It carries 228 positions total, laid out as 38 per port. The press-fit termination and right-angle through-hole mounting are designed for backplane or mid-plane assembly: no solder means the connector can be pressed into plated through-holes on a PCB and reworked if a pin gets bent during installation. The cage is EMI shielded, which is not optional at QSFP+ data rates — the integrated shielding keeps crosstalk and radiated emissions within the system budget.
Contact Plating and Mating Durability
That thickness is standard for high-speed I/O connectors that see repeated mating cycles in data-center patching — it resists oxidation and maintains stable contact resistance through the connector's rated life. The press-fit tail area is not gold-plated; the gold is only where the receptacle wipes the QSFP+ module's edge-finger.