10GbE technology nowadays is becoming more pervasive as enterprises grow their networks and support more bandwidth-intensive application. In the meanwhile, 10GbE functionality can provide immediate performance benefits and safeguard a company’s investment well into the future. The supporting 10G fiber optic transceivers are designed for 10Gbit/s data transmission applications including 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gbit/s Fiber Channel, Synchronous optical networking. After years of development, there has been various different form factors and optics types introduced—10G XENPAK, 10G X2, 10G XFP and 10G SFP+. This article will have a brief introduction to these 10G optical transceivers.

XENPAK

XENPAK is the first 10G fiber optic transceiver. It is a highly integrated, serial optical transponder module for high-speed, 10Gbit/s data transmission application. XENPAK modules designed XAUI interface and knowledge shaping (CDR) function, which comply with the XENPAK MSA protocol and satisfy the application of 802.3ae Ethernet protocol 10GB. The working distance of Xenpak can reach up to 10km over G652 single-mode fiber. Newer Xenpak while using 10GBASE-LX4 standard operated using wavelengths on legacy multimode fibers at distance of up to 300 meters, eliminating the necessity to reinstall cable in a building when upgrading certain 1 Gbit/s circuits to 10 Gbit/s.

X2

10G X2 has the same function with Xenpak modules and provides robust thermal performance and electromagnetic shielding, but it is only half the size of Xenpak transceiver. X2 is initially centered on optical links to 10 kilometers and is ideally suited for Ethernet, Fibre Channel and telecommunication switches and standard PCI (peripheral component interconnect) based server and storage connections. The 10GB X2 fiber optic transceivers series include X2-10GB-SR, X2-10GB-LR, X2-10GB-ER and X2-10GB-ZR, they are designed based on the X2 MSA and IEEE802.3ae. They’re created for the integrated systems solution, fiber optics distributor along with other IT distributors.

XFP

Developed after 10G X2 module, XFP is really a standard for high-speed computer network and telecommunication links which uses optical fiber. They sometimes operate at near-infrared wavelengths (colors) of 850 nm, 1310 nm or 1550 nm. Principal applications include 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, synchronous optical networking (SONET) at OC-192 rates, synchronous optical networking STM-64, 10 Gbit/s Optical Transport Network (OTN) OTU-2, and parallel optics links. They can operate over a single wavelength or use dense wavelength-division multiplexing techniques. XFP modules make use of an LC fiber connector type to achieve high density. The 10G XFP fiber optic transceivers series include XFP-10G-MM-SR, XFP-10GLR-OC192SR, XFP-10G-L-OC192-SR1 and XFP-10GZR-OC192LR. XFP-10GLR-OC192SR is Cisco 10GBASE-LR/LW XFP operating at wavelength of 1310nm for a distance of 10km.

SFP+

10G SFP+ transceivers are multi-purpose optical modules for 10Gbit/s data transmission applications at 850 nm, 1310 nm and 1550 nm. The transceiver complies with Gigabit Ethernet as specified in IEEE 802.3 and Fiber Channel FC-PH, PH2, PH3 and FC-PI 10.0. Additionally, it provides a unique enhanced digital diagnostic monitoring interface, which allows real-time access to device operating parameters such as transceiver temperature, laser bias current, transmitted optical power, received optical power, and transceiver supply voltage.

This SFP+ hot-pluggable transceiver features duplex LC connector and provides up to 1.25 Gbps bi-directional data transfer rate. It supports transmission distances of up to 300 m (984.25 ft) for 62.5/125μm MMF and 500 m (1640.42 ft) for 50/125μm MMF fiber cabling. The 10G SFP fiber optic transceivers series include SFP-10G-SR, SFP-10G-LRM, SFP-10G-LR, SFP-10G-ER, SFP-10G-ZR, SFP-10G-LW, SFP-10G-LH, SFP-10G-LX and SFP-10G-ZW. Cisco 10 gig SFP like SFP-10GB-SR is 10GBASE-SR SFP+ with DOM support. It provides 10GBase-SR connectivity for up to 300 meters with multimode fiber. This 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ transceivers module provides excellent performance port-dense networks with challenging thermal environments, which are ideally suited for datacom and storage space network (SAN/NAS) applications based on the IEEE 802.3ae and Fibre Channel standards, Fibre Channel, 1000Base-SX Ethernet.

