February 3, 2009--W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. (Gore) has introduced a very low-profile SFP+ direct attach copper cable assembly that it says is "fiber-like" in size and more flexible than optical fiber. GORE Low-Profile Copper Cable is designed for dense, higher-port-count switch installations while providing a more reliable interconnect for high-performance computing (HPC) and networking environments using 10 GbE (10 Gigabit Ethernet), FCoE, or 8 Gigabit Fiber Channel.
The cable is built for 0.5 to 3-meter assemblies, while using a 2.10-mm round profile cable up to 2 meters, and a 2.80- mm round profile cable for 3 meters. This low-profile cable is targeted at data center applications, where a large percentage of high-density port-count interconnects are 3 meters or less.
This low-profile cable is half the cross-sectional area of OM3 fiber optic cable and one-third the size of 62.5/125-micron optical cable, with a significantly reduced bend radius.
Russ Hornung, product manager at Gore, says, "This development was in direct response to customer feedback. One of the deficiencies of SFP+ copper cable interconnects is the size and flexibility of the standard copper cable. Customers have told us that if we could provide a cable that is 'fiber-like' in appearance and mechanical performance, they would buy it. In dense environments, the size and flexibility in routing has become an issue for dressing cables in an installation."
On the Web: www.gore.com/electronics