When It's Best to Use GBIC and When to Use SFP?

Recently many users ask when they choosing a card for their switch/router, they should choose either cards that take SFP or cards that take GBIC. It seems to be a headache for them because they are not clearly know the differences of them. Thus, today, we are mainly going to discuss that when it's best to use GBIC and when to use SFP.

GBIC (gigabit interface converter)

GBIC is a hot-swappable input/output device that plugs into a Gigabit Ethernet port or slot, linking the port with the network. GBIC is a standard for transceivers, commonly used with Gigabit Ethernet and fiber channel. GBIC module is hot pluggable, this feature allows a suitably designed enclosure to be changed from one type of external interface to another simply by plugging in a GBIC having the alternative external interface. Generally, GBIC is with the SC connector. The GBIC standard is non-proprietary and is defined by the Small Form Factor committee in document number 8053i. The first publication of the proposal was in November 1995. A few corrections and additions were made through September 2000.

SFP (small form-factor pluggable)

SFP is a specification for a new generation of optical modular transceivers. The form factor and electrical interface are specified by a multi-source agreement (MSA). SFP is also known as a Mini GBIC as its function is somewhat similar to the GBIC transceiver while SFP is smaller than it. SFP transceivers are designed to support SONET, gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and other communications standards. Due to its smaller size, SFP is now more and more widely used for both telecommunication and data communications applications.

GBIC & SFP Interface Types

For every type of GBIC and SFP transceivers, it works with different wavelengths at a designated location or distance. For examples, SX SFP uses 850nm for a maximum of 550 meters, LX SFP uses 1310nm for a maximum 10km, ZX SFP could reach 80km or copper SFP RJ45 interface. We can easily distinguish via the information in their names or models, ie. 1000BASE-T SFP, 1000BASE-SX SFP, 1000BASE-LX/LH SFP, 1000BASE-ZX SFP, 1000BASE-CWDM SFP, or 1000BASE-DWDM SFP. In addition, the DOM function for an SFP is discretionary. It supports the users to locate the real-time working status of SFP. The famous brand of GBICs or SFPs are Cisco, Finisar, HP, Juniper, Extreme Network and so on. There is a little difference in the features of each brand's GBICs and SFPs and they support their corresponding brand's switches/routers.

When it's best to use GBIC and When to use SFP?

According to the above definitions of GBIC and SFP, you may have a further understanding on both of them. There is only one difference of them. SFP is smaller than GBIC. Because the smaller size of SFP (almost half the volume of GBIC), we can configure double number of ports on the same panel which increases the utilization rates of switches/routers. Other basic functions of SFP is almost the same with the GBIC and they are equal in performance. Though there are some users still using the GBIC as their old divice which can not be updated to support SFP, GBIC will gradually be obsoleted and replaced by SFP. So the answer to the question "When it's best to use GBIC and When to use SFP?" is obvious. SFP is your choice. Of course, except GBIC and SFP, there are SFP+, XFP, QSFP/QSFP+ etc. new generation of transceivers which can meet all kinds of your requirements. These new types of transceivers will be discussed in other aticle and not state here one by one. If you are interested in them, please focus continuously on my blog. Or if you need these products, Fiberstore will be a good place for you.

Recommendation of The Best-selling Brand Compatible Transceivers

• Cisco: GLC-SX-MM, GLC-SX-MMD, GLC-LH-SMD, GLC-T, SFP-GE-T
• Finisar: FCLF-8521-3, FTRJ8519P1BNL, FTLX8571D3BCV
• Netgear: AFM735, AGM734, AGM731F
• HP: J4858C, 455883-B21, J9143B, JD089B
• D-Link: DEM-310GT, DEM-311GT

Article Source: GBIC or SFP transceiver

How to Identify The Refurbished Optical Transceiver Module

Nowadays, there is a variety optical transceivers on the market and some of them may be the refurbished optical transceivers. Driven by the huge economic profit, some unscrupulous manufacturers mislead customers to use the refurbished or inferior optical transceiver modules on their switches, servers, base station equipment or storage devices. What's worse, they have even faked the famous brand optical transceiver modules. These shoddy refurbished optical transceivers illegally entered the markets may result in heavy losses to us. This article is explaining how to identify the refurbished transceiver modules, and buy a high-quality transceiver module.