To sum up, XENPAK is the very first MSA transceiver module for 10GE coupled with the biggest form factor. X2 was later competing standards with smaller form factors. XFP came after X2. SFP+ offers a smaller form factor and also the ability to offer 1G/10G combo ports on hardware. 

With the spread of cloud computing and mobile broadband service, the volume of communications traffic has rapidly increased. In order to enable high-capacity optical networks, using a single optical fiber for optical signals of several different wavelengths in DWDM system is widely used. For this reason, tunable transceiver that enables ROADM functionality in next-generation networks is becoming more and more popular. In today’s market, there are mainly two kinds of tunable DWDM transceivers: tunable XFP and tunable SFP+. This article will take you to explore the DWDM C-band tunable XFP transceiver with 40 / 80 km transmission distance options.

Tunable XFP Transceiver

Tunable XFP transceiver is an integrated fiber optic transceiver that provides a high-speed serial link at signaling rates from 9.95 Gbps to 11.35 Gbps. It complies with the ITU-T G.698.1 S-D100S1-2D standard with 50GHz channel spacing for SONET/SDH, IEEE DWDM 10GBASE-ZR for 40 or 80 km reach (Ethernet), and DWDM 10G FC (Fibre Channel) for 40 or 80 km reach applications. Tunable XFP can be tuned from channel C17 (1563.86nm) to C61 (1528.38nm). The maximum distance of this transceiver on a single mode fiber is up to 80 km. As mentioned above, tunable XFP optical transceiver is a full-duplex serial electric, serial optical device with both transmit and receive functions contained in a single module. On the transmit side, the 10 Gbps serial data stream is recovered, retimed, and passed to a modulator driver. The modulator driver biases and modulates a C-band-tunable integrated laser Mach-Zehnder (ILMZ), enabling data transmission over singlemode fiber through an industry-standard LC connector. On the receive side, the 10 Gbps optical data stream is recovered from an APD/transimpedance amplifier, retimed, and passed to an output driver. This module features a hot-pluggable XFI-compliant electrical interface. Here is a simple picture showing its working process.

Tunable XFP Optics Specifications:

- 50 GHz ITU channel spacing with intergrated wavelength locker

- Available in all C-Band Wavelengths on the DWDM ITU grid

- Available distances 40 or 80 km

- Supports 9.95Gb/s to 11.35Gb/s

- Built-in Digital Diagnostic Functions

- Tempereature Range: -5°C to 70°C

Two Transmission Distance Options: 40 km or 80 km

There are two transmission distance options for tunable XFP transceiver: 40 km or 80 km. Tunable XFP DWDM 80 km transceiver is designed for long distance optical communications up to 80 km with signaling rates up to 10Gbps. Obviously, the main difference is transmission distance. On account that 10G tunable DWDM XFP optical transceiver provides digital diagnostic functions via a 2-wire serial interface, which allows real-time access to the following operating parameters: transmitted optical power, received optical power, transceiver temperature, laser bias current and transceiver supply voltage. Therefore, the differences between 40 km tunable XFP and 80 km tunable XFP mainly lie on theses parameters. One thing to note is that 40 km tunable XFP optics is designed with high performance PIN receiver, while the 80 km tunable XFP transceiver is APD receiver. The APD (avalanche photodiode) receiver employed in these extended-reach optical transceivers has an enhanced sensitivity to allow for these extended distance fiber runs. However, it is to be noted that the input power is typically between -7 and -24 dBm. Therefore, the receiver sensitivity between these two distance has a big difference. Generally, the max receive dBm of 40 km tunable XFP transceiver is -15, while the 80 km tunable XFP transceiver is -24. And for power budget, 40 km tunable XFP is 14dB while a distance up to 80 km is up to 22dB power budget. The following table lists the main differences.

