Tag Archives: SFP+ cable

Fiber Optic Components for Building 10G Data Centers

10 Gigabit Ethernet is a telecommunication technology that can support the network speed up to 10 billion bits per second. It’s also known as 10GbE. As 10GbE greatly increases bandwidth, many companies start to upgrade the data centers to meet their growing needs. How to build a 10G data center? What kind of equipment will be used except the switch? This article will recommend you some basic 10G solutions.

10G SFP+ (small form-factor pluggable plus) modules are hot swappable transceivers that plug into SFP+ slots on switches and support 10G data center. With small form factor, SFP+ transceivers can ensure low power disruption and high port density. Since it’s hot pluggable, the transceiver modules can be added or removed without interrupting the whole network. And SFP+ modules deliver data transmission speed of up to 10Gbit/s, which is 10 times faster than Gigabit Ethernet.

10g-sfp-module

Currently, a wide variety of SFP+ modules can be purchased in the market. For the long distance transmission, modules include SFP-10GBASE-LR, SFP-10GBASE-ER, SFP-10GBASE-ZR, CWDM SFP+ and DWDM SFP+. For the short distance transmission, there are modules like SFP 10GBASE-SR, SFP-10GBASE-LRM. Brands are also versatile such as Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Brocade, etc. To get modules with lower costs, you can pick third-party transceivers which are compatible with these original brands.

Patch cables contain both fiber and copper types. Fiber patch cords, as one of the data transmission media, enjoy great popularity because they have large transmission capacity, strong anti-electromagnetic interference, high security and fast speed. LC fiber patch cord is one of the most common cables for 10G data center, covering single-mode and multimode categories respectively for data transmission over long distance and short distance. To increase panel density, flexible HD LC push-pull tab fiber patch cable is designed. With its unique design, this patch cable allows the connector to be disengaged easily from densely loaded panels without the need for special tools and give users easy accessibility in narrow areas for data center deployment applications. Another special LC patch cord is uniboot patch cord. It utilizes a special “round duplex” cable that allows duplex transmission within a single cable. It’s good for saving cable management space comparing to standard patch cords.

lc-patch-cable

10G SFP+ Direct Attach Cable Assemblies

10G SFP+ direct attach cable (DAC ) is a cost-effective solution for 10G data center. It’s a low-power alternative to optical SFP+ system. The 10G SFP+ cables provide low-cost and reliable 10G speed with either copper cables over distances up to 10 m or active optical cables reaching distances up to 100 m. Because there is no need for spending on fiber optic transceivers and cables. This kind of cables contain 10G SFP+ copper cables, both passive and active and active optical cable (AOC). Active copper cable and AOC are designed for long distance connection, while passive copper cable is for short distance, such as the interconnection of top-of-rack switches with application servers and storage devices in a rack.

10g-sfp-cables

Fiber Enclosure

Fiber enclosure is an equipment you must have in data centers. This component is used to provide a flexible and modular system for managing fiber terminations, connections, and patching in high density data center application to maximize rack space utilization and minimize floor space. Fiber enclosure can be divided into different configurations like rack mount (available in 1U, 2U, 3U, 4U), wall mount, indoor or outdoor. The rack mount enclosure come into three flavors. One is the slide-out type and the other two are removable type and swing out type. Fiberstore introduces high density fiber enclosures with 48 ports, 96 ports and even 288 ports loaded LC FAPs (fiber adapter panels) in 1RU or 4RU rack mount for 10G solutions. Or if you already have the unloaded fiber enclosures, you just need to buy fiber adapter panels.

288-pors-4u-patch-panel-enclosure

Conclusion

To build a 10G data center, you have to prepare the components, for instance, 10G SFP+ modules, LC patch cables, 10G SFP+ cables, fiber enclosures, etc. You may also need other instruments for testing and cable organization. And all those equipment can be got from FS.COM with higher quality but fewer costs. For more information, you can contact us via sales@fs.com.