Sources & Disadvantages of the Refurbished Optical Transceiver Module

Source

In general, the sources of refurbished transceiver module include the following two ways.

• Some transceiver modules have been used for certain years, and they will be eliminated due to the update of equipment or damaged due to improper use. The unscrupulous manufacturers recycle these old or damaged transceiver and refurbish them, these refurbished transceiver modules generally have serious impact on the service life.
• Some unqualified transceiver modules can not pass the on line tests and ready to destroy. These unqualified transceivers are used by the unscrupulous manufactures to fake the high-quality transceivers. However, the parameters of these transceivers are not standard. It will have a great impact on the stability of data transmission, and even have serious damages on the equipment.

Disadvantages

The generally speaking refurbished transceiver modules are referred to the secondhand or unqualified transceiver modules mentioned above. They are bought by some unscrupulous businessmen of low prices and renewed with a number of technical renovation (for example: replacing the shell, replacing the clasp, or replacing the labels, etc). These refurbished transceivers have a lower price than the original one and can easily attract the users. However, many issues have been occurred when using:

• Pollution on the light path
• Easy to damage
• Short using life
• Low receiving sensitivity
• Cannot meet the high or low temperature working environment

How to Identify The Refurbished Optical Transceiver Module

Here are three methods to identify the refurbished optical transceiver module:

• Appearance recognition. Check the appearance of the transceiver modules: new module's appearance generally has good consistency while the refurbished module is not glossy, and have some wear and scratches in the rim angle. Many refurbished transceivers are replaced with a new shell, in this case, we can see the interface of the modules, if there is dust and not smooth, it is the refurbished modules.
• Check the ferrule. Pulled out of the dust cap, we can see the ferrule in the bore. In general, the multimode transceiver has plastic ferrules or metal ferrules while the singlemode transceiver has the metal ferrule. A second-hand old module is lack of glossy, and generally rough and with scratch that has a bad consistency. The ferrules of a new quality module is brightness of color and lustre and has a good consistency.
• Put the modules working under the status of 50-60 °C and see if it is working properly. In generally, a refurbished optical transceiver module can not work well or even disconnect.

Avoiding Refurbished Transceiver Module, A Quality Vendor Is Necessary

No matter there are how many tips or methods on how to identify, the best way to avoid buying refurbished transceiver module is to choose a quality vendor. The reason why many users have bought the refurbished transceivers is the attractive low price of them. As we know, the costs for transceiver modules modules keep adding up over time. In order to save more, a low cost option of the transceiver is the expectation of the users. How and where to find a quality vendor? Fiberstore is your best choice. Fiberstore provides a full set of compatible fiber optic transceiver module solution cover all the famous brands, such as Cisco, HP, Finisar and so on, which can satisfy you with a full range of services. In addition, we can also offer the custom service for your special requirements. The following figure shows us a 10 gbps SFP 10km 1310nm transceiver module.

All our fiber transceivers are 100% compatible with major brands

Cisco, Juniper, HP, Finisar, Brocade, Extreme, Source Photonics, Netgear, Force10, Dell, Foundry, Huwei, Intel, Allied Telesis SFP and Custom SFP...

A full range of optical transceivers

SFP Transceivers (eg. 1000BASE-SX, 1000BASE-LX/LH, 1000BASE-ZX, 1000BASE-T), SFP+ transceivers (eg. 10GBASE-LR, 10GBASE-SR), QSFP+ & CFP Transceivers, XFP transceivers, 10G X2 & XENPAK and GBIC. Get more information can visit Fiberstore.com.

