Multimode Fiber Cabling Upgrade From 10GBASE-SR, 40GBASE-SR4 to 100GBASE-SR10

Telecom industry is in the best times in that new products and technologies keeping coming out, which greatly facilitate people’s daily lives. From the 10GbE, 40GbE to the 100GbE, users can be benefited from the varieties of Gigabit Ethernet applications. Pluggable from factor (SFP+, QSFP+, CFP) used in different Gigabit Ethernet that can support the multimode fibers (MM) leads to lower costs and low power consumption. By comparison of single-mode modules, MM optical transceivers enables a single build standard for short-reach connection in data centers. Today’s article will briefly illustrate the multimode cabling upgrade in 10G, 40G and 100G Ethernet.

10GBASE-SR, 40GBASE-SR4, 100GBASE-SR10 Wiki

According to wikipedia, there are similarities and differences between three standards. Let’s have a quick overview of it.

• 10GBASE-SR

10GBASE-SR (short range) is a port type for multi-mode fiber (OM3 and OM4) and uses 850 nm lasers. Its Physical Coding Sublayer 64b/66b PCS is defined in IEEE 802.3 Clause 49 and its Physical Medium Dependent PMD in Clause 52. It delivers serialized data at a line rate of 10.3125 Gbit/s. The 10GBASE-SR transmitter is implemented with a VCSEL which is low cost and low power. 10GBASE-SR delivers the lowest cost, lowest power and smallest form factor optical modules with a link length of 300m over OM3, and 400M over OM4.

• 40GBASE-SR4

40GBASE-SR4 is a port type for multimode fiber and uses 850 nm lasers. Its Physical Coding Sublayer 64b/66b PCS is defined in IEEE 802.3 Clause 82 and its Physical Medium Dependent PMD in Clause 86. It uses four lanes of multimode fiber delivering serialized data at a rate of 10.3125 Gbit/s per lane. 40GBASE-SR4 has a reach of 100 m on OM3 and 150m on OM4.

• 100GBASE-SR10

The IEEE P802.3ba Task Force developed a single architecture capable of supporting both 40bE and 100GbE. 100GBASE-SR10, which is defined as 10 wavelengths across 10 parallel fiber paths at 10Gbps on multimode fiber (operating at 850 nm). Its Physical Coding Sublayer 64b/66b PCS is defined in IEEE 86 (802.3ba). It uses ten lanes of multimode fiber delivering serialized data at a rate of 10.3125 Gbit/s per lane. 40GBASE-SR4 has a reach of 100 m on OM3 and 150m on OM4.

40 GbE links are re-used in this diagram, and require additional MTP/MTP trunk to complete channel, fibers 1 and 12 go dark.

10GBASE-SR, 40GBASE-SR4, 100GBASE-SR10 in Different From Factors

• 10GBASE-SR SFP+

10GBASE-SR optical transceivers uses 10G SFP+ form factor with duplex LC connector. The range of this module depends on the type of multimode used. It generally supports a link length of 26 meters on standard Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI)-grade multimode fiber and can also support link length up to 400 meters over OM4 multimode fiber. The following image shows the simplest solution between two Cisco switches by using the 10GBASE-SR SFP module optics.

• 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+

40GBASE-SR4 optical transceiver is QSFP+ form factor, primarily enabling high-bandwidth 40GbE optical links over 12-fiber parallel fiber terminated with MPO/MTP multifiber female connectors. In general, it can support link lengths of 100 and 150 meters, respectively on OM3 and OM4 multimode fibers. In addition, using 12-fiber MPO/MTP to 6 duplex LC or 8-fiber MPO/MTP to 4 duplex LC breakout cable, the 40GBASE-SR4 interface can be divided into four 10GBASE-SR interfaces.

• 100GBASE-SR10 CFP

CFP is the typical representative form factor of 100GBASE-SR10. The 10GBASE-SR10 CFP uses 24-fiber MPO/MTP optical interface, enabling high-bandwidth 100GbE links over 24-fiber ribbon cables terminated with MPO/MTP-24 connectors. Alternatively, 2 x 12-fiber MPO connector interface can be used where one connector is used for Receive while the other for Transmit. The 100GBASE-SR10 CFP can supports link lengths of 100 meters and 150 meters respectively on laser-optimized OM3 and OM4 multifiber cables. Additionally, it can be used in 10 x 10GbE mode along with ribbon to duplex fiber breakout cables for connectivity to ten 10GBASE-SR optical interfaces.