Conclusion

In general, the channel switching of tunable switches can enable the service operators to turn up circuits faster and reduce their sparing costs dramatically in today’s DWDM systems. On the other hand, tunable transceiver is usually two or four times more expensive than the regular static DWDM optical module, because a special tunable laser is applied in it. Tunable XFP transceiver provides a full C-band window covering 1528nm to 1566nm for DWDM optical networks, which meets the need of rapid increase in the volume of communications traffic from telecom carrier and operator. The tunable DWDM XFP module can replace the fixed DWDM channel XFP transceivers that are currently used, while reduce the large stock since all wavelengths can now be covered with one transceiver module.

With the growth of virtualization, cloud-based services and applications like VoIP, video streaming and IP surveillance, SMB networks need to extend beyond simple reliability to higher speed and performance. As a leading provider of networking equipment for SMBs, Netgear had launched a variety of cost-effective 10GBASE-T switches including Netgear ProSAFE XS708Ev2, XS716E, XS708T, XS712T, XS716T, XS728T, XS748T and XSM7224. When looking for a lower cost and high capacity 10GBASE-T switch in SMB home/office lab environments, the Netgear ProSAFE XS712T is one of the best options. It comes in at around $1,100 at Amazon which is more budget friendly than the larger data center switches. This article will review the Netgear ProSAFE XS712T (XS712T-100NES) 10GBASE-T switch.

Netgear ProSAFE XS712T (XS712T-100NES): 12-Port 10GBASE-T Switch

Netgear ProSAFE XS712T is a powerful smart managed switch that comes with 10 dedicated 10GBASE-T RJ-45 copper ports supporting 100M/1G/10G speeds and 2 combo copper/SFP+ fiber 10G ports. The 2 combo SFP+ ports can be used as 10GASE-T ports or as SFP+ 10Gb Ethernet ports. This is an awesome feature as it allows an inexpensive SPF+ link via DAC to a 24 or 48 port 1Gb Ethernet switch for non-10Gb networking needs. All ports can automatically negotiate to the highest speed, which makes the switch ideal for environments that have a mix of Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, or 10-Gigabit Ethernet devices. Cat 5e/Cat 6/Cat 6a/Cat 7 can be used to make 10G connections. Cat 6a/Cat 7 cables are recommended if the cable distance is greater than 45 meters. Besides, the smart switch can be freestanding or rack mounted in a wiring closet or equipment room. This 10G smart managed switch is purposely designed as a cost-effective way to provide 10G connections to 10G-capable servers and NAS (Network Attached Storage) systems. It also can be used at the center of a small business network or as an aggregation/access switch in a larger organization.

Figure 1:  Netgear ProSAFE XS712T (Source: www.netgear.com )

Highlights of Netgear ProSAFE XS712T

In order to meet the current and future needs on virtualization, converged network and mobility, the XS712T provides comprehensive L2+/Layer 3 Lite features, such as VLAN, QoS, IGMP and MLD snooping, Static Routing, Link Aggregation, ACL binding. Besides, it has an easy-to-use Web-based management GUI which makes setup and management simple. Some of main features include:

10GBASE-T Connection

The RJ-45 copper ports of XS712T comply with IEEE 10GBASE-T standards. They support low-latency, line-rate 10G copper “Base-T” technology with backward compatibility to Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet. So it allows for a cost effective and simpler upgrade path to 10-Gigabit Ethernet. The existing Cat5/Cat5e is supported for Gigabit speeds up to 100 meters, Cat6 for 10-Gigabit speeds up to 45 meters and Cat6a/Cat7 for 10GBASE-T connection up to 100 meter.

Designed as Core Switch for SMB Network

The powerful L2+/Layer 3 Lite features make XS712T the most cost-effective core switches for SMB and virtualization environment. This switch is also a future-proofing choice with 10G bandwidth, advanced traffic management and comprehensive IPv6 support.

Figure 2: Netgear ProSAFE XS712T in SMB Network (Source: www.netgear.com )

Act as Aggregation Switch for Medium Sized Networks

The XS712T used as a aggregation switch has many useful purposes. It can help to resolve the congestion issue between network edge and core, which is caused by the broader adoption of Gigabit-to-the-desktop. Unlike multiple Gigabit Ethernet links, it provides greater scalability resulting in a simplified and highly efficient network infrastructure. What’s more, it can reduce cabling complexity because it can use existing cabling efficiently.