Recommendation of The Best-selling Brand Compatible Transceivers

• Cisco: GLC-SX-MMD, GLC-LH-SMD, GLC-T, SFP-GE-T;
• HP: 455883-B21, J9143B, JD089B;
• Netgear: AFM735, AGM731f, AGM734
• Finisar: FCLF-8521-3, FTRJ8519P1BNL, FTLF1319P1BTL

Related Articles: D-Link SFP Transceivers Alternative Solution

D-Link SFP Transceivers Alternative Solution

Introduction

D-Link is the world leader in connectivity for small, medium and large enterprise business networking. The company is an award-winning designer, developer and manufacturer of networking, broadband, digital electronics, voice and data communications solutions for the digital home, Small Office/Home Office (SOHO), Small to Medium Business (SMB) and Workgroup to Enterprise environments. D-Link's products are aimed at the networking and communications market. There is a number of products provided by D-link. Today, we'll only introduce an essential part of the switches product line - the transceiver module and mainly be centered on its 100/1000 Mbps SFP modules.

D-Link's SFP Module Series

D-Link's highly integrated transceivers offer low jitter performance for extended optical link support without degradation. D-Link's new line of Gigabit Interface Converters (GBICs) and Small Form-Factor Pluggables (SFPs) transceivers represent an industry leading combination of performance and affordability. D-Link's new Gigabit transceivers are available in two form-factors: standard (GBIC) or (SFP) /mini-GBIC.

100BASE-FX SFP

D-Link's DEM-211 100BASE-FX Multimode LC SFP Transceiver provides a high performance solution for serial optical data communication applications. The DEM-211 has a duplex LC connector and provides an IEEE 802.3u compliant link for up to 100Mbps in half duplex mode (200Mbps full-duplex mode) for fiber cable applications. The high performance DEM-211 enables reliable data transfer in short, intermediate, and long distances for building, factory, campus, and metropolitan networking applications. When two switches are connected together using a DEM-211 transceiver on both ends, link speeds of up to 155Mbps can be attained. The DEM-211 allows you to provide 100BASE-FX SFP fiber optic connectivity on Gigabit combo SFP ports for D-Link switches.

1000BASE-T SFP

D-Link's DGS-712 1000BASE-T Copper SFP transceiver is based on the SFP Multi Source Agreement. It is compatible with the Gigabit Ethernet and 1000BASE-T standards as specified in IEEE 802.3z and 802.3ab and supports a maximum cable distance coverage up to 300m link lengths. The DGS-712 plugs into any standard SFP interface allowing for 1000Base-T Gigabit transmission over standard Category 5 twisted pair copper.

1000BASE-SX SFP

D-Link's DEM-311GT 1000BASE-SX SFP is a high performance 850nm multimode SFP/mini-GBIC transceiver which is with duplex LC connector interface. Supporting full duplex, Gigabit speeds on multimode fiber for distances of up to 220m/550m on 62.5µm/50µm fiber respectively. The unit features a metal housing to reduce EMI and to increase durability. The DEM-311GT is hot pluggable and is 30-day money back guarantee and with a lifetime advance replacement warranty.

1000BASE-LX SFP

D-Link's 1000BASE-LX SFP, the DEM-310GT is a high performance 1310nm multimode/Singlemode SFP (mini-GBIC) transceiver. Supporting full duplex, Gigabit speeds on multimode/Singlemode fiber for distances of up to 550m/550m/10km on 62.5µm/50µm/9µm respectively. The unit features a metal housing to reduce EMI and to increase durability. Its interface is duplex LC connector. The DEM-310GT is hot pluggable and is 30-day money back guarantee and with a lifetime advance replacement warranty.

D-Link's SFP Module Alternative Solution

Fiberstore offers third party optical transceivers and all the D-Link SFP transceiver is certified 100% compatible with D-Link switch and router product lines.These D-Link SFP transceivers can be mixed and deployed with D-Link OEM SFP transceivers for seamless network performance and interoperability. Our cost-effective D-Link SFP optical modules are delivered to worldwide from our factory directly.

Warm tips: Other brands solution is available. All Fiberstore SFP transceivers are fully compatible with major brands (Cisco, HP, NETGEAR, Finisar, Juniper, etc.) and backed by a Lifetime Warranty.

More infomation about D-Link's SFP: D-Link SFP Transceiver Specifications.
Article Source: D-Link SFP solution

1000BASE-T SFP,1000BASE-SX SFP,1000BASE-BX SFP,Extreme SFP

Introduction

Extreme Networks is a networking company that designs, builds, and sets up Ethernet computer network products for business and company grade (metro) networks while using speed and scale of 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 40 Gigabit Ethernet and 100 Gigabit Ethernet. Extreme Networks switches support both optical and copper SFP (small form factor pluggable) modules. The kinds of switches and the I/O modules determine the compatible type of SFP module. This paper will introduce the Extreme Network SFP modules and the matching switches. In addition, an alternative solution is provided here which could provide you with a cost effective option.

