With increasing computer usage both at homes and offices worldwide, consumer demand for communication technology has risen exponentially. Therefore it’s not surprising to see the increasing number of communication service providers and with it the requirement for higher speed and bandwidth connections. Along the same lines, a growing number of public and private organizations need data centers, which also need cables for connectivity.

New Connectivity Standards Require Reliable SFP28 and QSFP28 Cables 

Quite understandably there have emerged new connectivity standards over the years. Currently the new 25 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity standard is used uniformly across data centers and communication service providers for making server connections. The 25G SFP28 has thus forged a new and reliable path for communication and connectivity methods.

What is the SFP28?

Owing to rapid advances in connectivity driven by the ever-increasing need for still higher speeds, especially the emergence of the 5G technology, there has been a dominance of 25Gbps devices. These have much higher bandwidth requirements vis-à-vis traditional 10Gbps interfaces. And the 25G SFP28 transceivers help fulfill these increasing demands in an affordable manner.

The SFP28 comprises a high speed cable with SFP28 connectors on both ends. One of its most significant merits is that it results in low power consumption and interconnection loss. It’s highly suitable for Top of Rack (ToR) switch to server connectivity. In fact it’d be safe to say that it’s considered to be the most economical choice for 25G ToR connections.

There are two types of SFP28 cables: the SFP28 DAC (Direct Attach Copper) Twinax cable and the SFP28 AOC (Active Optical Cable) cable. 

Difference between the SFP28 and QSFP28 Cables

The SFP28 and QSFP28 have differing working principles and sizes. While the SFP28 supports one 25 Gigabit per second channel, the QSFP28 supports as many as 4 separate 25 Gigabit per second lanes. Therefore, being equivalent to 4 x SFP28, the QSFP28 is nothing but the quad form of the SFP28. In that sense it’s the next step of the SFP28, with the ability to support 4 channels carrying the 25-Gigabit Ethernet signals for 100-Gigabit Ethernet combined data throughput. Both the SFP28 and the QSFP28 are used in 100G networks.

In comparison to the SFP28 design, the QSFP28 design offers better throughput, higher port density, and increased cost efficiencies as it permits the use of 4 x 25 Gigabit cables and stackable networking designs.  

Get Ready to Adopt Our 25G SFP28 and QSFP28 Cable Connections

Whether you run a public or private data center that has high speed network requirements or a complex web-scale data center environment, the SFP28 and QSFP28 cables provide a high bandwidth and reliable connectivity with their economic data and switch port density consumption. They result in the need for a lesser amount of ToR switches and cables. They’re highly recommended for short-distance cabling of a network solution. 

To summarize, thanks to the advantages of the SFP28 cables, namely their ability to effectuate low power consumption and small footprint, they have been enjoying widespread use in data and communication centers. 

Browse our selection of SFP-28 and QSFP28 direct attach and other cables presented above and pick one that best suits your needs. If you need help in choosing the right cables for your connectivity needs, our expert and highly experienced staff would be happy to assist you!