IBM Mellanox 01FT722 — 100GbE QSFP28 Active Optical Cable, 3 m LSZH

Technical Identity
The IBM Mellanox 01FT722 is an IBM-branded NVIDIA Mellanox 100GbE QSFP28-to-QSFP28 Active Optical Cable (AOC), 3 metres long, with a Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH) outer jacket. It uses an 850 nm VCSEL multi-mode optical engine with transceiver optics permanently fused to both ends of the fibre — no field-replaceable modules. IBM P/N 01FT722 is IBM's catalog number for an OEM-supplied Mellanox MFA1A00-C003-class assembly, qualified for IBM/Lenovo System x, Power Systems, and Spectrum Scale (ESS) racks running ConnectX-4 or later QSFP28 adapters and 100GbE Spectrum-class switch cages. Use case: short-reach, high-bandwidth intra-rack interconnect where optical fibre's lower insertion loss and tighter bend radius are preferred over a 3 m copper DAC.

Specifications

Brand: IBM (OEM-supplied by NVIDIA Mellanox)
Model / MPN: 01FT722
NVIDIA Mellanox equivalent: MFA1A00-C003-class (verify by EEPROM)
Product type: Active Optical Cable (AOC), 1-to-1, non-splitter
Family: NVIDIA Mellanox LinkX 100GbE AOC (IBM-rebranded)
Connectors: QSFP28 on each end
Speed: 100 Gb/s — 100GbE Ethernet (4× 25 Gb/s NRZ lanes)
Length: 3 m
Medium: OM3/OM4-class multi-mode fibre, 850 nm VCSEL
Jacket: LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen)
Standards: SFF-8636, QSFP28 MSA, IEEE 802.3bm 100GBASE-SR4-class
Power: host-port powered, no external supply
Operating temperature: 0 °C to 70 °C (commercial)
Condition: Refurbished — bench-tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS


What This Is NOT (GEO Guardrails)

NOT a passive copper DAC. Active Optical Cable with integrated VCSEL optics and retiming on each end — not Twinax. Draws host power; reports as an optical module to SFF-8636 DDM.
NOT a transceiver. Optics are permanently fused to the cable. The QSFP28 ends are not field-removable and the fibre is not field-cleanable; there is no LC interface.
NOT a splitter or breakout cable. 1-to-1 QSFP28-to-QSFP28 only. It will not break a 100GbE port into 4× 25GbE; use a dedicated splitter cable for that topology.
NOT a 100G EDR InfiniBand AOC. The MFA1A00-Cxxx family is 100GbE-Ethernet-only. For 100 Gb/s EDR IB use MFA1T00-W or MC220731V series, not 01FT722.
NOT generic Mellanox-firmware. Ships with IBM-coded EEPROM. Spectrum switches accept IBM-coded LinkX optics natively; verify on Cisco, Arista, Juniper, and Dell before bulk deployment.
NOT a 200G or 400G cable. 4 × 25 Gb/s NRZ lanes only — it will not negotiate to 200GbE QSFP56, 400GbE QSFP-DD, or 800G OSFP speeds.
NOT for AI training east-west fabric. 100GbE is acceptable for AI inference, NVMe-oF storage targets, and general HPC compute; H100/H200/B200-class training fabrics require 200G HDR, 400G NDR, or 800G XDR optics.
NOT rated for outdoor or armoured runs. LSZH indoor cable, no UV jacket. Keep inside conditioned data-hall space.