Optics Solutions for Netgear ProSAFE XS712T (XS712T-100NES)

As mentioned above, The Netgear ProSAFE XS712T smart switch provides 12 twisted-pair ports that support nonstop 100M/1000M/10G networks. The switch also has two built-in SFP+ GBIC combo slots that support 1000M and 10G optical modules. Using these Gigabit slots, 100M/1000M/10G copper and 1000M/10G fiber connectivity can create high-speed connections to a server or network backbone. So 1000BASE-T SFP copper transceiver, 1000BASE SFP and 10G SFP+ transceivers are suitable for this switch. The following table lists the compatible transceivers and optic cables from FS.COM.

Conclusion

The Netgear XS712T (XS712T-100NES) provides a solid cost-effective solution especially for those with SMB home/ office lab environments. If you are seeking for afforable 10GBASE-T switch for your home lab, the XS712T can be taken into consideration. What’s more, the compatible fiber transceivers and cables can be found in many third party vendors with reasonable prices, such as cablestogo, fluxlight, smartoptics, FS.COM, and etc. You have a lot of choices to save money.

For data center and enterprise deployments, pre-terminated copper trunk cable is a wonderful choice to achieve simple and quick installation. It can fit most patch panel port densities and improve better airflow and cable management. With the right upfront panning and coordination, these copper trunk cables can offer major benefits over terminating twisted-pair cables in the field. This article will take you to explore the pre-terminated copper trunk cable.

What Is Pre-terminated Copper Trunk Cable?

Pre-terminated copper trunk cable is a kind of cable which has gone through the same procedures with other cables. But their connectors have already been terminated, properly polished, and the entire cable assembly tested on either both or one end in factory. Copper trunk cables are typically comprised of bundles of 6, 8, or 12. Since they are bundled together, there is no need to worry about cable mess. Pre-terminated copper trunk cables provide a quick “plug-and-play” solution for links between switches, servers, patch panels and zone distribution areas in the data center.

Advantages of Pre-terminated Copper Trunk Cable

• Increase speed of deployment

Compared to field terminations, pre-terminated cabling can reduce installation time by up to 75 percent.

• Improve cable management

Pre-terminated solutions are ideal for data centers, which are designed with consistent distances between cabinets and rows.

• Remove the need for transmission performance testing

For pre-terminated copper trunk cable, the transmission testing is performed by manufacturer before shipment.

• Avoid time-wasting rework

Pre-terminated copper trunk cables are terminated in factory, and many of them are provided in a cassette format. This format allows installers to “plug and play” multiple connections with one cassette, which reduce installation time obviously.

Termination Types of Trunk Cable

When selecting copper trunk cables, to choose a right termination type is a very important step, which is based on the layout of the data center or telecommunications room. it's worth noting that the accessibility of the active equipment (including servers, switches, etc.) and the proper patching solution should be considered during the process of selection. Generally, there are four common termination types: jack-to-jack, jack-to-plug, plug-to-plug and jack-to-open. Different types have different requirements for installation. The following will introduce these four termination types respectively:

Jack to Jack: This termination type is typically used in cabinet-to-cabinet permanent link trunk. In general, it is installed into empty patch panels on both ends in common interconnect and cross connect architectures. The use of patch cords is used to complete the connectivity between the active equipment and the physical layer.

Jack to Plug: Typically used for in-cabinet or cabinet-to-cabinet equipment cord harnesses, the jack-to-plug type is installed into the patch panels on one end and switch ports on the other end for switch port replication applications, eliminating one cross-connect point by having the cable plug directly into the active equipment.

Plug to plug: Typically used to make a direct connection between active equipment, e.g. server to switch, eliminating cross-connect capabilities. It can also be used in an open-space work area as a bundled patch cord group.

Jack to Open: This type is similar to jack-to-jack configuration, but one end should be cut to length and field-terminated to a target termination place, such as 110-style panel, patch panel or wall plate. Field testing of the drops is necessary after the cables have been terminated in this case.

