Typical warranty for generic DWDM transceivers

Tue Aug 20 09:58:43 UTC 2013

On (2013-08-20 00:00 -0600), Manuel Marín wrote:

> We are currently evaluating the use of generic third party optics (SFP+ and
> XFP) for 40Kms and 80Kms applications from vendors like NHR and Champion
> One and I was wondering if someone in the group has experience using optics

Neither of these build anything, just resell. 

When going 3rd party you might want to make sure you know 

a) who builds the lasers
b) who builds the microcontroller
c) which software release there is in the microcontroller
d) exhaustive spec sheet for each part, not just 'n km' but dispersion
   tolerance, temperature range, minimum/maximum light levels etc, spread
   (especially in DWDM)

And you might want to ensure in your contract that as long as you are using
given SKU to order part, you are always getting the same equipment.
If you do run into trouble, then you will know exactly which parts are
affected.

Many brokers shop around and when you order part it's always something
different.
Now 99% of them will still work, regardless how badly you handle your
procurement.

> from these vendors. My concern is about quality/reliability.  They are
> suppose to provide lifetime warranty, however as far as I know the life
> time for DWDM optics is between 3 to 5 years.

We've been rocking DWDM core since 2006 and I can't recall losing single
XENPAK. We just this year migrated to new core using flexoptix (eoptolink)
10G DWDM XFP.
I had no trouble finding buyer to those 7 year old DWDM XENPAKs.

> Could someone share their experience with using generic optics for DWDM
> applications?

Positive. I actually prefer 3rd party, especially flexoptix, because they
provide us very simply to use eeprommer so we can save in sparing and can
deliver customers optics on very short notice, which their equipment will
experience as original part.
With 1st party I'd need to have part for each vendor we use, and each part
customer might use, essentially everything. And even more importantly, 1st
party often does not sell at all optic I might need, like CWDM or BX.

-- 
  ++ytti