Conclusion

This article concludes the features of multimode cabling upgrade from 10G to 100G. multimode modules together with its lower price tag and low power consumption, are compelling to overall users. FS.COM, as a reliable china optical transceiver module manufacturer offers a full range of hot-selling fiber optics like SFP, SFP+, QSFP+, QSFP28 and CFP modules. They comes in different standards and full compatible with major brand. If you are interested, please visit our site.

HP 10G SFP+ Optics Solution

Ratified in 2002, 10GbE standard is the same as previous Ethernet standards in almost every aspect, ensuring interoperability with all existing Ethernet technologies. Although 10G technology has been around for many years, its popularity has been slow. Enterprises has been reluctant to migrate to 10GbE within ten years after building out their 1GbE networks. But as virtualization and loud operations develops, 10GbE or higher bandwidth is greatly required. Today, there are a variety of products supporting 10GbE available on the market including the X2, SFP+, SFP+ DAC cable, servers, adapters and switches. And many vendors supply these products. As a representative, HP 10G SFP+ optics has been warmly welcomed by overall users. Therefore, today’s article will mainly introduce HP 10G SFP+ optics to you, especially the JD095C, JD097C and JD092B.

10GbE Makes it Possible

Ratified in 2002, 10G Ethernet standard just like early forms of previous Ethernet technologies can run over various types of fiber optic media including fiber optic media system, DAC cable and twinax-pair media system. 10GbE enables the capability to interoperate with Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) installations, paving the way to extend 10GbE backbones into metropolitan area networks (MANs) and wide area networks (WANs). At the same time, the 10GbE standard offers the potential to increase the performance and productivity of local area networks (LANs). The following image shows the existing 10G Topology for web-scale data centers including 48 servers/ToR, 3:1 oversubscription and low-cost, thin 4-wire SFP+ DAC cable.

HP SFP+ Optical Transceiver

The current 10GbE standard enables full-duplex 10GbE transmissions over distances up to 300 meters using multimode, 850nm fiber optic cable (SR); up to 10 kilometers (6 miles) using single-mode, 1,310nm optical fiber (LR); and up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) using 1,550nm fiber (ER). From XENPAK, X2 to XFP and SFP+, 10G optical transceiver modules have been developed rapidly to better meet users’ need. Comparing to the other 10G modules, SFP+ has won a larger market share and available on the market with the standard of SR, LR and ER. For instance, HP network has supplies a variety of 10G SFP+ modules with super performance. JD092B is HP 10GBASE-SR SFP+ operating at 850nm for a distance of 300m. Besides 10G SFP+ optical transceivers, SFP+ DAC cables are also indispensable for 10G interconnection application.

10G Copper Direct Attach Cable Solution

SFP+ DAC, or 10GSFP+Cu, is a copper 10GBASE twinax cable which comes in either an active or passive twinax cable assembly and connects directly into an SFP+ housing. SFP+ DAC cable has a fixed-length cable, typically 1 to 7 m (passive cables) in length. And like 10GBASE-CX4, is low-power, low-cost and low-latency with the added advantages of using less bulky cables and of having the small form factor of SFP+. Active optical cables (AOC) can not be neglected if you are talking about DAC cable. 10G AOC cables have the optical electronics already connected eliminating the connectors between the cable and the optical module. Both SFP+ AOC and DAC cable are lower cost than other optical solutions. The most obvious difference between them is that SFP+ AOC cable supports longer distance with a little higher price.

HP SFP+ DAC Cables

As noted before, SFP+ DAC cable today is tremendously popular, with more ports installed than 10GBASE-SR. HP company, established in 1939, is an American multinational information technology corporation. It is aimed at providing hardware, software and service to consumers, small or medium sized business and large enterprises. HP product lines including a vast range of hardwares widely used in printing, digital imaging, software, computing as well as network service. Here is what you should know about the HP 10G DAC cables.

JD095C is HP 10G SFP+ passive direct attach copper twinax cable. The following part lists the detailed information about JD095C.
Connector type: SFP+ to SFP+
Cable type: Passive copper cable
Cable length: 0.65m
Wire AWG: 30AWG
Max data rate: 100Gbqs

JD097C is also a HP 10G SFP+ passive direct attach copper twinax cable but with a longer distance of 3m. The above picture shows the HP JD097C SFP+ passive direct attach cable.

