NVIDIA Mellanox MC220731V-005 56Gb/s VPI QSFP Active Fiber Cable, 5m: This is a 5-meter active fiber cable (AFC) terminated in QSFP connectors on both ends. The assembly is engineered for 56Gb/s VPI operation, supporting InfiniBand FDR (56Gb/s) and 56GbE Ethernet on Mellanox VPI ports. The cable is a fixed-length, factory-terminated optical assembly with integrated optical engines. This is NOT a passive copper DAC, NOT a transceiver with a separate patch cord, and NOT a 100Gb/s EDR cable. This unit is New.
Engineering Context
The MC220731V-005 carries 56Gb/s as four lanes of 14Gb/s NRZ over multi-mode fiber driven by integrated VCSEL transceivers. The active optical design extends reach beyond the practical limits of passive copper at FDR rate while keeping cable mass low compared to a 56Gb/s DAC. The cable is significantly lighter than copper of equivalent length, reducing cable tray load. It provides full EMI immunity, important when routing alongside power distribution. The LSZH jacket meets data center fire safety requirements.
Deployment & Use Cases
Cross-rack InfiniBand FDR uplinks between SX6036 spine and IS5000 leaf switches in HPC clusters. 56GbE Ethernet inter-rack links where reach exceeds the 5m practical limit of passive copper. Storage-network fabrics for FDR-attached ConnectX-3 / ConnectX-3 Pro VPI servers. Lab and research compute pods running mixed VPI workloads at 56Gb/s.
Technical Specifications
OEM: NVIDIA Mellanox
Part Number: MC220731V-005
Form Factor: QSFP to QSFP (Point-to-Point)
Data Rate: 56Gb/s (4x 14Gb/s NRZ)
Cable Type: Active Fiber Cable (AFC)
Length: 5m
Jacket: LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen)
Protocol Support: InfiniBand FDR, 56GbE Ethernet (VPI)
Optics: Integrated VCSEL over multi-mode fiber
Condition: New — Sealed by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
Compatibility & Constraints
Compatible with NVIDIA Mellanox SX6036 and IS5000-series VPI switches and ConnectX-3 / ConnectX-3 Pro VPI adapters running at 56Gb/s. Both ends must be configured for the same protocol (InfiniBand FDR or 56GbE). NOT a QSFP28 EDR (100Gb/s) cable — this is the QSFP form factor at 56Gb/s. NOT compatible with 100GbE ports. Length is fixed at 5m and integrated optics cannot be field-replaced.
Why TES
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS tests every active fiber cable for optical power output, lane integrity, and connector condition before shipment. We provide expert consultation on FDR fabric design, global shipping, and a 1–3 day handling time. Visit tes-itsolutions.com for the full catalog.