Kinds of Extreme SFP Interfaces and Extreme Networks switches offer the following kinds of optical SFP interfaces:

SX SFP module

The SX SFP module supplies a 1000BASE-T optical connection using LC connectors and multimode fiber cable up to 300 meters long. The 1000BASE-SX SFP module conforms to the 1000BASE-SX standard.

Matching Switches: BlackDiamond 10808\BlackDiamond 8800 series\BlackDiamond 12800 series\Summit X150 series\Summit X250e series\Summit X450 series\Summit X450a series\Summit X450e series

LX SFP module

The LX SFP module supplies a 1000BASE-T optical connection using LC connectors and single-mode fiber (SMF) cable up to 10 km long. The LX SFP module conforms to the 1000BASE-LX standard.

Matching Switches: BlackDiamond 10808\BlackDiamond 8800 series\BlackDiamond 12800 series\Summit X150 series\Summit X250e series\Summit X450 series\Summit X450a series\Summit X450e series

ZX SFP module

The ZX SFP module is a long-haul SFP which offers a 1000BASE-T optical connection using LC connectors and SMF cable up to 80 km long.

Matching Switches: BlackDiamond 10808\BlackDiamond 8800 series\BlackDiamond 12800 series\Summit X150 series\Summit X250e series\Summit X450 series\Summit X450a series\Summit X450e series

1000BASE-BX bidirectional SFP modules

The 1000BASE-BX SFP modules include the 1000BASE-BX-U SFP module and the 1000BASE-BX-D SFP module. Both of these SFP modules are used together to permit a bidirectional Gigabit Ethernet connection using a single strand of SMF cable and LC connectors. The 1000BASE-BX-D SFP operates at wavelengths of 1490 nm TX/1310 nm RX, and the 1000BASE-BX-U SFP operates at wavelengths of 1310 nm TX/1490 nm RX. The 1000BASE-BX-U SFP module is usually connected to the 1000BASE-BX-D SFP module. The maximum transmission distance for this connection is 10 km. The 1000BASE-BX SFP modules conform to the IEEE 802.3ah 1000BASE-BX10 standard.

Matching Switches: BlackDiamond 10808\BlackDiamond 8800 series\BlackDiamond 12800 series\Summit X150 series\Summit X250e series\Summit X450 series\Summit X450a series\Summit X450e series

10/100/1000BASE-T Copper SFP Module

The Extreme Networks 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet SFP module is compatible with the Gigabit Ethernet standard and 1000 Base-T standard as specified in the IEEE 802.3:2002 standard. This SFP module supplies a 100-Mbps connection using Category 5 cable.

Matching Switches: BlackDiamond 8800 series\Summit X450 series\Summit X450a series

Fiberstore Fiber Optic Transceiver Solution

Extreme compatible SFP transceiver support Ethernet, Sonnet/SDH and Fiber Channel applications across all Extreme switching and routing platforms. Fiberstore is a professional manufacturer and supplier of optical networking solutions. We can supply 100% compatible fiber optic transceiver modules of many brands, like Cisco, Dell, D-link.. with a incredible discount. Especially HP, you can find a full product line of our New HP SFP with a good price and enjoy same-day shipping, such as HP 455883-B21 SFP, HP J4858C module and J4859A transceiver module, etc.. In addition, according to your requirements, we welcome any inquiry for customized fiber optical transceiver. Fiberstore's aim is offering the best quality products and perfect solutions, saving customers's time and money, making customers enjoy personalization.