Summary

As we enter the 10 gigabit Ethernet era in the data center, we are facing some difficulties regarding cables and optics. But we are happy that we have find a cost-effective solution of SFP+ optical transceiver and DAC cables. HP SFP+ and DAC cables offered by Fiberstore are third-party optical modules. They are fully compatible with HP Switch/Router product line. The cost-effective HP SFP+ Optics are 100% tested before delivered worldwide. We provide HP compatible SFP+ transceivers which can be equivalent to HP J9150A, HP JD095C, HP J9152A, HP JD092B, HP JD097C and so on. If you have any question about our products, please send your request to us.

Some Basics About Migration to 40G Ethernet

Fiber optic links are vital for providing the bandwidth and speed needed to transmit huge amounts of data to and from a large number of sources. Recently more bandwidth is greatly needed to support the use of virtualization and improved space utilization in the data center. 2010 witnessed the ratification of 40 and 100 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) standard, since then leading switch manufacturers offered 40 GbE blades and more than 25% of data centers have implemented these next generation speeds. It is anticipated that by the end of this year, more and more data centers will follow suit. Therefore today’s article will provide an effective solution to help you migrate from current data center applications to 40/100 GbE.

10G OM3/OM4 Connectivity in the Data Center

The IEEE 802.3ae 10G standard released in 2002 included 10GBASE-SR OM3 guidance that can operate at 850nm with duplex fiber serial transmission. Even though duplex fiber implied duplex LC connectivity throughout the channel, 12F MPO terminated cables emerged as a primary choice for deployment in data-center backbone applications. The 12F MPO terminated trunk cable provided the highest fiber packing density to maximize pathway and space utilization in ducts, raceways, and patch panels. For example, 46C3447 is IBM BNT 10GBASE-SR SFP+ that operates over OM3 cable for a distance of 300m with LC duplex connector. An MPO connectorized backbone cable typically is terminated in patch panels using one of two methods that break-out the 12F MPO to six 2F duplex LC (Figure 1).

Standards From 10GbE to 40/100GbE

Similar to how transportation highways are scaled to support increased traffic with multiple lanes at the same speed, the 40 and 100 GbE standards use parallel optics, or multiple lanes of fiber transmitting at the same speed. Running 40 GbE requires 8 fibers, with 4 fibers each transmitting at 10 Gbps and 4 fibers each receiving at 10 Gbps. Running 100 GbE requires a total of 20 fibers, with 10 transmitting at 10 Gbps and 10 receiving at 10 Gbps. Both scenarios call for using high-density multi-fiber MPO style connectors.

According to IEEE 802.3ba standard, multimode optical fiber supports both 40 and 100 GbE over link lengths up to 150 meters when using OM4 optical fiber and up to 100 meters when using OM3 optical fiber. It is important to note that single-mode fiber can also be used for running 40 and 100 GbE to much greater distances using wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) for most data center applications of less than 150 meters. Copper twinax cable is also capable of supporting 40 and 100 GbE but only to distances of 7 meters. Take EX-SFP-10GE-DAC-1M as an example, it is Juniper SFP+ passive copper cable, which is ideal for 10G interconnect application for a link length of 1m.

Migration From Duplex Fiber Transmission to 40/100G Parallel Optics

Based on a MPO system, migration from 10G to 40G to 100G seems to be a simple and easy deployment. Starting with a 10G configuration, a base 12F MPO backbone cable is deployed between the 10G switches. As discussed earlier, modules or harnesses are used at the end to transition from the 12F MPO to LC duplex. These breakout configurations enable connectivity into the switch.

And when the switches migrate to 40G, the 10G module or harness is removed and should be replaced by a conversion module or conversion harness as shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4. Alternatively, an MPO adapter panel can be used. In any of these deployment options, the use of an MPO terminated jumper is needed to establish connectivity between the switches. For 100GBASE-SR4 networks all Figures 4-6 cabling is applicable.

Conclusion

To keep up with the path of future, MPO-based connectivity using OM3 and OM4 is the ideal solution for the data center, which makes the transition to 40/100G more easier and efficient. Fiberstore offers various types of 40GbE transceivers, MPO/MTP trunk cable, MPO/MTP harness cable, MPO/MTP cassette and other assemblies for your 40G network connectivity. For more information about our products, please contact us directly.

