Tag: 40G QSFP+ Transceiver?

For the data center or network upgrade, 40G network is a trending choice. Then where do you buy the 40G QSFP transceiver? Will you choose an OEM one or a third-party one? There are some differences between third-party 40G QSFP transceiver and OEM 40G QSFP transceiver, which will be shown below.

Features of OEM 40G QSFP Transceiver Modules

As we know, the OEM 40G QSFP transceiver from name brand like Cisco, Juniper and Brocade is widely used in data center and enterprise network. They all have some great features. The Cisco 40G QSFP transceiver offers a wide variety of high-density and low-power 40 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity options for data center, high-performance computing networks, enterprise core and distribution layers, and service provider applications. Here are some benefits of Cisco 40 Gbps transceiver:

Hot-swappable input/output device that plugs into a 40 Gigabit Ethernet Cisco QSFP port

Flexibility of interface choice (for different reach requirements and fiber types)

Interoperable with other IEEE-compliant 40GBASE interfaces where applicable

Certified and tested on Cisco QSFP 40G ports for superior performance, quality, and reliability

High-speed electrical interface compliant to IEEE 802.3ba

QSFP Form factor, 2-wire I2C communication interface and other low-speed electrical interface compliant to SFF 8436 and QSFP。

The Brocade 40 Gbps transceiver supports highly reliable operations in data center and is optimized for Brocade switching platforms. It undergoes strict qualification and certification testing.

Why Choose 3rd 40G QSFP Optical Transceivers Over OEM?

40G QSFP transceiver from Cisco and Brocade is reliable and with high-quality, but why so many third-party 40 Gbps transceiver occurred on the market? The answer seems simple, the transceiver market need it. With high-speed development of the optical communication industry, the demand for 40G QSFP transceiver is increasing. The third-party 40G QSFP with good compatibility and high stability is the perfect choice for some customers. Here are some amazing advantages of the third-party 40 Gbps transceiver:

Price advantage

Optics that you buy directly from name brand is expensive because it includes the costs of testing and validation, and the majority of what you pay for goes into their pocket as pure profit. While the third-party providers may not use the same testing procedures as the name brand, but most have nearly 100% success in compatibility. The third-party providers don’t mark up the 40G QSFP as much as the name brand, so they offer better price for the customer.

Quality and Reliability

The third-party 40Gbps transceiver is reliable as the original one if you buy from a reliable optics provider. Usually, the reliable third-party provider will offer warranty and support after you buy from them, because they are highly focused and specialize in the optical transceiver market.

More choice for 40G QSFP transceiver

The third-party optical transceiver is compatible for most name brand transceivers, so it will have more choice for your data center and enterprise networks.

For the 40 Gbps transceiver, fiber-mart.COM provides various of compatible brands for you, Cisco, Genetic, Juniper Networks, Arista Networks, Brocode, HPE, Dell, Intel, IBM, etc. All have passed the compatibility testing.

QSFP+ (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable Plus) transceiver interfaces a network device motherboard (for a switch, router, media converter or similar device) to a fiber optic cable, which is widely used for data communications applications. It is a industry format jointly developed and supported by many network component vendors. QSFP+ is also the IEEE standard connector for the emerging 40GbE standard. QSFP+ modules increase the port-density by nearly 3 times when compared to SFP+ module.

 

Overview on 40G QSFP+ Transceiver

40G QSFP+ transceivers are designed to support Serial Attached SCSI, 40G Ethernet, 20G/40G Infiniband, and other communications standards. The 40G QSFP+ modules are favorable for high density 40G optical network. These modules are designed to operate over single-mode or multimode fiber systems with differently optimized lasers under different standards. 40G QSFP+ transceiver interface can be either duplex LC or 12-fiber MTP/MPO as shown in the following picture. The 40G QSFP+ transceiver module with MTP/MPO interface is a hot-swappable, parallel fiber-optical module with 4 independent 10 gigabit per second data lanes in each direction to provide 40Gbps aggregate bandwidth. 40G QSFP+ modules offer customers a wide variety of high-density 40 gigabit Ethernet connectivity options for data center, high-performance computing networks, enterprise core and distribution layers, and service provider transport applications.

 

Application of Different 40G QSFP+ Transceivers

The transceiver is used primarily in short reach applications in switches, routers, and data center equipment where it provides higher density than SFP+ modules. With the evolving of the format specification, now in the market, you can find a wide varieties of 40G QSFP+ transceivers including the short distance types, Bidi, and long distance types, of which 40GBASE-SR4 (QSFP-40G-SR4), 40GBASE-LR4 (QSFP-40G-LR4) and 40GBASE-ER4 (QSFP-40G-ER4) are the most commonly used physical layers for 40G QSFP+ modules.