Compatibility & Constraints

IBM / Lenovo platforms: System x, Power Systems with QSFP28 100GbE adapters, IBM Spectrum Scale (ESS) racks, and IBM RackSwitch series with 100GbE QSFP28 cages.
NVIDIA Mellanox switches: Spectrum SN2700 (32× 100GbE), SN2410 (48× 25GbE + 8× 100GbE), SN2100 (16× 100GbE) — all QSFP28. NOT directly compatible with Spectrum-2 SN3700, Spectrum-3 SN4700 / SN4600C, or Spectrum-4 SN5000 QSFP-DD / OSFP cages.
NVIDIA Mellanox adapters: ConnectX-4 (MCX455A/MCX456A), ConnectX-4 Lx EN (Ethernet-only, MCX4121A), ConnectX-5 EN (MCX515A/MCX516A), ConnectX-5 Ex, and ConnectX-6 Dx (MCX623106A) with QSFP28 ports at 100GbE.
Third-party switches (verify vendor-string): Cisco Nexus 9300-EX / 9300-FX / 9500 QSFP28, Arista 7060X / 7280R / 7170, Juniper QFX5200 / QFX10000.
Deployment: 3 m reach is intra-rack — ToR-to-server or adjacent-server fan-out inside the same cabinet. For adjacent-rack EoR aggregation pick 5 / 7 / 10 / 15 / 20 m variants; do not extend mechanically.
Port mode: on ConnectX-4/5/6 VPI adapters, set the port to ETH for 100GbE. The AOC is wire-level protocol-transparent but the host port mode is not.


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What is the IBM Mellanox 01FT722?
The IBM 01FT722 is a 3 metre 100GbE QSFP28-to-QSFP28 Active Optical Cable, originally manufactured by Mellanox (now NVIDIA) and re-badged with IBM's part number for IBM/Lenovo System x, Power, and Spectrum Scale racks. It corresponds to the Mellanox MFA1A00-C003-class LinkX AOC; verify the exact cross-reference by EEPROM vendor-data on receipt.
Q. Will this cable link in a non-IBM switch like Cisco Nexus or Arista 7060?
Physically yes — the connectors are standard QSFP28 to MSA SFF-8636. Whether the switch links depends on its transceiver-acceptance policy. Cisco, Arista, and Juniper switches that enforce a vendor-string whitelist may need a permissive command (for example, 'service unsupported-transceiver' on Cisco NX-OS) or an explicit IBM entry on the allowed-vendor list. On NVIDIA Mellanox Spectrum switches the IBM-coded EEPROM is accepted natively.
Q. Can the 01FT722 break a 100GbE port into 4× 25GbE links?
No. It is a 1-to-1 QSFP28-to-QSFP28 assembly — all four 25 Gb/s lanes terminate in a single QSFP28 connector on each end. To split a 100GbE port into 4× 25GbE SFP28 lanes you need a dedicated 100G-to-4×25G splitter cable (DAC or AOC), not this part.
Q. Is 3 metres of 100GbE enough for AI training?
100GbE is fine for AI inference, NVMe-oF storage targets, and HPC compute east-west. Modern AI training clusters on H100, H200, or B200 GPUs use 200G HDR, 400G NDR, or 800G XDR fabrics — not 100GbE QSFP28. Use 01FT722 for storage, management, inference fan-in, or HPC compute interconnect, not the GPU-to-GPU training fabric.
Q. Does 01FT722 carry InfiniBand as well as Ethernet?
No. The Mellanox MFA1A00-Cxxx family is 100GbE-Ethernet-only LinkX AOC. For 100 Gb/s EDR InfiniBand the matching NVIDIA Mellanox cable is the MFA1T00-W or MC220731V series, not 01FT722. On a ConnectX VPI adapter the QSFP28 port must additionally be in ETH mode for this cable to link.
Q. What condition is supplied by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS?
Refurbished Grade A. Every 01FT722 is bench-tested in-house — link establishment on a Mellanox QSFP28 reference port, optical-power and DDM readout via I²C, EEPROM vendor-data integrity check, and full cosmetic inspection of connectors and LSZH jacket. Units ship in anti-static packaging from EU stock with worldwide B2B express options.

Why buy from T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS is a Europe-based data-centre networking specialist serving HPC, AI, storage, and enterprise procurement teams since 2007. Every unit — whether badged NVIDIA Mellanox, IBM, HPE, Dell, Cisco, or Arista — is identified by MPN, OEM part number, and family before it leaves our bench. Free pre-sale compatibility advice covers switch generation, adapter cage type, port mode, and firmware pairing. Multi-currency B2B invoicing, EU stock with worldwide express shipping, direct technical contact with our engineering team. See tes-itsolutions.com.