SFP+ Cables And QSFP+ Cables Manufacturers

SFP+ Twinax Copper Cables

10G SFP+ active and passive direct attach twinax cables. Active cables are copper cables for data transmission. They use silicon (semiconductor) to boost the performance of the cable. On the contrary, a cable without a chip is considered as a “passive cable”.

10Gb/s Passive Copper Cable used for very short link and lowest cost

  • Compliant to SFF-8431
  • SFP+ Multi‐Source Agreement and SFF-8461
  • SFP+ Copper Cable Multi‐Source Agreement
  • Up to 10m length (AWG24)

The SFP+ cables support 10G Ethernet, 8G Fibre Channel, 10G FCoE, 10G InfiniBand and various unified architecture link applications. SFP + cable is widely used in the top of the Rock switches and high-performance server for interconnection. Top of the Rock switch power consumption is less than 10GBASE-T ports switch. In the market waiting for more energy efficient 10GBASE-T switch, SFP + cables are more popular for at the Top of the Rock switch. 28 AWG and 24 AWG cables are available for DAC cables. The standard lengths for the sfp+ direct attach cable are 1m, 2m, 3m, 5m, 7m and 10m. Custom lengths are available upon request.

FS.COM provides Cisco Compatible SFP+ Twinax Copper Modules:

  • 10GBASE-CU SFP+ Cable 1 Meter, passive SFP-H10GB-CU1M
  • 10GBASE-CU SFP+ Cable 1.5 Meter, passive SFP-H10GB-CU1-5M
  • 10GBASE-CU SFP+ Cable 2 Meter, Passive SFP-H10GB-CU2M
  • 10GBASE-CU SFP+ Cable 2.5 Meter, Passive SFP-H10GB-CU2-5M
  • 10GBASE-CU SFP+ Cable 3 Meter, passive SFP-H10GB-CU3M
  • 10GBASE-CU SFP+ Cable 5 Meter, passive SFP-H10GB-CU5M
  • 10GBASE-CU SFP+ Cable 7 Meter, passive SFP-H10GB-CU5M
  • 10GBASE-CU SFP+ Cable 10 Meter, passive SFP-H10GB-CU5M
  • 10GBASE-CU SFP+ Cable 7 Meter, active SFP-H10GB-ACU7M
  • 10GBASE-CU SFP+ Cable 10 Meter, active SFP-H10GB-ACU10M

FS.COM SFP+ Cables

SFP+ fibre cable solution is suitable for longer distance communication, while 10G SFP+ cables solution is best when utilized in short lengths, typically 15m or less, which is sufficient to link server cards and switches. But at present, the fibre and copper cable transmission standard of 10G Ethernet have been launched. However, there is only the fibre standard without copper standard for the 40G Ethernet transmission now.

QSFP+ cables and SFP+ cables

From the perspective of the development of wiring, generally, the standard of copper cable is always behind the fibre standard and the application standard. Currently, the TIA and ISO have already established a working group to carry out the research work of the copper standard.

Actually, the QSFP+ cable is a choice for short transmission distance. Generally, QSFP+ cables are used to connect the ToR switches.

40GBASE QSFP+ Cable

FS.COM QSFP+ Cables

QSFP+ cables and SFP+ cables are both suitable for the short transmission distance. The fibre can be considered for the long transmission distance. The standard distance of OM3 multi-mode fibre is 100m and the OM4 is 50m. The single-mode fibre will not encounter the problem of transmission distance. FS.COM provides qsfp 4x10g aoc7m.

qsfp 4x10g aoc7m cable

FS.COM qsfp 4x10g aoc7m cable

For the high-density, high-performance, longer distance and high-speed and other requirements, the MPO/MTP will be a more reasonable choice.

FS.COM is a leading manufacturer in developing and manufacturing advanced optical network solutions to the fibre optic network, CWDM/DWDM system, and Data Centre system. FS.COM always aims accurate lead time and best service with high quality products to customers. Today, FS.COM offer customers a broad range of data Centre networking and communication solutions in following categories: GBIC, SFP, SFP+, XFP, XENPAK, X2, QSFP+ 40G AOC/ACC, 120G CXP AOC/ACC, Ethernet Converter and Fibre Optical Patchcord, Total fibre solution with CWDM, Mux/Demux, Repeater products.

