbps, 40Gbps, and 100Gbps. They enable low-latency and high-bandwidth connectivity within short distances, depending on the copper cable length specification. The short reach limitation makes DAC cables suitable for interconnecting devices within the same rack or adjacent racks in a data center environment.
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Active Optical Cable(AOC)
Direct Attach Copper(DAC) Cable
100G Optical Transceiver
40G QSFP+ Optical Transceiver
25G SFP28 Optical Transceiver
10G SFP+ Optical Transceiver
10G XFP Optical Transceiver
SFP Optical Transceiver