Everything You Need to Know About HP Compatible SFP+/QSFP+ Transceiver Modules

Compatible HP SFP+/QSFP+ transceivers provided by Fiberstore are third-party optical modules certificated to be fully compatible with HP Switch/Router product line. These cost-effective HP transceiver modules are well tested before delivered worldwide. HP compatible SFP+/QSFP+ transceivers have the same functionality with the original which can be equivalent to HP J9150A, HP J9151A, HP J9152A, HP JD092B, HP 455886-B21 and so on. The following passage will mainly talk about compatible HP AJ716A and HP JG661A.

HP Compatible SFP+ Modules—AJ716A

AJ716A is HP compatible 8G SFP+ transceiver module. This enhanced small form-factor pluggable (SFP+) supports bi-directional, serial-optical data transfers across fiber optic networks. The transceiver is equipped with two connectors: a SFP+ male edge connector that plugs into the host system, and a LC connector for the fiber optic cable. This transceiver offers the same function with HP AJ716A and it is fully compatible with HP devices. Figure 1 shows an overview of HP AJ716A.

The AJ716A also refers to HP AJ716A 8G LC-SR. This module is designed for multi-mode fiber and operates at a nominal wavelength of 850nm. This HP transceiver supports 8 Gigabit connectivity up to 150 m and makes use of advanced class 1 laser technology to accurately transmit data. The primary application of the HP AJ716A is 8G application over multi-mode fiber. Because it is hot-swappable and MSA compliant, this transceiver can be plugged directly into any HP SFP+ based transceiver port, without the need to power down the host network system. This capability makes moves, adds and changes quick and painless.

HP Compatible QSFP+ Modules—JG661A

JG661A is HP JG661A compatible QSFP+ transceiver. The Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP) optical transceivers have four separate 10G channels to simultaneously operate for supplying 40GbE network and sum up the capacity into a single channel. QSFP modules increase the port-density by 3x-4x compared to SFP+ modules. Figure 2 presents an outlook of HP JG661A for you reference.

JG661A supports link lengths of 10km on single-mode fiber cable, at a wavelength of 1310nm. It primarily enables high-bandwidth 40G optical links with duplex LC connectors and can also be used in a 4x10G module for interoperability with 10GBASE-LR interfaces. JG661A offered by Fiberstore is guaranteed to be compatible with the equivalent HP optics module. And it is widely used for 40G Ethernet connectivity.

Why Choose Compatible HP Transceiver Modules?
The first factor that forces people to choose third-party transceiver modules other than original modules is budget. Because the price of the original products is usually three or four times higher than 3-rd party devices. Designers can’t afford it. In addition, the third-party transceiver modules offered by reliable vendors are guaranteed to be well-tested and fully compatible with the major brand. It is feasible to buy compatible HP transceivers from reliable OEM vendors (for example, Fiberstore is an professional manufacturer & supplier of compatible SFP+/QSFP+ transceivers. Products are high performance with very low price.)

Conclusion
Some detailed information about the above two kinds of products is provided in the previous text, and some characteristics may be missed. HP compatible SFP+/QSFP+ transceiver modules are worthwhile for your network infrastructure. Fiberstore offers a large selection of compatible SFP+/QSFP+ modules including AJ716A, J4858C, JG234A, JG661A, etc. In addition, they can be customized to meet your specific requirement. if you have any question about today’s topic, welcome to contact us.

Basic Information About Fiber Optic Transceiver

Optical fiber transceivers are also called fiber optic transmitter and receiver, which are used to send and receive optical information in a variety of different applications. The role of the optical module is photoelectric conversion. These optical modules are scalable and flexible in their use, and this is why they are preferred by designers. Here is what you need to know about the basics of fiber optic transceivers.

Fiber Optic Transmitters and Receivers
Fiber optic transmission system consists of a transmitter on one end of a fiber and a receiver on the other end. The transmitter end takes in and converts the electrical signal into light, after the optical fiber transmission in the fiber cable plant, the receiver end again converts the light signal into electrical signal. Both the receiver and the transmitter ends have their own circuitry and can handle transmissions in both directions. Fiber optic cables can both send and receive information. The cables can be made of different fibers, and the information can be transmitted at different times. The following picture shows a fiber optic datalink.