10GBASE-T – Will It be the Best Media Options for 10G Data Center?

Ratified in 2006, 10GBASE-T is the standard to provide 10Gbqs connections over balanced twisted-pair copper, including Category 6A unshielded and shielded cabling. It provides great flexibility in network design due to its 100-meter reach capability. An immediate use for 10GBASE-T is to build the data center access-layer network that connects servers to access switches. But is it the best options for 10G data center? Understanding this requires an examination of the pros and cons of current 10GbE media options.

10GBASE-CX4
10GBASE-CX4 was the first favorite for 10GbE deployments, however its adoption was limited by the bulky and expensive cables, and its reach is limited to 15 meters. The large size of the CX4 connector prohibited higher switch densities required for large scale deployment. Larger diameter cables like 10GBASE-CX4 are purchased in fixed lengths resulting in challenges to manage cable slack. As a result, pathways and spaces may not be sufficient to handle this larger cable.

SFP+ 
SFP+’s support for both fiber optic cables and DAC which makes it a better solution than CX4. SFP+ is commonly used for 10G today, but it has limitations that will prevent itself from moving to every server. The following image shows a SFP+ nodule, SFP+ DAC cable and a 10GBASE-T SFP+ port media converter.

10GBASE-SR—10GBASE-SR (SFP+ fiber) fiber is great for its low latency and longer distance (up to 300 meters), but it is expensive. SFP+ fiber offers low power consumption, but the cost of laying fiber networking everywhere in the data center is prohibitive. The SFP+ fiber electronics can be four to five times more expensive than their copper counterparts, meaning that ongoing active maintenance, typically based on original equipment purchase price, is much more expensive. In addition, replacing a copper connection that is readily available in a server to fiber creates the need to purchase not only the fiber switch port, but also a fiber NIC for the server. EX-SFP-10GE-SR is compatible Juniper SFP+ transceiver that requires a OM3 cable to realize its 10G connectivity, which is an indispensable component for a 10G network.

10GBASE-SFP+ DAC—DAC is a lower cost alternative to fiber, but it can only reach 7 meters and it is not backward-compatible with existing GbE switches. Take MA-CBL-TA-1M as an example, it is designed to cover a distance of 1m for 10G connectivity. The DAC cables are much more expensive than structured copper channels, and cannot be field terminated. This makes DAC more expensive than 10GBASE-T. The adoption rate of DAC will be low since it does not have the flexibility and reach of 10GBASE-T.

10GBASE-T
The major benefit of 10GBASE-T is that it offers the most flexibility, the lowest cost media, and is backward-compatible with existing 1GbE networks. Like all BASE-T implementations, 10GBASE-T covers a lengths up to 100 meters, which gives network designers a far greater level of flexibility in connecting devices in the data center and the most flexibility in server placement since it will work with existing structured cabling systems. For higher grade cabling plants (category 6A and above), 10GBASE-T operates in low power mode on channels under 30 m. This means a further power savings per port over the longer 100m mode. And because 10GBASE-T is backward-compatible with 1000BASE-T, it can be deployed in existing 1GbE switch infrastructures in data centers that are cabled with CAT6 and CAT6A (or above) cabling, enabling network designers to keep costs down while offering an easy migration path to 10GbE.

One challenge with 10GBASE-T is that the early physical layer interface chips (PHYs) consumed too much power for widespread adoption. But there comes a good news with 10GBASE-T is that the PHYs benefit greatly from the latest manufacturing processes. The newer process technologies will reduce both the power and cost of the latest 10GBASE-T PHYs. The latest 10GBASE-T adapters require only 10 W per port. Further improvements will reduce power even more. In 2011, power dropped below 6 W per port, making 10GBASE-T suitable for motherboard integration and high-density switches.

Conclusion
Of all the media options offered above, 10GBASE-T breaks through important cost and power consumption barriers in 10GbE deployment as well as its backwards compatibility with 1GbE networks. Deployment on 10GBASE-T will simplify data center infrastructures, making it easier to manage server connectivity while delivering the bandwidth needed for heavily virtualized servers and I/O-intensive applications. I must say, 10GBASE-T will be the best option for 10GbE data center cabling in the near future.