AOCs transport 12Gbps signals up to 100m

In order to decrease cable management and routing challenges, the HD AOCs feature a small 3.00mm cable outer diameter which reduces bulk cable size and increases flexibility. This smaller size also frees up board space, allowing system designers to implement more I/O ports. By enabling four 4x ports on low-profile PCIe cards the iPass+ HD system doubles the port density while providing easier routing through the cable management system.

Offering a low power consumption of just 0.9W per cable, the AOCs help to improve overall data-centre power consumption and thermal efficiency. Backward compatible with 6Gbps SAS-2.1 optical-mode capable systems, the cables are compliant with SAS-3 (12Gbps) systems with optical-mode capability, InfiniBand (10Gbps) and Ethernet (10Gbps).

“Storage systems are becoming larger and more distributed due to the pervasive growth of new technologies that provide on-demand entertainment and information, in-depth data analytics and increased information retention. As a result, longer length cables are required that enable systems designers to build next-generation SAS 3.0, 12 Gbps storage equipment. The newest addition to our iPass family provides nearly double the density of the current QSFP+ AOCs, making the HD AOCs ideal for larger scale multi-rack designs,” comments Brent Hatfield, Product Manager, Molex.