Sources of Fiber Optic Transceiver
There are four types of fiber transmitters used to convert electrical signals into optical signals. These sources of fiber optic transmitters include: distributed feedback (DFB) lasers, fabry-perot (FP) lasers, LEDs, and vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). They are all semiconductor chips. Take QSFP-40G-UNIV as an example, it is Arista QSFP-40G-UNIV compatible 40G QSFP+ transceiver. It uses DFB lasers as sources for fiber optic transmitters, which are used in long distance and DWDM systems. DFB lasers have the narrowest spectral width which minimizes chromatic dispersion on the longest links.

The choice of the devices is determined mainly by speed and fiber compatibility issues. As many premises systems using multi-mode fiber have exceeded bit rates of 1 Gb/s, lasers (mostly VCSELs) have replaced LEDs. Fiber optic transceivers are reliable, but they may malfunction or become out-dated. If an upgrade is necessary, there are hot-swappable fiber optic transceivers. These devices make it easy to replace or repair without powering down the device.

How Fiber Optic Transceiver Works?
Information is sent in the form of pulses of the light in the fiber optics. The light pulses have to be converted into electrical ones in order to be utilized by an electronic device. Thanks to the conversion by fiber optic transceivers: In its fiber optic data links, the transmitter converts an electrical signal into an optical signal, which is coupled with a connector and transmitted through a fiber optic cable. The light from the end of the cable is coupled to a receiver, where a detector converts the light back into an electrical signal. Either a light emitting diode (LED) or a laser diode is used as the light source.

Packaging
Optical fiber transceivers are usually packaged in industry standard packages like SFP, SFP+, XFP, X2, Xenpak, GBIC. According to the fiber type it connects to, there are MM (multi-mode), SM (Single-mode), as well as WDM fiber (CWDM, DWDM modules). The SFP modules support up to 4.25 Gbps with a connector on the optical end and a standard electrical interface on the other end. The QSFP are for 40 Gigabit networks using a LC duplex connection. Take compatible Brocade 40G-QSFP-LR4 as an example, it supports link lengths of 10km on single-mode fiber cable at a wavelength of 1310nm.

Summary
Keep in mind that fiber optic transceiver has two ends. One has an optical cable plug and another for connecting an electrical device. Each aspect of the transceivers is necessary to properly deliver a signal to its destination. Be aware of all aspects of fiber optic transceivers to purchase what you need for your application. Fiberstore supplies a wide variety of 40GBASE QSFP+ transceiver modules for you to choose from. More detailed, please contact us directly.

The 40G QSFP transceiver Comparison

Data center regularly went through great migration from 1G, 10G to 40G, 100G over the past few decade. Since IEEE 802.3ba standard defined the 40G Ethernet on June 17, 2010. The newest widely adopted optical transceivers is the QSFP+ that offers aggregated optical speeds of 40G. There are many variants for QSFP+ small from factor including LR4 (10km single-mode), IR4 (2km single-mode) or ESR4 and SR4 for short haul multi-mode. So what are they and what is the difference between them? The following passage will provide a satisfying answer to you.

QSFP optical transceivers have four separate 10G channels to simultaneously operating for supplying 40GbE network and sum up the capacity into a single channel. The following tables shows QSFP40G portfolio, of which 40GBASE-SR4, 40GBASE-LR4 and 40GBASE-ER4 are the most commonly used 40G physical layers.

1. 40GBASE-SR4
40GBASE-SR4 (short range) is a port type for multi-mode fiber and uses 850nm lasers. It uses four lanes of multi-mode fiber delivering serialized data at a rate of 10.3125 Gbit/s per lane. 40GBASE-SR4 has a reach of 100m on OM3 and 150m on OM4. There is a longer range variant 40GBASE-ESR4 with a reach of 300m on OM3 and 400m on OM4. This extended reach is equivalent to the reach of 10GBASE-SR. Take JG325A (see in Figure 2) as an example, it is HP compatible 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceiver. It primarily enables high-bandwidth 40G optical links terminated with MPO multi-fiber connectors and can also be used in a 4x10G module for interoperability with 10GBASE-SR interfaces.

