opticalsolution - Fiber Transceiver Solution

24-Port Gigabit Switch Selection

Tue, 09 Jan 2018 09:11:00 +0000

An Ethernet switch acts as a bridge to connect different parts of a network together. Although many routers also possess the network switching capabilities and multiple Ethernet ports, the Ethernet switch is not the replacement for routers. It is worth emphasizing that Ethernet switches are smarter than routers in that they operate at the data link layer (Layer 2) and the network layer (Layer 3) of the OSI Reference Model and therefore support any packet protocol. Ideally, switches will make better use of bandwidth if you prefer wired to wireless connections but have more devices than available Ethernet ports. On the other hand, an Ethernet switch is a costly way to expend the network in home or small business. So it is very important to invest an Ethernet switch with the appropriate number of ports to fit your needs. In the midst of various Gigabit Ethernet switches, a 24-port switch is considered as the most common Gigabit switch that connect devices in a local area network. Then this article will explore how to select a suitable 24-port Gigabit switch.

Popular 24-Port Gigabit Switch in the Market

FS S3800-24F4S 24-Port Gigabit Switch

FS S3800-24F4S 24-port Gigabit switch comes with 20x 100/1000BASE SFP, 4x 1GE combo and 4x 10GE SFP+ slots. The flexible port combination form provide a high bandwidth aggregation connectivity for multiple switch in network to enhance network capacity. Moreover, it is a stackable SFP managed switch, which can provide true stacking of up to 4 switches in a stack acting as a single unit with totally 106 ports (96x 1G Ports and 10x 10G ports). The switching capacity is 128Gbps. This 24-port Gigabit managed switch fits for enterprise network operators who need high performance and low power processor to provide full speed forwarding and line-dormant capacity.

Figure 1: FS S3800-24F4S 24-Port Gigabit Switch

Cisco SGE2000 24-Port Gigabit Switch

Cisco SGE2000P comes with 24 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 ports and 4 shared Gigabit SFP slots. This 24-port Gigabit managed switch can provide ACL (access control lists), DoS (denial-of-service), VLAN and IEEE 802.1X port authentication. And the enhanced quality of service (QoS) and traffic-management features help ensure clear and reliable voice and video communications. This Gigabit network switch enable you to take advantage of the comprehensive feature set for a better-optimized, more secure network.

Figure 2: Cisco SGE2000 24-Port Gigabit Switch (Source: Cisco)

NETGEAR ProSAFE GS724T 24-Port Gigabit Switch

The Netgear ProSafe GS724T is armed with 24 copper 10/100/1000 ports and 2 SFP 100/1000 ports. Each port can transfer data at maximum throughput for a total maximum switching speed of up to 48 Gbps. This 24-port switch is intended for SMB organizations using the switch for applications like VoIP, video conferencing, and system security, etc. And it features a fanless system, allowing the switch to work silently without overheating. This is great for use on homelab, as its quiet operation won’t cause a distraction.

Figure 3: NETGEAR ProSAFE GS724T 24-Port Gigabit Switch (Source: NETGEAR)

TP-Link TL-SG1024 24-Port Gigabit Switch

The TP-Link TL-SG1024 features 24 Gigabit Ethernet ports and non-blocking switching, which can provide large file transferring and also be compatible with 10Mbps and 100Mbps Ethernet devices. Moreover, this network switch has 48Gbps switching capacity with 8K MAC address table, 10KB Jumbo Frame and 4MB buffer memory. This TP-Link switch is a fanless rack mount design with LED diagnostic lights, so you can easily tell which ports are in use. It can automatically adjust power consumption according to the link status to limit the carbon footprint of your network. The price is $69.99 on Amazon. So this fanless Ethernet switch is good for your wallet both because it is inexpensive to buy and because of its energy-saving technology.

