Compatible Issues of Optical Transceiver

When deploying the cabling system, sometimes you may encounter such situation when there is already brand A switch, but you got brand B optical transceiver. Then, the compatible issue is what you most worry about. Just like the following figure shows, Cisco SFP-10G-SR transceiver definitely works well when plugged into 10G SFP+ port on Cisco switch, so does HP SFP-10G-SR transceiver with HP switch. But when you plug Cisco SFP-10G-SR transceiver into 10G SFP+ port on HP switch, will the link perform well? The answer is “Yes”. However, not all cases that mix brands will get the answer “Yes”. There are still some important aspects that you have to take into consideration. This article will focus on compatible issues of optical transceiver.

To ensure the whole link works at high performance level, before you use mixed-brand optical transceiver and switch, there are some important aspects of optical transceiver that you must think about.

Standard

We know that optical transceiver has different standards, such as 10GBASE-SR, 10GBASE-LR, 10GBASE-ER, 10GBASE-ZR, 10GBASE-T, and so on. Different standards are applied to different network infrastructure. And you have to pay attention that you use optical transceivers of the same standard at each end, for example: both sides with 10GBASE-SR SFP module. You can’t connect 10GBASE-SR SFP module with 10GBASE-T SFP+ transceiver. Otherwise, you have to undertake the risk of link failure.

Port

Usually, there are multiple ports on the switch. Take 10G switch for example, it often has about 24 SFP ports and 2 10G SFP+ ports. And some may have 10G RJ45 port. It is not hard to understand that you plug SFP module into SFP port, 10G SFP+ module into 10G SFP+ port, and plug 10G copper SFP into 10G RJ45 port. But in fact, some SFP modules can work in SFP+ port, only performing at 1G speed. While 10G SFP+ will only work for 10G SFP+ port. Therefore, remember to check if you plug the optical transceiver into the right port on the switch.

Wavelength

Optical transceiver works at a certain wavelength, such as 850nm, 1310nm or 1550nm. It is essential that the wavelength of the optical transceivers on both end matches. Because a transceiver working at 1310nm will not talk to a transceiver working at 850nm. The wrong wavelength may cause loss and degradation along the optical link. So, make sure your transceivers will work at the same wavelength.

Cable Type

Optical transceiver must be used with corresponding fiber optic cable. For example, 10G SFP+ transceiver made for multimode fiber isn’t going to work well with singlemode fiber. Besides, though the transceiver is used with multimode fiber, OM3 or OM4 may have different results. But the most important thing is that you have to choose the cable according to the standard of the optical transceiver as well as its interface.

From the above content we can conclude that, in most cases, when connecting two optical transceivers of different brands, the optical link will work well as long as you use optical transceivers with the same standard and wavelength, plug it into the right port and choose the suitable cable type.