Category Archives: SFP/SFP+

The Basics of HP SFP Transceivers

SFP, small form-factor pluggable, is a specification for a new generation of optical modular transceivers. It is a compact, hot-pluggable transceiver used for both telecommunication and data communications applications. SFP is a popular industry format jointly developed and supported by many network component vendors. HP, as a leading provider of optical network equipment, provides various SFP transceiver choices for your Gigabit Ethernet applications. This article gives you some fundamental information about HP 1000BASE SFP transceivers.

HP SFP

HP SFP is a Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) standard for high speed application. The devices are designed for use with small form factor (SFF) connectors, and offer high speed and physical compactness. HP SFP transceivers are electrically hot-pluggable, which enables them to be easily interchanged, so electro-optical or fiber optic networks can be upgraded and maintained more conveniently than has been the case with traditional soldered-in modules. Rather than replacing an entire circuit board containing several soldered-in modules, a single module can be removed and replaced for repair or upgrading. This can result in a substantial cost savings, both in maintenance and in upgrading efforts. All HP SFP transceivers are well tested on HP switch to ensure optimal signal integrity and the best end-to-end performance.

Types of HP SFP Transceivers

There is a number of HP 1000BASE SFP optics that are available depending on the customer application and distance capability required. Each optical interface operates and is managed like a fixed port but gives the customer flexibility to hotswap or interchange to different optical module types. In this part, two different kinds of HP SFP transceivers will be introduced.

HP 1000BASE-LX SFP: HP 1000BASE-LX SFP transceiver, like HP J4859C, is specified to work over a distance of up to 10km over single mode fiber and it can also run over all common types of multi mode fiber with a maximum segment length of 550m. For link distances greater than 300m, you must install a mode-conditioning patch cord between the transceiver and the MMF cable on both ends of the link. HP J4859C SFP transceiver, as shown below, provides a full-duplex gigabit solution up to 10 km (singlemode) or 550 m (multimode).

HP J4859C Compatible 1000BASE-LX SFP Transceiver

HP 1000BASE-SX SFP: HP 1000BASE-SX SFP transceiver, like HP JD118B, is compatible with the IEEE 802.3z standard and operates multi-mode fibers link up to 550 m. HP 1000BASE-SX SFP transceiver module consists of three sections: a VCSEL laser transmitter, a PIN photodiode integrated with a trans-impedance preamplifier (TIA) and MCU control unit. It is often applied for Fibre Channel links, Gigabit Ethernet links, Fast Ethernet links, etc. HP JD118B SFP transceiver, as shown below, is a cost effective transceiver module with a wavelength of 850 nm which supports data rates of up to 1.25 Gbps.

HP JD118B Compatible 1000BASE-SX SFP Transceiver

Applications of HP SFP

HP SFP Transceivers are designed to support SONET, gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and other communications standards. Storage interface cards, also called HBAs or Fibre Channel storage switches, also make use of these modules, supporting different speeds such as 2Gb, 4Gb, and 8Gb. Because of their low cost, low profile, and ability to provide a connection to different types of optical fiber, SFP provides such equipment with enhanced flexibility.

Conclusion

Fiberstore is a professional manufacturer and supplier for optical fiber products and provides various kinds of SFP transceivers. We offers a large amount of compatible SFP transceivers branded by many famous companies, like Cisco, HP, Juniper, and Brocade. All these fiber transceivers are 100% compatible with major brands like Cisco, HP, Juniper, Nortel, Force10, D-link, 3Com, etc. Moreover, these 1000BASE SFP transceivers are with high quality and backed by a lifetime warranty.

A Guide to Fibre Channel Technology

The storage requirements of industry today has grown exponentially over the last decade. Not only has the volume of storage increased, but the added requirements for reliable, high-speed, highly-available storage have left the industry seeking for new solutions. There are a number of choices available each with its own advantages and disadvantages. This article offers an overview of one of the debated technology, Fibre Channel.

