How compatible are twinax SFP+ cables when used with different hardware vendors' equipment? E.g. are Cisco SFP+ cables fine between an Arista switch and a Solarflare card? How about an Amphenol cable with Cisco switches and Myricom cards? If in doubt, does it make sense to go with the NIC manufacturer or the switch manufacturer? I've not been able to find any good information either way.
SFP+ twinax cable compatibility
10gigecablesfp
Best Answer
It depends on the vendor. Cisco supports Cisco, NetApp, EMC, StorageWorks, IBM and HP passive twinax SFP+ transceivers. If you use a non-certified transceiver the switch will log a warning but still try to bring the port up. This is documented here.
HP used to only work with HP cables. Now it is a mixed bag. We have some HP servers where we had to purchase HP cables to connect them to a Nexxus 5000. We have HP c7000 chassis with virtual connect modules that work similar to the Cisco. They are certified to work with certain vendors but it will work with others while issuing a warning.
The best advice is to check with your vendors to see what is supported with your devices.