Optical Transceivers for Cisco 300 Series SMB Switch

Cloud is the hot issue, and its fast adoption rate is mostly happening in larger organization. To make every money count in small business network, Cisco and other telecommunication vendors release small and medium-sized business (SMB) switches to stay ahead in a competitive marketplace. Cisco 300 series SMB switch is the fixed-configuration Ethernet switch, which features high-performance, easy-to-setup and energy efficiency. Are you ready to learn more about it? Do you know how to choose fiber optics for Cisco SMB switches?

Networking News for SMB Switch

According to analysis, in the last five years, SMB cloud adoption nationwide has gone through the roof due to the need for scalability and deployment. However, 60% of hacked SMBs go out of business after six months due to the security issue. Furthermore, 70% of the SMB haven’t deployed mobile management solutions for phones and other devices, which makes it even better if you can get ahead of the game. Cisco small business switches, featured with increased revenue, excellent efficiency and strengthened security, provide a better way to do IT. Figure 1 shows 28 Ports 10G SMB Switch.

Cisco 300 SMB Ethernet Switch—Powerful and Affordable

The Cisco 300 Series switches is part of Cisco Small and Medium-sized Business line of network solutions. These switches offer the perfect combination of affordable and advanced networking for small businesses, and help you create a more efficient, better connected workforce. Cisco 300 series are available with 8 to 48 ports of Fast Ethernet and 10 to 52 ports of Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, providing optimal flexibility to create exactly the right network foundation for your business.

Choose the Cisco Small Business Switches for:

• Strong security: a high level of security and give you finegrained control to safeguard your network from unauthorized users.
• Power over Ethernet: with up to 48 PoE ports of Fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.
• Support: with Cisco Small Business Support Service.
• Advanced management options: with Web-based and command-line interfaces.
• Performance: through VLAN scalability and a non-blocking switch fabric.
• Intelligence: with security and quality of service.
• Fan-less for quiet operation.

Models in Cisco 300 Small Business Switch:

Cisco SF 300-08, SF 302-08, SF 302-08MP, SF 302-08P, SG 300-10, SG 300-10MP, SG 300-10P, SG 300-20, SF 300-24, SF 300-24P, SG 300-28, SG 300-28P, SF 300-48, SF 300-48P, or SG 300-52 Managed Switch. Take Cisco SG 300-10 gigabit switch as an example, it is the fixed configuration managed switch with 2 Gigabit Combo Ports (RJ45+SFP).

You can buy Cisco SG 300-10SFP 8-Port Gigabit SFP Switch with $457.67 in cozlink, or FS S3700-24T4S (24*10/100/1000Base-T Ports+4*10G SFP+) SMB Ethernet Switch at $289.

Unmanaged SMB Switch—Is It the Choice for Small Business Network?

Cisco Small Business Unmanaged Switch is the most cost effective scenarios that require only basic layer 2 switching and connectivity. As such, they fit best when you need a few extra ports on your desk, in a lab, in a conference room, or even at home. With unmanaged switches installed in your network, you can even get capabilities such as cable diagnostics, prioritization of traffic using default QoS settings, Energy savings capabilities using EEE (Energy Efficient Ethernet) and even PoE (Power Over Ethernet).

However, as the name implies, these switches generally cannot be modified/managed. You simply plug them in and they require no configuration at all. Therefore, Many customers prefer to use managed switches.

Cisco Transceiver Module for Compatibility Information

Supported SFP modules are listed below:

Based on the SFP (optical module form factor) Gigabit Ethernet standards, Besides the above Cisco SFP optics, 1000BASE-T, 1000BASE-SX, 1000Base-LX/LH, 1000BASE-ZX, 1000BASE-BX-D, 1000BASE-BX-U, 1000BASE-EX can be also used with Cisco small business 300 Series SMB switch.

Summary

The Cisco 300 series SMB Switches have been tested to deliver high availability and performance. This solution provides powerful and affordable services, e.g. speed up file transfer times, improve slow, sluggish network, keep business applications available and prevent costly downtime. These Ethernet switches support a huge number of Gigabit Ethernet SFP optical transceivers. You can find all the compatible ones at FS.COM. Besides SMB switches, we also offer 40G/100G data center switches with professional tech support.

Original Source: Cisco 300 SMB Ethernet Switches

Is the GLC-SX-MMD Transceiver Right for Your Network?

Growing businesses typically requires higher-bandwidth networks. It is an unavoidable trend. The old-decade technology like Base-T Ethernet works just fine for small office, but it isn’t sufficient to handle heavier network. Thus if you are in the situation to consider purchasing a large property, or opening up a second office, it is time for you to think about upgrading to Gigabit Ethernet, which moves at ten times the speed of traditional Ethernet. However, there are a number of issues involved in a major network infrastructure transition.

When planning a move to gigabit Ethernet, one of the most urgent concerns is how much new hardware designers have to purchase. The basic components like fiber optic cable and optical transceiver modules are indispensable. These inexpensive Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) slots allow transceivers like the GLC-SX-MMD to be plugged in and provide instant gigabit Ethernet connectivity. The Cisco standard SFP transceiver allows data rate of 1000Mbps with DOM support. The max transmission distance is 550m over OM2 multimode fiber. So here comes the question, is the GLC-SX-MMD transceiver (see in Figure 1) right for your network?

Fiber Optic Gigabit Ethernet vs Twisted Copper

As noted before, GLC-SX-MMD transceiver operates over multimode fiber at rate of up to 1000Mbps. Using copper-wire cabling or fiber optic cabling like above is the unsolved dilemma when contemplating a network. It is the common sense that fiber optic cabling is more expensive than twisted copper cabling, but fiber optic provides several advantages over copper with the same gigabit speeds.