Article Source: Overview of Extreme SFP Modules

What's Your Opinion Of Using 3rd Party SFP Modules On Cisco Catalyst Switch

In general, the cost of an original brand SFP module is more expensive than a 3rd party one. Take Cisco 1000BASE-SX SFP (GLC-SX-MMD) for example, the list price of Cisco is about $ 500.00, but you can easily find a 3rd party SFP modules that can take a discount at up to 90% off. As the cost of SFP transceiver keep adding up over time, many labs or companies are seeking for SFP alternatives to help cut down the costs on these expensive modules. However, a frequent customer problem with Cisco's new line of Catalyst switches is that they do not support 3rd party (non-Cisco) SFPs - or at least they do not seem to. If you've just replaced your network switches and tried using any 3rd party SFPs to connect your network backbone, you'll quickly stumble across an error similar to the following:

Error message

%PHY-4-UNSUPPORTED_TRANSCEIVER: Unsupported transceiver found in Gi1/0/0 %GBIC_SECURITY_CRYPT-4-VN_DATA_CRC_ERROR: GBIC in port 65538 has bad crc

When you see this error, it means that your Cisco Catalyst switch has just disabled the GBIC port. Why? When a SFP is inserted into a switch's GBIC port, the switch immediately reads a number of values from the SFP and if it doesn't like what it sees, it throws the above error message and disables the port. Simple to understand, your Cisco Catalyst switches are configured by default not to work with the 3rd party (non-Cisco) SFPs.

As we know, all SFP modules contain a number of recorded values in their EEPROM that include:

• Vendor Name
• Vendor ID
• Serial Number
• Security Code
• CRC

How To Solve This Issue & Successfully Use 3rd Party SFPs On Your Cisco Switch

When the errors displayed, many users will be very nervous and even begin to regret using the 3rd party SFPs. Is there no hope for a solution when facing such situation? Just be relax, the following content will give you some tips on it.

There are two undocumented commands which can be used to force the Cisco Catalyst switch to enable the GBIC port and use the 3rd party SFP.

3750G-Stack(config)# service unsupported-transceiver

Warning: When Cisco determines that a fault or defect can be traced to the use of third-party transceivers installed by a customer or reseller, then, at Cisco's discretion, Cisco may withhold support under warranty or a Cisco support program. In the course of providing support for a Cisco networking product Cisco may require that the end user install Cisco transceivers if Cisco determines that removing third-party parts will assist Cisco in diagnosing the cause of a support issue.

3750G-Stack(config)# no errdisable detect cause gbic-invalid

When entering the "service unsupported-transceiver" command, the switch (eg. 3750G) will automatically throw a warning message as a last hope to prevent the usage of a 3rd party SFP. The "no errdisable detect cause gbic-invalid" command will help ensure the GBIC port is not disabled when inserting an invalid GIBC. In addition, since the service unsupported-transceiver is undocumented, if you try searching for the command with the usual method "service ?", you won't find it.

According to the test, Cisco 2960G, 3560G, 3750G, 4507R and 4507R-E Catalyst switches all accept both "service unsupported-transceiver" & "no errdisable detect cause gbic-invalid commands" commands without a problem. In fact, if the Catalyst switch is running IOS 12.2(25)SE and above, the undocumented commands are available.

Opinion on 3rd Party SFP Modules

People have different opinions on "Whether I should use 3rd party SFPs". It seems a difficult question for them as the attractive price but unknown performance of the 3rd SFPs. In fact, take Catalyst 3750 Series Switches for example, starting from 12.2(25)SE release, the user has the option via CLI to turn on the support for 3rd party SFPs. However, you should remember that the Cisco TAC will not support such 3rd party SFPs. In the event of any link error involving such 3rd party SFPs the customer will have to replace 3rd party SFPs with Cisco SFPs before any troubleshooting can be done by TAC.

Thus, it is very necessary to use quality assurance SFP modules. Actually, there are some high quality SFP modules OEM vendors, such as Fiberstore. You would not worry about the compatibility of the usage. Because there is a perfect system from the production to shipment. All the products are tested before they shipped and ensure the 100% compatible and high quality. In addition, you can save more as the price is also very competitive.