Definition

Fibre Channel, or FC, is a serial interconnection technology that was developed to bring together elements from the channel and networking technologies. It is standardized in the T11 Technical Committee of the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS). This union provides a reliable high-speed transport for data over long distances. Channel technology provides switched point-to-point connections between the communicating devices. This is usually a hardware centered approach with very high-speed, low-overhead communication. Fibre Channel combines the reliability and speed of the channel technologies with the distributed nature of the network technologies to create a new I/O interface meeting the needs of both environments. And now it has become a common connection type for storage area networks (SAN) in enterprise storage. Fibre Channel commonly runs at 2, 4, 8 and 16 gigabit per second rates. The following picture shows a Finisar FTLF8519P3BNL 2G Fibre Channel SFP transceiver on the left and a HP AJ716A 8G Fibre Channel SFP+ transceiver on the right.

FTLF8519P3BNL 2G Fibre Channel SFP and HP AJ716A 8G Fibre Channel SFP+

Applications

For demanding applications, Fibre Channel technology has entrenched itself as the quintessential SAN interconnect, providing high speed, high reliability, and inherent security for storage network users. Fibre Channel uses optical fiber, coaxial copper or twisted pair copper cabling to carry SAN data at speeds of 1Gbps, 2Gbps, 4Gbps and 10Gbps. At the same time, latency is kept very low, minimizing the delay between data requests and deliveries. It is this combination of high speed and low latency that makes FC an ideal choice for time-sensitive or transactional processing environments. Fibre Channel is especially suited for connecting computer servers to shared storage devices and for interconnecting storage controllers and drives. Fibre Channel is three times as fast, it has begun to replace the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) as the transmission interface between servers and clustered storage devices. Fibre Channel offers point-to-point, switched, and loop interfaces. It is designed to interoperate with SCSI, the Internet Protocol (IP) and other protocols.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Why choose Fibre Channel? Here are the reasons. Fibre Channel is regarded as a very reliable SAN technology. The FC SAN fabric allows for multiple connection paths and redundant connections, so if a hardware fault or cabling issue arises, a new path can be found and communication can fail over to an alternate connection—keeping storage and applications connected (even at reduced performance) until corrective action can be taken. Alternatively, multiple connections can be aggregated (or trunked) for even better bandwidth. The availability of multiple or redundant connections enables load balancing where SAN traffic is analyzed and can be dynamically rerouted from busy paths (bottlenecks) through less-used paths. Security is another important attribute of Fibre Channel technology. Zoning makes it possible for devices within a Fibre Channel network to see each other. By limiting the visibility of end devices, servers (hosts) can only see and access storage devices that are placed into the same zone. Once the SAN is zoned, LUNs (logic unit numbers) are masked so that each host server can only see specific LUNs. Moreover, Fibre channel is more flexible; devices can be as far as ten kilometers (about six miles) apart if optical fiber is used as the physical medium.

However, there are some recognized disadvantages to FC. Fibre Channel has been widely criticized for its expense and complexity. A specialized HBA (hose bus adapter) card is needed for each server. Each HBA must then connect to corresponding port on a Fibre Channel switch—creating the SAN “fabric”. Every combination of HBA and switch port can cost thousands of dollars for the storage organization. This is the primary reason why many organizations connect only large, high-end storage systems to their SAN. Once LUNs are created in storage, they must be zoned and masked to ensure that they are only accessible to the proper servers or applications; often an onerous and error-prone procedure. These processes add complexity and costly management overhead to Fibre Channel SANs.

Fibre Channel is one technology currently on the market for storage networking solutions. Fiberstore is a professional manufacturer and supplier, which offers a large amount of cables and transceivers for your Fibre Channel applications, branded by major brands, like Cisco, HP and Finisar. For example, Finisar FTLF1319P1BTL 2G Fibre Channel SFP transceiver is a Class 1 laser product. It fully complies with the multi-sourcing agreement (MSA) which enables it to work in all MSA compliant platforms. All these Fibre Channel transceivers are guaranteed with a limited lifetime warranty.