Read More Related Article about DAC Cables:

SFP+ Direct Attach Cable Wiki

Today, 10G SFP+ direct attach cable (DAC) becomes cloud computing and cloud storage mainstream primary connection tool, but what is a direct attach cable? For this, different manufacturers of DAC cable have different presentations and descriptions. And here, we’ve got a number of related information together, mainly to discuss what exactly SFP + direct attach cable is and its other details, as well as discuss the advantages and disadvantages between active and passive SFP + DAC cable.

What Is 10G SFP+ Direct Attach Cable (DAC)?

The 10G SFP+ direct attach cable option is defined for 10G applications over copper cable. The 10G SFP+ DAC link utilises a receive equalizer from the host PHY/SerDes to be able to compensate for the Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) introduced by the cable. Electrical and mechanical specifications for SFP+ optical modules, 10G SFP+ direct attach cable, and hosts are defined in the SFF-8431 specification developed by the SFF Committee, with broad industry participation.

10G SFP+ direct attach cable is made from the inexpensive copper twinaxial cable with SFP+ connectors on both sides based on SFP+ MSA (multi-source agreement). It uses SFP+ connectors for 10G links instead of utilising an optical transceiver on each and every end as well as a length of fibre optic cable. It takes away the expensive optical lasers along with other electronic components. For both active and passive 10G SFP+ DAC cables, a smaller electrical component is used to recognize the SFP+ module and cable type to the Ethernet interface. 10G SFP+ direct attach cable is known as the successor technology to 10GBASE-CX4. It has the advantages of low power, low cost, low latency with the more benefits of having the small form factor of SFP+, and thinner, more flexible cabling compared with 10G SFP+ transceivers. Due to the distance limitation, the target application of 10G SFP+ DAC is interconnection of top-of-rack switches with application servers and storage devices in a rack.

10G SFP+ direct attach cable

Passive and Active 10G SFP+ Direct Attach Cable (DAC)

Vendors provide both active and passive versions of the 10GSFP+ direct attach cable. 10GSFP+ SFP+ DAC assembly is recognized as active in case there are signal processing electronics in the SFP+ module to increase signal quality and supply a longer cable distance. So the active direct attach cable can make it a possibility to support longer and thinner cable assemblies. The lower priced approach is the passive direct attach cable, which has a tendency to be shorter. Active 10G SFP+ DAC has a 10m distance limitation and passive 10G SFP+ DAC ranges from 1 m to 7 m. But you may discover variations in supported cable lengths among different vendors.

Passive 10G SFP+ direct attach cable is much less costly but require the host to do the work of driving it properly.

Benefits:

  • Lower Costs
  • Higher Reliability

Tradeoffs:

  • No LOS
  • No TX Disable
  • No Interrupts
  • Limited Management Interface
  • Host must drive Cu cable

Active 10G SFP+ direct attach cable provides the added benefit of being “optical-module” like.

Benefits:

  • Enhanced Signal Integrity
  • Longer Cable Lengths
  • Transmit Pre-emphasis
  • Active/Adaptive Receive Equalization
  • Tx Disable
  • Loss of Signal (LOS)
  • Interrupts
  • Management Interface
  • Looks like an optical module
  • Don’t have to worry about host Tx/Rx for Cu cables

Tradeoffs:

  • More Expensive
Summary

This low-cost 10G SFP+ DAC is beneficial, as an example, for interconnecting a collection of switches, as well as for short-distance connections between switch ports and Ethernet interfaces on servers as well as other devices. Before the growth and development of 10GBASE-T, it was the only real low-cost copper connection designed for 10 Gbps operation. For active and passive 10G SFP+ DAC, each has advantages and disadvantages. You can select according to your special needs. You can also get 10G SFP+ direct attach cable of various compatible brands from here.

Related Article:  10GBASE-LRM vs. 10GBASE-LX4, Which One Wins?