It’s said that switch manufacturers are entering into the new fiber transceiver era. Only SFP+ or SFP cages are implemented for future flexibility. And copper ports were only implemented for management purpose so far. However, we cannot deny the fact that there are some applications in the past with 1G where Servers or other components do only have 1G copper ports. So 1G copper SFPs have the right to exist. Now all connections moved from 1G to 10G and the copper ports disappeared so far. But a while ago some vendors started implementing 10G SFP+ copper transceivers to their devices again. One of the main applications in data centers is using SFP+ DAC cables. But the use of RJ-45 cables is often easier than using a copper DAC cable.
10G SFP+ Copper Transceiver Brief Introduction
The 10G SFP+ copper transceiver is specifically designed for high speed communication links that require 10 gigabit ethernet over Cat 6a/7 cable. This is the first SFP+ transceiver that offers 10Gb/s communication over this type of media. 10G SFP+ copper transceiver uses 10GBASE-T technology, which enables 10 Gigabit Ethernet to operate over balanced twisted-pair copper cable, including Cat6a unshielded and shielded cabling. Compare with the 10G optical transmission, 10G SFP+ copper transceiver uses copper cables, which offers great savings and flexibility during network deployment.
Just as all other BASE-T implementations, 10G SFP+ copper transceiver supports lengths up to 100 meters, which gives IT managers a far greater level of flexibility in connecting devices in the data center and accommodating the top of the rack, middle of the row, or end of row network topologies. Moreover, it also gives IT managers the most flexibility in server placement, since it works with existing structured cabling systems.
Reasons to Buy/Advantages of 10G SFP+ Copper Transceiver
With more and more 10GBASE-T network equipment available on the market, data center decision makers will consider taking advantage of the cost savings, convenience, and flexibility provided by deploying 10G technology over balanced twisted-pair copper cabling.
There exist several compelling reasons to buy a 10G SFP+ copper transceiver, both from a network equipment designer and data center manager perspective. And the advantage of 10G copper transceiver can be summarized as follow:
- Reach: Up to 30m over CAT6a UTP cable, sufficient for all network access use cases
- Cost: Pay-as-you-grow model that performs for today and scales for tomorrow
- Reliability: The RJ-45 connector interface is rock solid. No surprises when deployed in your data center.
- Innovation: Hot-pluggable with a managed soft-start
- Performance: Full PHY (physical level) presentation, which means nothing is missing
- Smaller Footprint: Interoperable with any SFP+ cage and connector system
Application Scenarios For 10G SFP+ Copper Transceiver
As it has been mentioned before, 10G SFP+ copper transceiver is based on 10GBASE-T, which has the advantage of being an interoperable, standard-based technology that uses the familiar RJ-45 connector and provides backward compatibility with legacy networks. Supporting top of the rack, middle of row or end of row architectures, 10G SFP+ copper transceiver can extend the life of any switch hardware, without having to change the existing infrastructure. The following pictures present the two application cases for 10G SFP+ copper transceiver.
Case one: Connecting server and/or storage appliances with 10GBASE-T SFP RJ-45 to an SFP+ network switch
Case two: Network upgrade to 10G at edge switches
FS 10G SFP+ Copper Transceiver Solution
FS 10G SFP+ copper transceivers are high performance, cost effective modules supporting a data rate up to 10Gbps with 30 Meter link length over Cat6A /Cat7. It is designed for application where optical connections not possible or direct-attached cable (DAC) Connection are too short. Moreover, FS 10G SFP+ copper transceivers are compliant with brands like Cisco and Arista. And every transceiver from FS is individually tested on corresponding equipment such as Cisco, Arista, Juniper, Dell, Brocade and other brands, passed the monitoring of FS intelligent quality control system. For further information on our products, please contact us at www.fs.com.
