NVIDIA Mellanox® MC3309130-003 — 10GbE SFP+ Passive Copper DAC, 3m

Technical Identity
The NVIDIA Mellanox® MC3309130-003 is a 3-meter 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) passive copper twin-axial Direct Attach Cable (DAC) terminated with SFP+ connectors on both ends. It is an Ethernet-only assembly from the MC3309 series, designed for short-reach top-of-rack server-to-switch interconnect inside a single rack. As a passive copper cable, it draws no power, contains no signal conditioning IC, and delivers the lowest possible latency for a 10GbE physical-layer link.

Specifications

OEM / Brand: NVIDIA Mellanox
Part Number (MPN): MC3309130-003
Product type: Passive Copper DAC Cable (Direct Attach Copper)
Protocol: Ethernet (IEEE 802.3ae, 10GBASE-CR)
Speed: 10 Gb/s per port
Connectors: SFP+ on each end (MSA SFF-8431 compliant)
Cable length: 3 m (fixed; ends are not field-replaceable)
Signal type: Passive — no signal conditioning, no retimer
Power draw: 0 W (drawn from host port only for I²C management)
Management: EEPROM with vendor / part data, I²C DDM readable by host
Conductor: Twin-axial copper pairs, 30 AWG class (typical for 3 m passive)
Hot-pluggable: Yes, into any MSA SFP+ cage
Condition: New, factory-sealed


What This Is NOT

NOT an AOC. This is copper DAC, not Active Optical Cable — no fiber, no optical transceivers, and reach is limited to short intra-rack distances.
NOT an active copper / ACC cable. The MC3309130-003 contains no signal-conditioning IC; it relies entirely on host-port equalisation. Use an active copper or AOC variant for longer reaches.
NOT a splitter / breakout cable. 1-to-1 SFP+ ↔ SFP+ assembly; it does not break out into multiple ports.
NOT an InfiniBand cable. The MC3309 series is dedicated 10GbE Ethernet and is not validated for FDR/EDR/HDR InfiniBand link rates.
NOT a QSFP, QSFP28, or OSFP cable. The connector is SFP+ — it will not fit physically into any QSFP-family or OSFP-family cage.
NOT a transceiver module. Fixed cable assembly; both ends are permanently attached.
NOT bundled with adapters, transceivers, brackets, or rail kits — sold standalone.


Compatibility & Constraints

Host-port requirement: any SFP+ cage capable of 10GBASE-CR (passive copper). The host must support passive DAC at 3 m without requiring signal conditioning.
NVIDIA / Mellanox adapters (validated pairing): ConnectX-3 EN, ConnectX-3 Pro EN, ConnectX-4 Lx, ConnectX-5 Ex / EN, and any later ConnectX generation when configured with an SFP+ cage at 10GbE.
NVIDIA / Mellanox switches (validated pairing): Spectrum (SN2010 / SN2100 / SN2410 / SN2700 SFP+ ports) and SwitchX-2 SFP+ ports. SFP+ ports on Quantum InfiniBand switches are not applicable — Quantum is IB, this cable is Ethernet.
Third-party interop: Standards-compliant SFP+ host ports from Cisco, Arista, Juniper, Dell, and HPE typically accept Mellanox MSA-compliant DAC; per-vendor cable-acceptance policies (lock-in firmware) should be verified before deployment.
Reach: 3 m intra-rack — top-of-rack switch to server NIC, or storage shelf interconnect within the same rack. Not suitable for inter-rack runs.
Bend radius: respect the minimum bend radius printed on the cable jacket to preserve electrical performance.
Verify before deploying: switch port mode (Ethernet 10G, not auto-IB), firmware, and any vendor cable-whitelist setting.


Deployment & Use Cases

Top-of-Rack (ToR) switch ↔ server NIC interconnect inside a single rack.
10GbE storage shelf to controller links in dense storage chassis.
Lab / staging benches where a short, low-cost, low-latency 10G link is needed.
Management or out-of-band 10G aggregation links inside a single cabinet.


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What exactly is the NVIDIA Mellanox MC3309130-003?

A 3-meter passive copper Direct Attach Cable (DAC) with SFP+ connectors on each end, operating at 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GBASE-CR). It is a single, fixed assembly — both connectors are permanently terminated.

Q. Is the MC3309130-003 an InfiniBand cable?

No. The MC3309 series is dedicated 10GbE Ethernet. For InfiniBand fabrics (FDR / EDR / HDR / NDR) use the IB-specific cable families (e.g. MC2207, MCP1600, MFA1A00, MFS1S00, MCA7J series, etc.).

Q. Will it fit a QSFP, QSFP28, or OSFP port?

No. The connector is SFP+ only. It will not physically seat in QSFP, QSFP+, QSFP28, QSFP56, or OSFP cages. Use a QSFP-family DAC if your host port is QSFP.

Q. Is it compatible with non-NVIDIA switches and servers?

Yes in principle — the cable is MSA SFF-8431 compliant and is widely accepted by Cisco, Arista, Juniper, Dell, and HPE SFP+ ports. Some vendors enforce cable-whitelist firmware policies; check the target switch's compatibility matrix before deploying at scale.

Q. Does the cable need external power?

No. It is fully passive — no signal-conditioning IC and no external power input. The host port supplies only the small I²C management current required to read the cable's EEPROM and DDM data.

Q. Why choose 3 m passive copper instead of an AOC?

At 3 m, passive copper delivers the lowest latency, the lowest cost per link, and zero power draw — ideal for intra-rack ToR-to-server cabling. AOC becomes attractive only at longer reaches (typically >7 m) or when EMI / weight / cable-density constraints favour fiber.

Q. New or refurbished?

New, factory-sealed unit supplied by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS from EU stock with professional anti-static packaging and global B2B shipping.

Why buy from T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS is a Europe-based NVIDIA Mellanox specialist serving HPC, AI, and enterprise data-center procurement teams since 2007. We identify every unit by MPN, NVIDIA P/N, and ASIC / generation before it ships, and every customer gets free pre-sale compatibility advice for switch, adapter, and cable pairing. Multi-currency B2B invoicing, EU stock with worldwide express options, and direct technical contact with our engineering team — not a call-center.