Breakout Cables

Breakout Cables — QSFP to 4xSFP, OSFP to 4xOSFP & Multi-Fiber Breakout Solutions

Breakout cables let you split a single high-speed port into multiple lower-speed connections — making them one of the most cost-effective ways to scale your data center fabric. At Resilient Tec, every breakout cable is EEPROM-coded for plug-and-play compatibility with your switch, eliminating "unsupported transceiver" errors on first use.

We stock DAC and AOC breakout cables from 40G QSFP+ to 4x10G SFP+, 100G QSFP28 to 4x25G SFP28, 200G QSFP56 to 2x100G QSFP28, and 400G/800G OSFP breakout configurations — for Mellanox/NVIDIA, Cisco, Arista, and more.

What Is a Breakout Cable and When Should You Use One?

A breakout cable connects a single high-bandwidth port on one device to multiple lower-bandwidth ports on other devices. They are particularly valuable when:

Server-to-switch ratios require fan-out — use one 100G switch port to connect four 25G servers, instead of consuming four separate switch ports
You want to maximize switch port utilization — 40G and 100G QSFP ports can serve multiple 10G/25G endpoints
Building GPU clusters or AI fabric — 400G and 800G OSFP breakouts allow a single high-speed switch port to serve multiple GPU nodes
ToR switches connect to spine at higher speed — breakout allows a spine 400G port to connect to multiple 100G leaf uplinks

Breakout vs Standard Cables — Which Do You Need?

Use Case	Breakout Cable	Standard DAC/AOC
Connecting multiple endpoints from one port	✅ Yes	❌ No
Port density optimization	✅ Best option	❌ 1:1 only
Same speed on both ends	❌ Speed-splits required	✅ Yes
Switch requires breakout mode config	✅ Yes (CLI command)	❌ Plug-and-play
AI/HPC fan-out wiring	✅ Ideal	✅ If same speed

Note: Breakout cables require your switch port to be configured in breakout mode via the CLI. Contact us if you need guidance — we'll walk you through it.

Common Breakout Configurations

40G QSFP+ to 4x10G SFP+ — fan out one 40G uplink to four 10G servers
100G QSFP28 to 4x25G SFP28 — fan out one 100G port to four 25G servers or NICs
200G QSFP56 to 2x100G QSFP28 — split one 200G spine port into two 100G leaf connections
400G QSFP-DD to 4x100G QSFP28 — next-gen spine fan-out for high-density fabrics
800G OSFP to 4x200G OSFP — AI/HPC GPU cluster wiring for NVIDIA DGX, HGX platforms

Compatible Platforms

Mellanox / NVIDIA — Spectrum-1/2/3, Quantum, SN series — all OSFP and QSFP breakout variants
Cisco — Nexus 9000 (40G/100G/400G breakout), UCS Fabric Interconnects
Arista — 7050, 7060, 7280, 7500 series with QSFP breakout support
Juniper — QFX10000, PTX series with 40G/100G breakout

Not sure which breakout cable and configuration works for your switch? Contact us before you buy — we'll confirm compatibility and breakout mode commands for free.