SFP transceivers are available with a variety of transmitter

SFP transceivers are available with a variety of transmitter and receiver types, allowing users to select the appropriate transceiver for each link to provide the required optical reach over the available optical fiber type (e.g. multi-mode fiber or single-mode fiber). Optical SFP modules are commonly available in several different categories:

SX - 850 nm, for a maximum of 550 m at 1.25 Gb/s (Gigabit Ethernet) or 150m at 4.25 Gb/s (Fibre Channel)
for single-mode fiber, with blue extraction lever
LX - 1310 nm, for distances up to 10 km
BX - 1490 nm/1310 nm, Single Fiber Bi-Directional Gigabit SFP Transceivers, paired as BS-U and BS-D for Uplink and Downlink respectively, also for distances up to 10 km
1550 nm 40 km (XD), 80 km (ZX), 120 km (EX or EZX)
CWDM and DWDM transceivers at various wavelengths achieving various maximum distances
for copper twisted pair cabling
1000base-T - these modules incorporate significant interface circuitry and can only be used for Gigabit Ethernet, as that is the interface they implement. They are not compatible with (or rather: do not have equivalents for) Fibre channel or SONET.SFP transceivers are commercially available with capability for data rates up to 4.25 Gbit/s. An enhanced standard called SFP+ supports data rates up to 10.0 Gbit/s.

SFP+The enhanced small form-factor pluggable (SFP+) is an enhanced version of the SFP. It supports data rates up to 10 Gbit/s. The SFP+ was first published on May 9, 2006, and version 4.1 published on July 6, 2009. SFP+ supports 8 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Optical Transport Network standard OTU2. It is a popular industry format supported by many network component vendors.In comparison to earlier XENPAK or XFP modules, SFP+ modules leave more circuitry to be implemented on the host board instead of inside the module.Consideration has to be given to whether the module is linear or limiting. Linear SFP+ modules are appropriate for 10GBASE-LRM otherwise limiting modules are preferred.

October 14, 2011

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