DAC Cables Guide
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DAC Cables — Direct Attach Copper Cables for 10G, 25G, 40G, 100G, 200G & 400G Networks
Direct Attach Copper (DAC) cables are the fastest, lowest-cost, lowest-latency way to connect switches, servers, and storage within a rack or between adjacent racks. At Resilient Tec, every DAC cable is pre-programmed with vendor-specific EEPROM data so it is recognized immediately by your switch or router — no manual coding, no compatibility errors on boot.
Our DAC cable inventory covers speeds from 10GbE SFP+ through 800G OSFP, with passive and active options, straight and breakout configurations, for Mellanox/NVIDIA, Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Dell, HP, Brocade, and more.
What Is a DAC Cable and When Should You Use One?
A DAC cable is a fixed-length copper cable with integrated transceivers on each end — no separate SFP/QSFP module required. Because they use no active optical components, passive DAC cables draw 0 watts of additional power beyond the port itself, run cooler than AOC cables or transceiver+fiber combinations, and cost significantly less. They are the go-to choice for:
- Top-of-rack (ToR) server connections — connecting servers to leaf switches within the same rack or adjacent racks up to 5 meters
- Switch-to-switch spine/leaf interconnects — short-reach, high-density fabric links where latency matters
- GPU cluster wiring — NVIDIA DGX, HGX, and SuperPOD builds using NDR InfiniBand or Ethernet backends
- Storage area networks — NVMe-oF, iSCSI, and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) links
- Lab and staging environments — reliable, low-cost links for test beds and pre-production racks
DAC vs AOC vs Transceivers — Which Should You Choose?
| Feature | DAC Cable | AOC Cable | Transceiver + Fiber |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Lowest | Moderate | Highest |
| Max Distance | Up to 5M (passive) / 15M (active) | Up to 100M | Up to 10km+ |
| Power Draw | 0W (passive) | Low (active) | Low–moderate per module |
| Latency | Ultra-low (no serialization) | Very low | Low |
| Bend Flexibility | Moderate (copper) | Very high (fiber) | Depends on fiber type |
| Best For | In-rack / adjacent rack | Cross-rack / inter-row | Long-haul / MDA/IDA |
Bottom line: If your links are under 5 meters, DAC cables are almost always the right call — lower cost, lower power, no optical components to degrade.
Compatible Platforms
Every DAC cable in this collection is EEPROM-coded and compatibility-tested against major network platforms, including:
- Mellanox / NVIDIA — Spectrum, Quantum, ConnectX, SN series switches
- Cisco — Nexus 9000/7000/5000, Catalyst 9000, UCS fabric interconnects
- Arista — 7050, 7060, 7280, 7500 series
- Juniper — QFX5100, QFX5200, QFX10000, PTX series
- Dell — S-Series, Z-Series PowerSwitch
- HP / HPE — FlexFabric, ProCurve series
- Brocade / Extreme — ICX, VDX, and SLX series
Not sure if a cable will work in your specific switch model? Contact us before you buy — we'll confirm compatibility for free.
The Resilient Tec Guarantee
- ✅ Pre-programmed EEPROM — recognized immediately by your switch, no errors on boot
- ✅ Compatibility-tested in our lab before every shipment
- ✅ Lifetime warranty on all DAC cables
- ✅ Talk to a real engineer — not a chatbot
We don't just ship cables. We make sure they work in your environment.