Some common types of SFPs supported on Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches

• 1000BASE-LX/LH SFP (GLC-LH-SM=)
• 1000BASE-SX SFP (GLC-SX-MM=)
• 1000BASE-ZX SFP (GLC-ZX-SM=)
• 1000BASE-T SFP (GLC-T=)
• 1000BASE-BX SFP 1490nm (GLC-BX-D=) (12.2(25)SEB and later)
• 1000BASE-BX SFP 1310nm (GLC-BX-U=) (12.2(25)SEB and later)

Related Article: Finisar 1000BASE-T FCxx-8520/8521-3 SFPs

Difference Between Finisar 1000BASE-T FCxx-8520 and 8521-3 SFPs

Finisar's 1000BASE-T SFP transceivers are SFP RJ45 modules, wihch depend on the SFP Multi Source Agreement (MSA). Additionally, these are appropriate for Gigabit Ethernet and 1000BASE-T standards as specified in IEEE Std. 802.3:2002. FCxx-8520/8521-3 is its product model, which includes four goods, ie. FCMJ-8520-3, FCMJ-8521-3, FCLF-8520-3 and FCLF-8521-3. Most of the time, both are 1000BASE-T SFPs and also have the similar functions. However, there is several difference between them which you can distinguish via the difference in the model, like FCMJ and FCLF, the 8520 and 8521. This paper will discuss the difference between them.

What Does 1000BASE-T Mean?

Before we begin to discuss the main difference between the FCxx-8520/8521-3 SFPs, we first know the "1000BASE-T". 1000BASE-T is defined in IEEE802.3:2002. The "1000" in the designation means the transmission speed of 1000 Mbps. The "BASE" refers to BASE band signaling, indicating that only Ethernet signals are carried on the medium. The "T" represents twisted-pair copper cable (as an example Cat 5). Therefore we offer called this type of transceivers as the copper transceivers. If the "T" is replaced by the "X", it represents fiber optic cable.

What Is The Difference Between The FCxx-8521-3 & The FCxx-8520-3?

The FCxx-8521-3 was designed to be a 1000BASE-X compliant device that functions properly in any slot made for optical SFP's, without any software or hardware changes to the host system. The PHY is configured to perform 1000BASE-X auto-negotiation with the host system. The FCxx-8521-3 does not have to link detection circuitry the RxLOS pin is internally grounded. The FCxx-8520-3 is much like the FCxx-8521-3, however the 1000BASE-X auto negotiation is disabled. Because of this device to control, auto-negotiation also need to be disabled in the host system. Within the FCxx-8520-3, the RxLOS pin functions as a link indicator-RxLOS is asserted when the 1000BASE-T link is lost. Typically, this device is used in systems where the host cannot determine the link status without using RxLOS as a link indicator.

What Is The Main Difference Between The FCMJ-8520/8521-3 &?The FCLC-8520/8521-3?

The FCMJ-8520/8521-3 versions are RoHS 5/6 while the FCLF-8520/8521-3 versions are fully RoHS compliant.

What Cable Type Is Recommended For Use With The FCxx-8520/8521-3?

The FCxx-8520/8521-3 was designed to operate using standard Cat 5 cables that're been configured per IEEE802.3:2002. You can safely use Cat 5e or Cat 6 cables, because these are improved versions of Cat 5. For short cable runs, with an intricate routing, stranded cable is recommended, as it is more flexible.

Better Choice of Compatible Finisar 1000BASE-T FCxx-8520/8521-3 SFPs

With a starting point of saving cost, lots of people want to use the compatible SFP transceivers. Once you doing some research for your purchase plan, you will notice that there is a number of selections for compatible SFP transceivers of the famous and widely used brands, for example Cisco, HP, Finisar or Dell etc. in the market which are provided by different manufacturers or vendors. It is really a headache for choosing the best compatible SFPs that can fully satisfy your demands. We canot do any of this except comparing the price and shipping time in the ocean of the compatible transceivers. For better choice of the compatible SFPs of the Finisar 1000BASE-T SFPs, we strongly suggest you Fiberstore NEW Finisar FCxx-8520/1-3 Compatible 1000BASE-T SFP Transceiver Module as its cost effective, high quality and excellent service. In addition, more compatible 1000BASE-T SFP transceivers of other brands can be found in Fiberstore, for example Cisco GLC-T 1000base-T SFP, Cisco SFP-GE-T compatible, Netgear AGM734, HP JD089B and Dell 1000BASE-T SFP 310 7225, etc. You can save more time on searching for a good vendor or good compatible transceivers. Just have a try, Fiberstore will bring you the best experience.