Figure 4: TP-Link TL-SG1024 24-Port Gigabit Switch(Source: TP-Link)

Comparison of 24-Port Gigabit Switch

Gigabit Switch Mode	Ethernet ports	Gigabit SFP	SFP+ Uplink ports	Switching Capacity	Forwarding Rate	Power Consumption	Price
FS S3800-24F4S	24	4 combo	4	128Gbps	95Mpps	≤60W(Full-loaded)	$449
Cisco SGE2000	24	4	/	48Gbps	35.7Mpps	90W	$390
NETGEAR ProSAFE GS724T	24	2	/	48Gbps	No Information	29W	$219.99
TP-Link TL-SG1024	24	/	/	48Gbps	35.7Mpps	13.1W	$69.99

From the chart we can see, all the Gigabit switches listed above provide 24 port Ethernet RJ45 ports, only FS S3800-24F4S 24-port Gigabit switch has 4 SFP+ uplink ports. They have some characteristics in common that make them suitable for being used in places like home or small business office. In terms of the power consumption, TP-Link TL-SG1024 and NETGEAR ProSafe GS724T are lower than others, but the huge price spread exists between these two switches because NETGEAR ProSafe GS724T has another two SFP ports for more flexible application. Among these four switches, if you have no limited cost budget, FS S3800-24F4S is a good choice. It has more flexible port combination and higher switching capacity, that is why it may cost a little more than the other three switches. If you need stronger data transferring capability, FS S3800-24F4S is a better choice considering its forwarding rate. On the contrary, TP-Link TL-SG1024 is the best budget choice. If you want a fanless switch, NETGEAR ProSafe GS724T is an inexpensive and reliable choice, but the install program only works on Windows and the secure management is very difficult to be enabled.

Conclusion

When choosing a Gigabit Ethernet switch, the first factor to consider is how many devices need to be networked together. Purchasing a network switch with too few ports and not enough capacity will prove ineffective, and one that is too large can be a waste of money. Generally, small offices with a few employees should start with a 16-port switch, but a business that is looking to expand its operations soon needs a 24-port switch. So 24-port Gigabit switch is the most future-proofing and cost-effective choice in small business network.

Good Forecasts for Global Optical Fiber Cable Market

Fri, 05 Jan 2018 11:04:00 +0000

An optical fiber cable uses light wave for voice and data transmission, its data transmission capacity is 4.5 times more than conventional copper cables. So in the past several decades, we have seen that fiber optic cables are superior to traditional copper twisted-pair cable or coaxial cable because of its unique physical characteristics, allowing information to travel at speeds increasingly approaching the speed of light without interference between adjacent wavelengths. In leading market, the global drive to implement FTTx into more new venues is good news for the market of optical fiber cables. Another good trend is that the price erosion of optical fiber cables had been 10 to 15 percent annually, in result that the demand of optical fiber cable is expected to continue growing in the foreseeable future. And the growing data transmission workloads placed by high-performance computers, servers and network storage systems is helping spur growth in the market. Consequently, fiber optic cables are now the indispensable backbone of today’s communication network. This article will analyse the global optical fiber cable market in three main applications, including long-distance communication, submarine cable and FTTx network.

Global Optical Fiber Cable Market to Grow at 9.8% till 2021

According to the report "Fiber Optics Market by Cable - Global Forecast to 2021”, the optical fiber cable market is anticipate to grow at a CAGR of over 9.8% during 2016-2021. The growing importance of cloud computing, data transfer & storage, and IoT is driving the use of Internet, which is driving the fiber optic cable market, as it acts as the backbone for data transmission. Moreover, growing technological advancements increase in number of connected devices and data centers are expected to positively influence global optical fiber cable market. In addition, next generation technologies such as LTE and FTTx, which require last mile connectivity, is expected to propel the demand for optical fiber cables in the coming years. All these factors have led to an increase in Internet users, which in turn has led to the higher usage of optical fiber cable to transfer information over the Internet, thus driving the fiber optics market.