 

QSFP-40G-SR4 (short range) transceiver has a port type for multimode fiber and uses 850nm lasers. It supports link lengths of 100 m and 150 m respectively on laser-optimized OM3 and OM4 multimode fiber cables. It is commonly used in data centers to interconnect two Ethernet switches with 12 lane ribbon OM3/OM4 cables. Primarily it enables high-bandwidth 40G optical links over ribbon fiber cables terminated with multi-fiber connectors (MTP/MPO), and could also be used along with ribbon to duplex fiber breakout cables for connectivity to four 10GBASE-SR optical interfaces.

 

QSFP-40G-LR4 (long range)or QSFP-40G-ER4 (extended range) transceiver has a port type for single-mode fiber and uses 1300nm region lasers. It uses two strands of fiber and combines four wavelengths by CWDM technology, delivering serialized data at a rate of 10Gbit/s per wavelength. Thus the optical interface can be simplified to standard LC connectors. QSFP-40G-LR4 transceiver is most commonly deployed between data canters or for IXP (Internet exchange point) site.

 

Conclusion

The QSFP+ transceiver is a great solution for multi-lane data communication and interconnect applications. fiber-mart.COM offers the best 40G QSFP+ modules. All these 40G QSFP+ modules are Cisco, Juniper, IBM and HP compatible. In addition to 40Gbps Ethernet interconnects, it can be used in datacom/telecom switch, and router connections, as well as data aggregation and backplane applications. Also you can have a wide selection of other transceivers and direct attached cables at fiber-mart.COM, including XFP transceivers, SFP transceivers, CFP modules, copper DAC, active optical cable and so on.

In the 40GbE and IB-FDR(56Gb) interconnect solutions, 40Gb QSFP+ transceivers account for a large percentage of the market share. QSFP+ SR4, QSFP+ eSR4, QSFP+ IR4 and QSFP+ LR4 are the most popular optical modules.

QSFP+ SR4 module(QSFP-40G-SR4) offers 4 independent transmit and receive channels, each capable of 10Gbps operation for an aggregate data rate of 40Gbps over 100 meters on OM3 multi-mode fiber(MMF) or over 150 meters on OM4 MMF.

QSFP+ eSR4 module(QSFP-40G-CSR4) that works in the same principle as SR4, can be considered an enhanced QSFP+ SR4. 40GBASE-eSR4 QSFP+ Modules extend the reach of the IEEE 40GBASE-SR4 interface to 300 meters and 400 meters on laser-optimized OM3 and OM4 MMF respectively.

QSFP+ IR4 module(WSP-Q40G–LR4L) works with signals over four wavelengths, which were multiplexed and demultiplexed within the device. QSFP+ IR4 supports link lengths of up to 2 kilometers on a standard pair of single-mode fiber(SMF) with duplex LC connectors.

QSFP+ LR4 transceiver(QSFP-40G-LR4): fiber components adopt CWDM technology to integrate signals: multiplexing and demutiplexing. QSFP+ LR4 only connects with one pair of LC duplex: Tx and Rx, supporting link length up to 10km.

There is a parallel single-mode type of QSFP+ LR4 optic we call it PSM(QSFP-LR4PSM), which transmits 4 transmitted signals and 4 received signals directly. An 12-core MPO/MTP fiber patch cord cable will be used to connect with it, links 1.4 to 10km.

Application

QSFP+ LR4 can be connected with QSFP+ LR4 by LC duplex patch cords, as solution showed below. The central wavelengths of the 4 CWDM channels are different: 1271, 1291, 1311 and 1331 nm.

QSFP+ LR4 PSM can be linked with QSFP+ LR4 PSM on MPO SMF cable. If you would like it to be split in 4 pairs signals, that is easy. Use an MPO to 8LC SMF patch cord cable to connect with 4 SFP+ LR modules(SFP-10G-LR). See connect solution here:

Theoretically, the central wavelength of QSFP+ LR4 PSM is 1310 nm for all 4 channels. However, by the strong R&D ability, 10Gtek is available to customize 4 different CWDM wavelengths on customers’ requirements. For more information, please visit http://www.fiber-mart.com or contact us by e-mail.

There is a growing need in the data center for upgrading from 10G to 40G switch connections due to server consolidation, virtualization, and performance improvements. However, for many data center operators this upgrade and conversion is more challenging based on two primary factors. First, the potential for a reconfiguration of the physical layer of the network based on the reduced reach of the OM3/OM4 multimode optics from 10GBASE-SR (300/400 m) to 40GBASE-SR4 (100/150 m) and second, the existing fiber optic cabling plant may need to be upgraded based on the additional fiber count needed to support the IEEE-defined 40GBASE-SR4 parallel optics. These two factors bring the SMF&MMF 40G QSFP+ transceiver to market.

