SFP vs. SFP+

Fri Feb 18 05:55:45 UTC 2011

You can plug SFP module (copper or fiber) into any SFP+ port.
So, on 10G port you can run either 1GE or 10GE.

Peter Nowak

  _____  

From: Frank Bulk [mailto:frnkblk at iname.com]
To: 'Richard A Steenbergen' [mailto:ras at e-gerbil.net]
Cc: nanog at nanog.org
Sent: Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:04:29 -0500
Subject: RE: SFP vs. SFP+

Are there are any optics that plug into 10G ports but have a copper or
  optical 1G interface?  There's some equipment that I'm specing where it is
  $10K for a multi-port 1G card, even while I really may only *occasionally*
  need a single 1G port and there's a free 10G port for me to use.

  Frank

  -----Original Message-----
  From: Richard A Steenbergen [mailto:ras at e-gerbil.net] 
  Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2011 7:00 PM
  To: Jason Lixfeld
  Cc: nanog at nanog.org
  Subject: Re: SFP vs. SFP+

  On Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 03:41:28PM -0800, Sam Chesluk wrote:
  > Depends on the switch.  Some, like the 2960S and 4948E, have 1G/10G
  > ports.  They will, however, not operate at 4Gbps (that particular speed
  > was chosen to allow the core components to work for gigabit Ethernet,
  > OC48, 2G FC, and 4G FC).

  4G SFPs are relatively rare, and only for fibre channel. Multi-rate SFPs 
  that do up to 2.5G (for OC48) are a lot more common, but they cost more 
  than just a simple 1GE SFP. Since all you can do with Ethernet is 1G or 
  10G anyways, "most" SFPs you'll encounter in the field will be the 
  cheaper non-multirate kind.

  For more information about SFP+, as well as some comparisons between 
  different 10G optic types, take a look at:

  http://www.nanog.org/meetings/nanog42/presentations/pluggables.pdf

  As an update (since this presentation is from Feb 2008), SFP+ is just 
  now finally starting to get into 40km/ER reach territory. Supplies are 
  limited, as they just very recently started shipping, but they do exist. 
  Of course since they moved the electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) 
  off the optic and onto the host board, the exact distances you'll be 
  able to achieve are still based on the quality of the device you're 
  plugging them into. SFP+ is still mostly an enterprise box or high 
  density / short reach offering, and XFP is still required for full 
  functionality.

  -- 
  Richard A Steenbergen <ras at e-gerbil.net>       http://www.e-gerbil.net/ras
  GPG Key ID: 0xF8B12CBC (7535 7F59 8204 ED1F CC1C 53AF 4C41 5ECA F8B1 2CBC)