Molex intros new QSFP+ adapters

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Every once in a while a reader writes in with a wish that we would spill a little more ink on the edges of the HPC ecosystem, rather than always focusing on the big iron. This is actually pretty hard to do without a large staff, because out there at the edges the line between enterprise/desktop and HPC gets blurry, with lots of dual use technology, and those components (the guts of networking, storage, and so on) are well away from my core competency. But at SC09 the IBTA spent a lot of time with me, and while even an apprentice networking guy could wipe the floor with me, I do recognize the importance of connectors. Which brings us to today’s news.

Interconnects product maker Molex announced this week a new line of Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable Plus (QSFP+) interconnect solution

Molex introduced the Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable Plus (QSFP+) interconnect solution designed for a multitude of markets and applications including switches, routers, Host Bus Adapters (HBAs), enterprise data centres, high-performance computing (HPC) and storage. Components of the system include the Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) shielding cage, passive cable assembly, active cable assembly, optical MTP cable assembly, optical loopback and a 38-circuit SMT iPass host connector.

“The QSFP has evolved to QSFP+ to meet 10 Gbps data rates just as SFP progressed from SFP to SFP+ for 10 Gbps rates. The original QSFP MSA now resides as INF-8438 and is no longer an appropriate designation for use, being superseded by SFF-8436 in the SFF [Small Form Factor] Committee,” said Jay Neer, advanced technical market manager, industry standards, Molex Incorporated.

The transceiver is hot-pluggable, and integrates 4 transmit and 4 receive channels (plus the sideband signals), and replaces up to 4 standard SFP+ transceivers for higher port density. More in the announcement.