First, fiber optic supports longer link distance than twisted copper. For instance, copper can only run for around 100 meters, whereas fiber can go between 200 and 500 feet, or more, without signal loss. Fiber has given off no radio interference, allowing it to coexist more easily in an office with a lot of wireless devices. Because of the lack of interference, fiber is also harder to hack into than copper. What’s more, for future proofing, moving away from copper is probably a good idea, as the fiber optics are growing steadily in popularity among businesses which have taken over large twisted-copper office buildings, created expansive complexes, or need to collaborate with remote offices in real time. Figure 2 shows a standard GLC-SX-MMD transceiver links fiber optic Ethernet with Cisco Switch.

Using a GLC-SX-MMD for Fiber Optic Gigabit Ethernet

GLC-SX-MMD, as a representative of the standard Cisco SFP, is widely utilized for short-reach Gigabit Ethernet. As we know, the biggest advantage of Cisco's SFP system is that it's entirely hot-swappable. It doesn't matter what the device is, from servers to your switch to simple Ethernet cards: If it has an SFP port on it, it can support a multitude of transceivers for different functions, through one standardized interface. In fact, that standardization means that third parties can produce transceivers which are as good as official Cisco units.

Cisco even maintains a Compatibility Matrix, to help you pick the right transceiver for the job. So, if you decide that fiber optic gigabit Ethernet is what you need for your future business communications, the GLC-SX-MMD transceiver is truly simple to install and use. Simply plug it into your switch or other device, plug in the new network cable, and it should recognize the network in a few moments.

Conclusion

For those who still use copper network or lower-bandwidth application, it’s time for them to think about upgrading their infrastructure. And there are several different gigabit Ethernet standards out there, you can see which best fits your vision for the future of your business. Just keep in mind that you will need an optical transceiver like the GLC-SX-MMD to connect your existing devices to the new network. Fiberstore manufactures high-quality fiber optical transceivers, like 100BASE SFP, 1000BASE SFP, BiDi SFP, CWDM/DWDM SFP Transceiver Module and SONET/SDH SFP, besides Compatible GLC-SX-MMD transceiver with lower price. GLC-SX-MM-RGD and GLC-SX-MM are also offered. If you have any requirement of our products, please contact us directly.

Why Needs Cisco GLC-LH-SM Transceiver

Fiber optic technology has proven itself as an indispensable component for network backbone and other high-demand applications as it generally offers greater bandwidth than traditional copper cable. However, fiber optic cables are made of a specialized glass-like material that costs more to manufacture than traditional copper networking cables. Additionally, the interfaces on either end of the cable have often been required to be highly complex transceivers that required a large amount of intricate configuration to perform optimally. That’s the main obstacle that has remained to widespread adoption of fiber optic networking.

But recently, as technology has improved, the price of fiber optic media has fallen to the degree, thus with its obvious advantages over copper cable, fiber optic cable are feasible and affordable for networking applications. As for the optical interfaces, with Cisco GLC-LH-SM fiber optic transceivers, those obstacles are a thing of the past. Here explains why the GLC-LH-SM transceiver makes fiber optic networking possible.

Brief Overview of Cisco GLC-LH-SM

Cisco GLC-LH-SM is a 1000BASE-LX/LH SFP for both multimode and single-mode fibers. The 1000BASE-LX/LH SFP, compatible with the IEEE 802.3z 1000BASE-LX standard, operates on standard single-mode fiber-optic link spans of up to 10 km and up to 550 m on any multimode fibers. So now let’s move on the next part. Figure 1 shows a Cisco GLC-LH-SM transceiver module.

Every Network needs Cisco GLC-LH-SM

One thing that makes optical transceivers so special is that they are hot swappable—a huge development in fiber optic technology. In the past, if designers had to repair a transceiver failure, he would redesign the whole system, which meant a lengthy amount of network downtime. But with Cisco GLC-LH-SM, the whole process will be quite easy. You can leave the power on, remove the device, pop in the replacement, then you network is back off to races as shown in Figure 2.

It is necessary to make sure the configuration of an optical transceiver before operating. But this GLC-LH-SM transceiver is preferred by most designers because it doesn’t need to be configured to begin functioning. It is ideal for network designers as it reduces the number of steps required to achieve the desired goal. Sometimes, external calibration is required, but this is not always the case. The most stringent applications will require it, and most other applications will not. This significantly reduces the number of steps or requirements necessary for designing an optimal network.

Cisco GLC-LH-SM is compatible with 1000BASE-LX/LH, which makes it possible for both single-mode and multimode fiber. When you need a network solution that covers a long distance, this transceiver operating over single-mode fiber is available for a link span of up to 10km. It is ideal to be deployed in Hospitals, university campuses, and large research facilities. And multimode opens the data floodgates, giving you maximum throughput upwards of 1.25 Gbps.

Conclusion

There lists three reasons why every network needs GLC-LH-SM transceiver. GLC-LH-SM fiber optic transceiver makes it so much easier to redesign fiber optic technology into your network. It does this, simply, by making it just as easy as to incorporate a traditional Ethernet router. And it doesn’t need to be configured. But besides those reasons, there are countless other reasons, which will help designers recognize why they should select the devices and design them into their networking solutions.

If you are in the market for GLC-LH-SM optics, ask an expert for help. He will help you select the proper technology and design what you need to achieve your goals. Every network needs GLC-LH-SM optics, you just have to find the best manufacturer and type to meet your needs. In fact, Cisco original fiber optics are too costly, the similar Cisco GLC-LX-SM-RGD are also very expensive. Thus find a reliable vendor will solve all your problems. As you know Fiberstore would love to answer any questions about GLC transceivers or any other networking questions you may have. Please contact us if you may have any questions.