Related Article: Difference Between Singlemode SFP and Multimode SFP

Questions about the Transceiver Support of HP 3Com Rebadged Switches

There are always some problems needed to be solved due to rebadged. Here are two questions about the transceiver support of HP 3Com rebadged switches. Thanks to the people who gave out the answers.

Question 1: I am a little confused regarding 10-GbE SFP+ Transceiver Support on older 3Com/HP 4800G Switch Series. HP lists several X130 SFP+ Transceivers as compliant with the 3Com/HP 4800G Switch line. According to all information I found until now, SFP+ is NOT backward compatible to SFP. The original, Comware-based, 4800G Switch Series has definitely no SFP+ ports, only SFP. HP may have changed this in more recent model revision like the HP 5500 EI Switch Series. But the original 4800G Switch Series has clearly no SFP+. How can HP list therefore here these HP X130 SFP+ Transceivers as compliant to the 3Com 4800G Switch Series?

The 3Com 4800G and HP 5500-EI switchs are very similar, only difference seems to be support for PoE+ and the much more powerful power supply (up to 740W) at the HP 5500-EI. Interestingly, this (JD368B) HP 5500/5120, 2-port, 10GbE SFP+ Module is NOT listed at the HP 4800G accessories product page. It is listed only at HP 5500-EI accessories page.

BUT, if you click there on it, a window opens, and you will see that the 4800G (and others) will be yet listed! Very confusing and incomprehensible, why it is listed here as compatible but not at the HP 4800G accessories product page? It's probably listed because you can add a 10GbE SFP+ module to the back of the 4800G. I'm trying to find out who the Product Manager is to confirm. I'll also take a look at one of mine in the lab.

According to the HP Accessory list, HP 4500G Switch Series Accessories the only options available for the 4500 and 4800 switches are 10Gb XFP and LCM modules and one 1GbE SFP transceiver (such as HP transceiver JD119B, JD089B, etc.). I was in touch with the product manager this week and there is no SFP+ version available. He also told me that the 4800G and its options have been end of life for years but we still continue to support them. The page could have been written better to make the accessory list more clear.

Tips: 3Com 4800G is the same as HP A5500-EI. It's also mentioned within the release notes. Also you can try it out yourself. Type "brand h3c" on the switch and reboot. After that you'll have an H3C S5500-EI switch. If you want to stack an 3Com 4800G switch with an HP E4800G switch you have to "brand hp" the 3Com devices. That's also mentioned within the release notes. Talking about 10Gb fiber. If you want to use SFP+ optics, you have to install the SFP+ modules first. I use those for my 4800G switches. Before HP A5500EI family, there were another 2 product families, i.e 3Com 4800G and H3C S5500EI, shipped to market. All of these three product families have same hardware and software specification except brand.

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Question 2: I have two HP ProCurve JE005A V1910 switches installed in two offices. These two office are in the same building 70 meters apart, but the work enviroment has heavy Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI). So I want to use a fiber connection to link them up rather than a stand Ethernet cable. I have done some research and found that the SX module are more than sufficient. What I can not understand is what is the difference between the J4858C and JD118B HP SFP modules.

So what is the difference between J4858C and JD118B for the JE005A? The J4858C is what was the traditional ProCurve branded part, the HP JD118B the former 3Com one. Some of the switches only work with branded SFPs: generally you can use a ProCurve part in a 3Com switch but not always the other way round. Unless you are keeping a common pool of spares or similar, it doesn't matter which you use.

As HP JE005A V1910 switch is a new prodcut (as in just bought, a V1910 is one of the rebadged 3Com models), would the J4858C be the way to go for best compatability? To create a fiber link, do I need both adapters on both switches or just one each? The answer is that one (at each end) of either would be fine.

These are small problems but a lot of people are influenced. As there are much more other problems of brands rebadged among HP, 3Com and H3C etc., and considering about the expensive SFP transceivers, more and more users begin to choose generic compatible transceiver modules which can really replace the position of original ones.

Article Source: Transceiver Support for HP 3Com Rebadged Switches