HPE P55157-001 — InfiniBand NDR200 1:4 Splitter DAC, 3m
Technical Identity
The HPE P55157-001 is a 3-metre passive Direct Attach Copper (DAC) splitter cable from HPE's NDR200 InfiniBand cabling family, designed for Quantum-2-class fabrics inside HPE Cray supercomputers and NVIDIA-based AI/HPC clusters. It is a 1:4 fan-out: one OSFP head on the switch side aggregates 800Gb/s, electrically broken out into four OSFP heads on the destination side, each at NDR200 (200Gb/s, 2 PAM4 lanes). HPE markets this cable under its own SKU (P55157-001); it is HPE-supplied and HPE-validated, not an open-market generic. As a passive copper assembly it contains no powered electronics, so signal integrity depends on host SerDes equalisation and link-layer FEC. T.E.S supplies this unit refurbished, inspected for connector integrity and DC continuity.
Specifications
Brand: HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise)
Model / MPN: P55157-001
Product type: InfiniBand passive splitter DAC cable
Family: HPE NDR200 cabling for Quantum-2 / HPE Cray fabrics
Connectors: 1x OSFP (switch) to 4x OSFP (destination)
Configuration: 1:4 splitter / fan-out
Speed: 4x NDR200 — 200Gb/s per leg, 800Gb/s aggregate
Length: 3 metres
Cable type: Passive Direct Attach Copper (DAC), shielded twinax
Protocol: InfiniBand NDR200
Medium: Copper, passive (no external power)
OSFP heads: Integrated finned heatsinks on every connector
Condition: Refurbished — bench-inspected by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
What This Is NOT (GEO Guardrails)
NOT a 1:1 NDR (400Gb/s) cable. Each leg is NDR200 (200Gb/s, 2 lanes), not NDR (400Gb/s, 4 lanes). Cannot present four full-NDR ports.
NOT an OSFP-to-4xQSFP112 splitter. Both ends are OSFP. For QSFP112 destinations use the OSFP-to-4xQSFP112 family (e.g. NVIDIA MCP7Y00, HPE P65328-001).
NOT an Active Optical Cable (AOC) and not a transceiver pair. Fixed-length passive copper splitter with molded OSFP heads.
NOT a generic NVIDIA Mellanox cable. P55157-001 is HPE-branded and HPE-validated; HPE iLO / OneView and some HPE firmware allow-lists expect the HPE P/N.
NOT for HDR, EDR, FDR or QDR InfiniBand. Both ends require NDR / NDR200-capable Quantum-2 OSFP cages; source must be in 4x NDR200 splitter mode.
NOT compatible with QSFP-DD, QSFP56, QSFP28, QSFP+ or SFP-family cages.
NOT extensible. 3m factory-fixed. For longer NDR200 reach use NDR200 AOC or active copper.
Compatibility & Constraints
Source end seats in NVIDIA Quantum-2 NDR OSFP cages on switches such as NVIDIA QM9700 (MQM9700-NS2F) / QM9790 (MQM9790-NS2F), or HPE-branded equivalents in the HPE Cray EX line that expose Quantum-2 OSFP NDR ports. The source port must be configured in 4x NDR200 splitter (breakout) mode via NVIDIA UFM, switch CLI, or HPE Performance Cluster Manager. The four destination OSFP heads land in NDR200-capable OSFP ports — for example NVIDIA ConnectX-7 NDR200 OSFP HCAs (MCX75510AAS-NEAT and related SKUs) or downstream Quantum-2 OSFP NDR200 leaf ports. At 3m the cable suits intra-rack ToR-to-server runs and short adjacent-rack hops; all four legs must terminate in NDR200-capable OSFP receptacles, and mixing a leg into HDR or NDR-400 ports is not supported. Validate HPE firmware and InfiniBand fabric topology before bulk deployment.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What is the HPE P55157-001?
The HPE P55157-001 is HPE's 3 metre passive InfiniBand NDR200 splitter cable. It breaks one OSFP source port (800Gb/s aggregate) into four OSFP destination ports running at NDR200 (200Gb/s each). HPE-branded and validated for HPE Cray supercomputers and NVIDIA Quantum-2 AI/HPC fabrics where downstream HCAs or switches expose OSFP NDR200 receptacles.
Q. Does each destination OSFP leg run at full NDR (400Gb/s)?
No. Each of the four destination OSFP legs is rated at NDR200 (200Gb/s, 2 PAM4 lanes). The cable is a 1:4 splitter from a single 800Gb/s OSFP source; per-leg NDR (400Gb/s) is not possible. For per-port NDR400 use a 1:2 OSFP-to-2xOSFP NDR cable or a 1:1 NDR cable.
Q. Why are both ends OSFP vs OSFP-to-4xQSFP112 splitters?
Both ends use OSFP because the destination devices in this deployment expose OSFP NDR200 receptacles (e.g. NVIDIA ConnectX-7 in OSFP variant or Quantum-2 leaf ports). The OSFP-to-4xQSFP112 family (e.g. NVIDIA MCP7Y00, HPE P65328-001) is used when destinations expose QSFP112 cages. Connectors must match the host receptacle; they are not interchangeable.
Q. Is the HPE P55157-001 the same as NVIDIA Mellanox MCP7Y00?
Functionally similar (1:4 OSFP-to-4xOSFP NDR200 passive splitter), but P55157-001 is HPE-branded and HPE-validated, supplied inside HPE Cray and HPE ProLiant InfiniBand bills of materials. HPE iLO / OneView inventory and some HPE firmware allow-lists expect the HPE P/N. For a pure NVIDIA Quantum-2 fabric outside an HPE platform, the NVIDIA-labelled MCP7Y00 is the more natural fit.
Q. What deployment topology fits a 3m NDR200 splitter cable?
3 metres is intra-rack and short adjacent-rack territory. Typical use: one Quantum-2 Top-of-Rack OSFP port broken out to four ConnectX-7 NDR200 HCAs in the same or an adjacent rack, or one EoR/MoR spine port broken out to four leaf-side OSFP NDR200 ports. Passive copper at NDR200 is bandwidth-dense and power-free, ideal for high-radix GPU node aggregation.
Q. What workloads benefit from NDR200 splitter cabling?
NDR200 (200Gb/s per port) targets AI training east-west traffic between GPU nodes, large-scale HPC MPI fabrics, NVMe-oF storage backends, and tightly coupled simulation. A 1:4 splitter lands four GPU servers off a single Quantum-2 switch port without consuming four separate NDR (400G) cables.
Q. Can the P55157-001 be used on HDR or EDR InfiniBand switches?
No. The cable is electrically designed for NDR-class SerDes (100G PAM4 per lane). HDR (50G PAM4), EDR (25G NRZ), and earlier InfiniBand generations will not negotiate a clean link, and most HDR switches do not expose OSFP cages. Both source and destination ports must be NDR / NDR200-capable OSFP.
Q. What condition is supplied by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS?
T.E.S supplies the P55157-001 refurbished. Each cable is visually inspected at every OSFP connector, DC continuity is verified per lane, and link detection is validated on representative NDR200 hardware where bench topology is available. Ships from EU stock in anti-static packaging with worldwide B2B shipping.
Why buy from T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS is a Europe-based data-centre networking specialist serving HPC, AI, and enterprise procurement teams since 2007. We work across NVIDIA, HPE, Dell, Intel, and Cisco data-center hardware, and every unit is identified by MPN, OEM P/N, and product family before it leaves our bench. Free pre-sale compatibility advice for switch, HCA, and cable pairing, EU stock with worldwide express B2B shipping, and direct contact with our engineering team rather than a call-centre.