Mellanox (NVIDIA) MCP1600-E001E30 DAC Direct Attach Cable in Practice: Cost-Effective High-Speed Connectivity

A leading financial trading firm was in the process of upgrading its core data center infrastructure to support low-latency market data feeds and high-frequency trading algorithms. The existing 40G fabric was nearing saturation, and the firm needed to migrate to 100G to maintain its competitive edge. However, the network team faced a significant constraint: power and cooling capacity in the existing racks were limited. Deploying active optical cables (AOCs) for the hundreds of short-reach connections between leaf and spine switches would have added 3-5W per link, pushing the power budget beyond acceptable limits. The team needed a high-performance interconnect that could deliver 100Gb/s without increasing thermal load or complicating cable management. This requirement led them to evaluate the Mellanox (NVIDIA) MCP1600-E001E30.

After a thorough assessment of available options, the engineering team selected the MCP1600-E001E30 QSFP28 DAC cable for all intra-rack and adjacent-rack connections. As a MCP1600-E001E30 100Gb/s passive copper DAC, it offered the critical advantage of zero additional power consumption—drawing energy directly from the host QSFP28 ports without requiring external amplification. The deployment followed a structured approach: each Top-of-Rack (ToR) leaf switch was connected to the end-of-row spine switches using the NVIDIA Mellanox MCP1600-E001E30, with cable lengths carefully selected to match the exact distances (ranging from 1 to 3 meters) to minimize slack and optimize airflow. The passive copper design eliminated the need for transceivers at both ends, simplifying procurement and reducing the number of components that could potentially fail.

One of the immediate benefits observed during installation was the mechanical flexibility of the cable. The twinax construction allowed technicians to route the MCP1600-E001E30 along rack channels with tight bends, easily conforming to the dense cabling environment without stressing the connectors. The team validated compatibility by consulting the MCP1600-E001E30 datasheet and confirming that the MCP1600-E001E30 specifications for insertion loss and impedance control were fully aligned with the firm's existing NVIDIA Mellanox SN2000 series switches. Plug-and-play functionality meant that no additional configuration was required—the switches automatically recognized the passive DAC links and brought them online with zero-touch provisioning. For a small number of longer connections exceeding five meters, the team supplemented with active optical cables, but over 85% of the 100G links were handled by the MCP1600-E001E30.

The shift to the MCP1600-E001E30 QSFP28 DAC cable solution delivered measurable improvements across multiple dimensions:

Furthermore, because the passive DACs have no active components, the team eliminated the need for digital diagnostics monitoring (DDM) management and reduced the spare parts inventory—cables either work or they don't, with no laser degradation to track. For organizations evaluating the MCP1600-E001E30 price against the total cost of ownership, the financial services firm calculated a payback period of under six months purely from power and cooling savings.

Following the successful deployment in the initial pod, the firm has standardized on the MCP1600-E001E30 for all new 100G builds. The combination of reliability, density, and rapid deployment has proven that a well-designed MCP1600-E001E30 QSFP28 DAC cable can meet the most demanding low-latency requirements without compromising on flexibility. As the firm expands into AI-driven trading analytics, the same passive copper infrastructure will support the transition to 200G and 400G in future generations, leveraging the same physical layer principles. For architects seeking a proven, MCP1600-E001E30 compatible solution that balances performance with operational efficiency, this case study demonstrates the tangible value of passive copper in modern data center design.