2. 40GBASE-ER4
40GBASE-ER4 (extended range) is a port type for single-mode fiber being defined in P802.3bm and uses 1300nm lasers. It uses four wavelengths delivering serialized data at a rate of 10.3125 Gbit/s per wavelength.

3. 40GBASE-LR4
40GBASE-LR4 (long range) is a port type for single-mode fiber and uses 1300nm lasers. It uses four wavelengths delivering serialized data at a rate of 10.3125 Gbit/s per wavelength. Take FTL4C1QE1C as an example, it is Finisar FTL4C1QE1C  (see in Figure 3) compatible 40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+ transceiver supporting link lengths of 10km at a wavelength of 1310nm.

Comparison of These Three 40GBASE Standards
Through the above definitions of each type of 40G physical layers, you may have a further understanding of them. Now, we are comparing them one by one. 40GBASE-SR4 is for multi-mode fiber while 40GBASE-LR4 and 40GBASE-ER4 is a port type for single-mode fiber. The multi-mode solutions require special MPO fiber ribbons (multi-strand optical cables) to transport the 4 different 10G optical connections. Single-mode solutions use only two strands of fiber and combine the 4 channels using inexpensive CWDM technology. This gives a tremendous advantage, simplifying the connectivity to standard LC optical connectors and thus reducing costs further.

In addition, 40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+ transceivers are most commonly deployed between data-center or IXP sites with single mode fiber. 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceivers are used in data centers to interconnect two Ethernet switches with 12 lane ribbon OM3/OM4 cables. And from the above figure, we can know that they support different transmission distance in different wavelengths and with different connectors.

Summary
To sum up, 40GBASE-SR4, 40GBASE-LR4 and 40GBASE-ER4 are distinguished with each other in several different features—wavelength, connector, transmission distance, etc. Fiberstore offers a wide variety of high-density and low-power 40GBASE QSFP+ transceiver modules. They are the best-selling products of our company for its large stocks, competitive price and high quality. In addition, there are also a promotion for MTP cables. For more information, please contact us directly.

Reference:
http://www.ieee802.org/3/100GNGOPTX/public/mar12/plenary/cole_01b_0312_NG100GOPTX.pdf

Vivendi gets its way at Telecom Italia AGM

The big Telecom Italia shareholder showdown concluded decisively in favour of French conglomerate Vivendi, which owns a fifth of its shares.

Vivendi wanted to enlarge the board of directors from 13 to 17 members, with the four new spots being taken by its own nominees. It only needed to get the support of the majority of attending shareholders for that motion to pass, and it managed a reported 53%. So now Vivendi’s Arnaud Roy de Puyfontaine, Stephane Roussel, Hervé Philippe and consultant Felicité Herzog will sit on the TI board, although a minor motion exempting them from a non-compete agreement wasn’t approved.

The other key motion being voted on was TI’s bid to convert savings shares into ordinary ones, which would result in dilution of ordinary shareholders’ share in the company by around 30%, thus presumably weakening Vivendi’s claims on board representation. This one required a two thirds majority to be passed but only managed 62.5%, and hence was rejected. This was pretty much entirely down to Vivendi since only 56% of ordinary shareholders voted, meaning its 20% share accounted for more than a third of voters on the day.

The support Vivendi must have received from other shareholders for its board representation implies they managed to convince some investors that it could have a positive influence on the way the company is run. It remains to be seen, however, exactly how Vivendi intends to use its increased influence.

Original published:
http://telecoms.com/459452/vivendi-gets-its-way-at-telecom-italia-agm/

AT&T announces gigabit broadband expansion to 38 markets

AT&T says it plans to expand the markets for its gigabit broadband AT&T GigaPower service to at least parts of 38 new metro markets. The expansion of its fiber to the premises (FTTP) footprint will bring the number of metro markets where it offers the service to 56.

The company announced that two of the new markets, Los Angeles, CA, and West Palm Beach, FL, have seen services launched.

AT&T will offer the high-speed Internet service with video services through either its DirecTV acquisition or its U-verse service. In markets where both options are available, customers will be given their choice.

AT&T asserts it has deployed its GigaPower network to more than 1 million locations and expects to more than double availability by the end of 2016. The company says it plans to reach more than 14 million residential and commercial locations with the FTTP infrastructure.

