Direct Attach Cable (DAC), also known as Direct Cable or Direct Copper Cable, is a fixed length cable component with fixed connectors at both ends. Its interface cannot be replaced, and the module connector cannot be separated from the copper cable. It is generally composed of parts such as ground wire, high-speed wire, foam layer, shielding layer, and metal woven mesh.
According to different energy sources, high-speed cables can be divided into two types: passive DAC and active DAC. Active DACs have the advantages of thinner cables and longer transmission distances, which can compensate for the attenuation of electrical signals and increase the transmission distance between non compensating devices; Passive DACs have the advantages of low cost, low power consumption, and high reliability, and are commonly used for data transmission between the same or adjacent cabinets in data centers. Passive DAC is currently the mainstream product in the high-speed cable market.
High speed cables can directly transmit electrical signals through copper wires. Compared with ordinary copper cables, they have advantages such as energy conservation, environmental protection, low power consumption, low cost, wide usage range, and strong switching ability of integrated solutions. They are mainly used in interconnection scenarios of short distance network devices, including servers, routers, switches, storage, etc; Compared with active optical cable (AOC), DAC has a higher cost-effectiveness, and its cost is 2-5 times lower than AOC under the same length. Therefore, in short distance network interconnection scenarios, AOC has higher application advantages.
