740-065633 Juniper QSFP28 100G 7 Meter Optical Cable

Technical specifications

Form factor and electrical interface

QSFP28 (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable 28) is the physical interface used by this cable family. Each connector supports a 4 x 25 Gbps electrical lane configuration aggregated to 100 Gbps. The cable is hot-pluggable and designed to plug directly into QSFP28 ports on switches, routers, network interface cards (NICs), and other optical devices without the need for separate transceivers.

Optical performance and length

These active optical cables use integrated optical transceivers and optical fibers inside a single assembly. The 7 meter length hits a sweet spot for row-to-row or rack-to-rack interconnects in dense data center topologies. Because the optical transceivers are built into the cable, the AOC supports 100G with lower power consumption per port than some other solutions and avoids the cost and maintenance of discrete transceivers plus patch cords.

Wavelength, fiber type, and signaling

BlueOptics AOCs typically use multimode fiber (MMF) with VCSEL-based optics optimized for 850 nm wavelength signaling. The signaling supports 4-lane NRZ or PAM4 modulation depending on the implementation. The cable assembly is engineered for low insertion loss and tight channel skew control to ensure reliable 100G operation across the entire 7m span.

Electrical/thermal ratings and environment

Expect thermal ratings suitable for standard data center environments: operating temperature ranges commonly from 0°C to 70°C. The cable features durable housings and strain-relief boots, plus a rated bend radius to maintain optical performance in dense cable runs.

Compatibility

Vendor cross-compatibility

The Juniper 740-065633 QSFP28 AOC is validated for Juniper switching and routing platforms. Many BlueOptics and Memlogic branded AOCs are designed to be interoperable with a wide set of vendors (Juniper, Cisco, Arista, Mellanox/NVIDIA, HPE, Dell). However, compatibility can vary by firmware and platform model. When shopping in this category, always verify supported optics lists or search for vendor-validated part numbers.

Firmware and SFP/DOM reporting

High-quality AOCs often implement an SFF-8636 or similar DOM (Digital Optical Monitoring) EEPROM that reports vendor, part number, serial number, temperature, and optical TX/RX power. For mission-critical environments, choose cables that provide robust DOM data so network monitoring systems can alert on early failures.

When a DAC might be better

For very short connections (under ~3 meters), passive direct-attach copper (DAC) may be lower cost and sufficient. For longer distances beyond AOC reach, discrete transceivers with singlemode fiber (SMF) are required. This category highlights the balance point: AOCs like the 7m Juniper cable for medium-length, high-bandwidth links inside the data center.

Use Cases and deployment scenarios

Top-of-Rack

The 7-meter length is ideal for leaf-to-spine links where racks are adjacent or within the same aisle. It supports the high port-density needs of modern leaf-spine fabrics and enables compact cabling with reduced airflow obstruction compared to bulky copper bundles.

High-performance computing

Although primarily marketed for 100G Ethernet, QSFP28 AOCs are also frequently used in Infiniband environments depending on protocol support, offering ultra-low-latency links for HPC clusters and storage backbones. The Memlogic and BlueOptics implementations offer tight timing and jitter control required by latency-sensitive workloads.

Rack-to-rack

Use this cable when you need to quickly reconfigure or migrate equipment between racks with a fixed, factory-terminated cable. Because AOCs are plug-and-play, they reduce downtime during hardware swaps and simplify temporary test setups in lab environments.

Detailed product features and benefits

Built-in optics and transceiver intelligence

The active design houses optical transmitters and receivers inside the cable ends. This integrated approach allows for better signal conditioning, on-board thermal management, and DOM telemetry. It also eliminates field splicing and reduces potential points of failure.

Robust mechanical design

Expect keyed QSFP28 housings, metal or reinforced polymer shells, latch mechanisms for secure mating, and molded strain relief. Color coding (the recognizable blue jacket) helps rapid visual identification among many cable runs.