In addition to the potential competition from Google Fiber in some of the new metros, AT&T will face a challenge from Comcast's 2-Gbps Gigabit Pro in Fresno, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Jose, CA; West Palm Beach, FL; Indianapolis, IN; and Detroit. A local provider in Detroit, Rocket Fiber, has announced a 10-Gbps FTTP service in that city as well (see "Rocket Fiber to bring 10-Gbps FTTP to Detroit").

Optical network sales slip in third quarter 2015: IHS

Sales of optical network hardware slipped 10% sequentially in the third quarter of 2015, according to the most recent tally from IHS (NYSE:IHS). Gains in North America were not enough to offset declines in the Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and Central America/Latin America (CALA) regions, according to the market research firm.

The quarter's shrinkage to $2.95 billion dollars also put it behind the year ago quarter by 1.7%. The disappointing results followed a 21% jump in fiber-optic network hardware sales in the second quarter (see "Optical network system spending increases sequentially in second quarter 2015: IHS").

Sales in North America grew 3% sequentially, while Asia Pacific's spending was essentially flat. The slowness in EMEA may be short-lived, IHS believes.

"The previous three quarters' results for EMEA indicated the first reversal of poor optical spending since 2009. However, third quarter results are less favorable, with a 5% year-over-year decline. We assume this is a short-term setback and the recovery will continue. However, we will monitor this closely," said Alex Green, senior research director for IT and networking at IHS. Green, apparently, is filling in for Andrew Schmitt, former research director for carrier transport networking at IHS, who has left the company to start his own firm, Cignal AI.

Looking forward, any growth the optical network market enjoys this year will come largely thanks to WDM sales, IHS predicts. Spending on WDM equipment grew 4% year-on-year in 3Q15, and will exceed $6.8 billion annually by 2019.

The demand for SONET/SDH gear will continue to head in the other direction, meanwhile, with sales declining from $2.17 billion in 2014 to just over $500 million by 2019.
The quarterly "IHS Infonetics Optical Network Hardware" report offers global market size, share, and forecasts for metro and long haul WDM and SONET/SDH equipment, Ethernet optical ports, SONET/SDH/PoS ports, and WDM ports.

For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer's Guide.

Volunteers Aid Pioneering Edsac Computer Rebuild

Think of a shed and objects like spades, forks and compost in a wooden hut at the end of the garden come to mind.

However, in the UK, some very old hardware is being brought back to life in some of those scruffy, but often well-organised, workspaces. In them, a group of veteran engineers is toiling to help recreate the pioneering Edsac computer.

Designed by Sir Maurice Wilkes, Edsac first ran in 1949 and was made to serve scientists at the University of Cambridge. It helped them push the boundaries of their disciplines by giving them a tool that could crunch numbers faster than they could ever manage. "The problems they were tackling were not practical using hand-based calculation methods," said James Barr, one of the veterans reconstructing the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator. Edsac quickly proved its usefulness and helped two Cambridge scientists win Nobel prizes. Instruction set

But while the science was meticulously recorded, the building of Edsac was not. "Wilkes was exposed to electronics and valves during his wartime work on radar and to the mercury delay lines it used for memory," said Mr Barr. "He had the technology in his head that he thought he could realise." Wilkes' design for Edsac have been largely lost and, even if they could be found, that might not have helped because the machine changed as it was being built.

"It took me a year to understand its five-bit order code," said Mr Barr. But understand it he did and his insights, along with those from fellow engineers who have worked on other key parts of the machine, has helped the project recreate Edsac's innards.

Which is where the sheds come in.

Those logical parts are being turned into hardware, known as chassis, in sheds and attics up and down the country. This has involved huge amounts of work as Edsac is built of 140 chassis spread around a series of tall racks. Each one is about 80cm long by 60cm wide, studded with valve sockets and stands in front of a spider's dream of wiring. "The practical reality is that the construction effort is quite significantly painstaking and it takes 20 to 40 man hours per chassis," he said. This wiring work is so mentally draining that Mr Barr and his fellow volunteers can only work on a chassis for a couple of hours at a time. "I didn't know what I was getting into when I volunteered but I've loved it," said Mr Barr, who got involved after seeing a poster about the Edsac reconstruction when visiting The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park.

