Molex Active Optical Cables (AOCs) achieve high data rates over long reaches, using a fraction of the power of other brands while providing streamlined installation for high-performance computing and storage applications. They combine the lightweight nature of fiber optics with the plug-and-play convenience of DAC. AOCs are widely used for rack-to-rack links and AI/HPC clusters, where distances are too long for DAC but too short to justify expensive optical. An AOC cable is a type of interconnect that uses optical fiber media inside the cable, but the transceivers (optical–electrical conversion) are integrated into its ends.