It terminates via press-fit into a through-hole, right-angle footprint on the PCB, which means the cage sits at the board edge and the transceivers plug in parallel to the board plane. This is the part you specify when you need four QSFP+ ports in a single metal housing with thermal management built in, common in high-density switch and router line cards.
Press-fit termination means no solder — the compliant pin deforms into the plated through-hole and holds by interference. That gives you a solderless backplane assembly that's rework-friendly and avoids thermal stress on the board.
Integrated Heat Sink and EMI Shielding
The heat sink is part of the cage — no separate thermal pad or clip to source. The EMI shield is built into the metal cage, and the light pipe routes the port status LED from the board to the front panel. That saves a few BOM lines and assembly steps compared to a bare cage plus add-on heat sink and separate light pipe.