SFP28 and QSFP28 Optical Modules For 25 Gigabit Ethernet

The widely acknowledged Ethernet speed upgrade path was 10G-40G-100G. However, a new development indicates the latest path for server connection will be 10G-25G-100G with potential for future upgrading to 400G. But why 25G? Because moving from 10G to 40G is a big jump and it turns out the incremental cost of 25G silicon over 10G is not that great. This new standard will require improved cables and transceiver modules capable of handling this additional bandwidth, under this circumstance, QSFP28 and SFP28 are promoted.

25GbE Ethernet—An Emerging Standard
25 Gigabit Ethernet (25GbE) has passed the first hurdle in the IEEE standards body with a successful Call for Interest (CFI) in July, 2014. It is a proposed standard for Ethernet connectivity that will benefit cloud and enterprise data center environments. 25GbE leverages technology defined for 100 Gigabit Ethernet implemented as four 25-Gbit/s lanes (IEEE 802.3bj) running on four fibers or copper pairs. The follow picture shows 25G Access Network.

Significant Performance Benefits—25G Over 40G
The value of 25GbE technology is clear in comparison to the existing 40GbE standard. Obviously, 25GbE technology provides greater port density and a lower cost per unit of bandwidth for rack server connectivity. For applications that demand substantially higher throughputs to the endpoint, there exists 50GbE—using only two lanes instead of four—as a superior alternative to 40GbE in both link performance and physical lane efficiency.

The proposed 25GbE standard delivers 2.5 times more performance per SerDes lane using twinax copper wire than that available over existing 10G and 40G connections. A 50GbE link using two switch/NIC SerDes lanes running at 25 Gb/s each delivers 25% more bandwidth than a 40GbE link while needing just half the number (four) of twinax copper pairs. Therefore, a 25GbE link using a single switch/NIC SerDes lane provides 2.5 times the bandwidth of a 10GbE link over the same number of twinax copper pairs are used in today’s SFP+ direct-attach copper (DAC) cables.

Perhaps the most important benefit of 25GbE technology to data-center operators is maximizing bandwidth and port density within the space constraints of a small 1U front panel. It also leverages single-lane 25Gb/s physical layer technology developed to support 100GbE.

Cloud Will Drive to QSFP28 and SFP28
QSFP28 is used for 4x25GE and SFP28 is used for a single 25GE port. SFP28 module, based on the SFP+ form-factor, suports the emeraging 25G Ethernet standard. It enables error-free transmission of 25Gb/s over 100m of OM4 multi-mode fiber and a new generation of high-density 25 Gigabit Ethernet switches and network interface cards, facilitating server connectivity in data centres, and a conventional and cost-effective upgrade path for enterprises deploying 10 Gigabit Ethernet links today in the ubiquitous SFP+ form factor.

The QSFP28 (25G Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable) transceiver and interconnect cable is a high-density, high-speed product soluon designed for applicaons in the telecommunicaons, data center and networking markets. The interconnect offers four channels of high-speed signals with data rates ranging from 25 Gbps up to potentially 40 Gbps, and will meet 100 Gbps Ethernet (4x25 Gbps) and 100 Gbps 4X InfiniBand Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) requirements.

The demonstration showed QSFP28-SR4 modules and a compatible Finisar FTLX1471D3BCL 10GBASE-LR SFP+. The QSFP28 SR4 module is a vertically integrated solution that meets IEEE 802.3 standards and MSA requirements with power dissipation well under 3.5W. The module supports both 100GBASE-SR4 as well as 4x25G breakout applications. Both the QSFP28 SR4 and SFP28-SR modules are sampling now.

Conclusion
The dominant next-generation server connection speed is going to be 25G as it providing a cost competitive longer reach option for mainstream customers. Fiberstore is excited to introduce several products that will drive the next generation of data centre and enterprise interconnects. We currently do not supply 100G QSFP28 and 25G SFP28 based switches, but we do manufacture a full range of tranceivers, such as SFP+, X2, XENPAK, XFP, SFP, GBIC, CWDM/DWDM, 40G QSFP+ & CFP, etc. Compatible Finisar FTLX1471D3BCL and FTLF8524P2BNL are offered with minimum price and high quality. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us.

Reference:
http://www.ieee802.org/3/cfi/0714_1/CFI_01_0714.pdf