Deployment Considerations 1. Copper Cable Type

Copper trunk cables using Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat7 cables are all available in the market.

2. Cable Count

The most commonly used copper cables usually have 6 or 12 cables in one bound. Higher or lower cable counts are also available.

3. Breakout Length

Breakout length refers to the dimension from the end of the braided sleeve to connectors at the end of the cables. This dimension is part of the overall length, not in addition to the length measurement. The primary consideration for breakout length is to have flexibility to route the cables as needed.

4.  Proper Length

For pre-terminated copper trunk cable assemblies, length is a very important parameter to be ordered which help users to achieve the best performance.

5. PVC VS. LSZH

You must consider the fire ratings of materials to minimize danger in the event of a fire. Most data centers are a riser environment, where airflow is not a consideration. The jacket of cables is an important point when selecting pre-teminated copper trunk cables. The purpose of the jacket is to protect the wiring from physical damage, moisture, ozone and ultraviolet rays. PVC is made of polyvinyl chloride that gives off heavy black smoke, hydrochloric acid and other toxic gases when it burns. While LSZH has a flame-resistant jacket that doesn’t emit toxic fumes even if it burns. Both cables are excellent in performance, so it depends on the situation whether you choose LSZH or PVC.

FS Pre-terminated Copper Trunk Cable Solution

FS.COM provides a lot of Cat5e/Cat6/Cat7 pre-terminated trunk cable with plug-to-plug or jack-to-jack termination type. And FS.COM copper trunks include a braided mesh sleeve whose properties match that of the cable jacket. This ensures that the binding material does not degrade the suitability of the product in a plenum environment. The following table lists the main solutions.

Summary

Pre-terminated copper trunk cable assemblies are an ideal solution for data center infrastructures and backbone applications where cable distances are reasonably predictable and can be easily determined. They play an important role in reducing installation time and cost, helping you deploy a reliable, easy-to-use copper trunking system.

The requirements of virtualization and cloud trends are changing enterprise business environments, high port density, high throughput and very low latency are bedrock requirements in the data center. The HP 5820 switch series are built to meet these requirements, and help enterprises to reduce operating costs and build agile and resilient enterprises. As a member in the family of HP 5820 switch series, the HP 5820AF-24XG switch is a managed L3 switch supporting Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ optics and cables. It can serve as a leaf or access top-of-rack 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch in data centers. This article will provide the optical solutions such as fiber optic transceivers and direct attach cables that are supported by HP 5820AF-24XG switch.

HP 5820AF 24XG Switch JG219B

In the family of HP 5820 switch series, HP 5820AF-24XG switch (JG219B ) thus obtains several features of the series. It provides a versatile, high-performance and 1/10GbE top-of-rack data center switch architecture with deployment flexibility. The switch can be deployed for data center top-of-rack server access; or as high-performance Layer 3, 10GbE aggregation switches in campus and data center networks. JG219B offers Gigabit and 10 Gigabit connectivity. It includes 24 fixed 1000/10000 SFP+ ports and 4 RJ-45 autosensing 10/100/1000 ports. The total switching capacity of this switch can reach up to 484 Gbps supporting as much as 363mpps throughput.

Fiber Optic Transceivers and Direct Attach Cables for HP 5820AF 24XG Switch

As stated above, the HP 5820AF 24XG switch is available with 1 GbE and 10 GbE data links. The SFP transceivers, SFP+ transceivers, 10G SFP+ to SFP+ direct attach copper cables and 40G QSFP+ to 4x10G SFP+ direct attach copper breakout cables for HP 5820AF 24XG switch are shown in the following tables.

SFP Transceivers

SFP+ Transceivers

10G SFP+ to SFP+ Direct Attach Copper Cables

40G QSFP+ to 4x10G SFP+ Direct Attach Copper Breakout Cables

Conclusion

HP 5820AF 24XG switch (JG219B) provides a simplified network architecture designed for scalability and reliability. It is a good option for 1 GbE and 10 GbE networks over buildings, campus and data centers. The fiber optic transceivers and direct attach cables for the HP 5820AF 24XG switch are always available at FS.COM.