What Is SMF&MMF 40G QSFP+ Transceiver?

As we all know, a fiber optic transceiver may either operate on multimode fiber (MMF) or single-mode fiber (SMF). However, a SMF&MMF 40G QSFP+ transceiver can be used with both MMF and SMF without the need for any software/hardware changes to the transceiver module or any additional hardware in the network. Usually, this transceiver is based on IEEE defined 40GBASE-LR4 specifications and operates in the 1310 nm band. It uses a duplex LC connector and supports distances up to 150 m over OM3 or OM4 multimode fiber and up to 500 m over single-mode fiber (different vendor may have different specifications). This is usually accomplished by combining four 10G optical channels at different wavelengths (1270, 1290, 1310, and 1330 nm) inside the transceiver module to transmit and receive an aggregate 40G signal over a single pair of multimode or single-mode fibers. At present, there are two main SMF&MMF 40G QSFP+ transceiver in the market. One is the Arista QSFP-40G-UNIV universal QSFP+ transceiver, and the other is the Juniper JNP-QSFP-40G-LX4 40GBASE-LX4 QSFP+ transceiver. These two types QSFP+ for both MMF and SMF are widely installed and used for upgrading from 10G to 40G networks without modification or expansion.

Advantages of SMF&MMF 40G QSFP+ Transceiver

With the increase in data center bandwidth requirements, migration to 40G for switch to switch connections is in higher demand. SMF&MMF 40G QSFP+ transceiver is designed to allow for seamless migrations from existing 10 to 40GbE networking without requiring a redesign or expansion of the fiber network. Besides, this transceiver also provides a cost-effective solution to migrate from multimode to single-mode fiber, allows a single-mode fiber infrastructure for distances up to 500m. The advantages of SMF&MMF 40G QSFP+ are as following.

Cabling Migrating from 10G to 40G

Existing 40G transceivers for short reach, QSFP+ SR4 and the extended reach QSFP+ CSR4, utilize four independent 10G transmitters and receivers for an aggregate 40G link, which use an MPO-12 connector and require 8-fiber parallel multimode fiber (OM3 or OM4). However, a SMF&MMF QSFP+ uses duplex LC connector, which is consistent with the existing 10G connections, which are also commonly MMF cables with duplex LC connectors. Therefore, a SMF&MMF QSFP+ allows the same cables to be used for direct 10G connections to direct 40G connections, resulting in zero-cost cabling migration.

Increase Number of 40G Links in the Network

As existing MMF 40G solutions need the use of 8 fibers for a 40G link, customers have to add additional fiber to increase the number of 40G links. By deploying the SMF&MMF 40G QSFP+ transceiver, customers increase the number of 40G links by 4 times without making any changes to their fiber infrastructure, which greatly expand network scale and performance.

Migrate from Multimode to Single-mode Fiber

As data rates increase from 40G to 100G and beyond to 400G, there is a strong desire for data centers to move to single-mode fiber for cost effectiveness. Due to the limitations of multimode transceivers to support existing distances with ever increasing data rates, migrating to 100G and 400G in the future will be simpler with single-mode fiber. However, the single-mode transceivers typically cost up to 4 times more compared to multimode transceivers. As SMF&MMF QSFP+ interoperates with 10km QSFP-LR4 optics, it s a cost effective solution for SM fiber infrastructure for distances up to 500 m.

Simplify the Data Centers with a Mix of MMF and SMF Deployments

The SMF&MMF 40G QSFP+ transceiver offers the unique advantage of operating on both multimode and single-mode fiber without any requirement for additional hardware or software. Customers can consolidate their optics and use SMF&MMF QSFP +in their network irrespective of the fiber type, which makes full use of the existing cabling systems, reduces the cost of deployment and of support, and simplify purchasing and deployments.

Conclusion

The SMF&MMF 40G QSFP+ transceiver enables data centers running at 10G today to seamlessly upgrade to 40G without having to re-design or modify the cable infrastructure, which allows organizations to migrate their existing 10G infrastructure to 40G at zero cost of fiber and to expand the infrastructure with low capital investment. It also offers a transition path for customer planning migrations to single-mode fiber in data centers with a single transceiver that bridges the gap between multi-mode and single-mode optics. With high-density 40G switches on hand, Fiberstore SMF&MMF 40G QSFP+ transceiver provides a cost-effective solution for migrating to next-generation 40G data center deployments.