Global Optical Fiber Cable Demand from 2012 to 2018 (Source: Statista)

Optical Fiber Cable Market in Long-distance Communication

Currently, the growing adoption of optical technology in the telecommunications appears to be promising. Optical fiber has virtually unlimited capacity and low signal attenuation allowing long distances without amplifier or repeater, no exposure to parasite signals or crosstalk, and no electromagnetic interference (EMI). So fiber optic cable is especially advantageous for high-speed data transfer services in long-distance communications over electrical cabling. Furthermore, the increasing cloud-based applications, audio-video services, and Video-on-Demand (VoD) services further stimulate the demand for optical fiber cable installations.

Growing Need for Capacity (Source: Goldmedia)

Submarine Optical Fiber Cable Market

Submarine optical fiber cables are undersea cables used for carrying data across interconnected networks between continents. With the advancements of technology, most of the submarine optical fiber cables that currently form the backbone of the Internet connect the U.S. to Europe and Asia by crossing the Atlantic or Pacific oceans. Instead, there is a proposal for deployment of Trans-polar submarine cable system in Arctic Ocean. Laying an undersea fiber optic cable is meant to connect Asia and Europe by crossing the Arctic Circle - the shortest practical distance yet for Internet signals traveling between the two continents. According to the report by Global Industry Analysts (GIA), cumulative installations of submarine optical fiber cables globally are projected to reach 2 million kilometers by 2020, driven by the growing demand for fiber broadband and the ensuing deployment of fiber optic cables in the Internet backbone. Presently, submarine optical fiber cables transmit 100% of the international Internet traffic, and more than 95% of the world’s combined data and voice traffic.

Submarine Optical Fiber Cable Market (Source: Technavio)

Optical Fiber Cable Market in FTTx Networks

In recent years, the market for optical fiber cable has shifted dramatically to local deployments, away from long haul and regional. This is the impact of FTTx, which calls for far more dense applications in neighborhoods, cities and other highly focused areas. Optical fiber cable is being caught up in the global move to broadband in the near future. The next generation of high bandwidth applications, along with the proliferation of connected devices, is expected to require faster and higher bandwidth networks which will require the use of multimode fiber cable for data transfer. This growth in the FTTx networks in turn is expected to drive the fiber optics market. Future Market Insights (FMI) forecasts the global fiber to the home (FTTH) market's value will grow from $9.5 billion in 2017 to more than $37 billion by the end of 2027, a 14.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). In the leading Asian economies, more than 44% of all homes and buildings are already directly connected to the fiber optic cable network; in North America penetration is 8.4%, in Europe 5.6%.

Final Thought

Fiber optic cable is widely used for data transmission and is increasingly being used in place of metal wires because of its efficiency and high transmission capacity. Since the use and demand for great bandwidth and fast speed, there is no doubt that fiber optic transmission will bring more opportunities and be continuously researched and expanded to cater for future demands. However, although fiber optic cable in itself is considered a long-term stable investment, it also faces huge challenge. The major restraint in the fiber optics market is the growing use of wireless communications systems in remote areas.

Power over Ethernet Switch: Passive PoE Vs Active PoE

Wed, 29 Nov 2017 09:38:00 +0000

Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a technology for wired LANs. This allows a single cable usually Ethernet cable to provide both data connection and electric power to devices such as IP cameras, NVR recorders, wireless access points, etc. A PoE switch, compared with other Gigabit network switches, has power over Ethernet injection built in. This feature allows end-user to power PoE capable devices without the need for a separate power supply or the need for an electrical outlet near the powered device. If you have read about the how-to-understand-poe-and-poe-switches, you must know clearer about the difference between PoE and PoE+ switches. However, today’s article will help you understand active PoE and passive PoE.

What is PoE Switch?

As mentioned before, a PoE switch not only supply power to devices but also carries network connection. In general, a PoE switch usually contains multiple Ethernet ports, e.g. a PoE switch with 8 ports, PoE switch with 16 ports, 24 ports PoE switch, or PoE switch with 48 ports. If you are looking for PoE switch to cover all your devices, it’s important to check the port number first.

The following image shows the 8-port PoE managed switch.

Passive Power over Ethernet vs. Active PoE

To safeguard a voltage range, the Power over Ethernet devices must communicate according to established procedures. In simple terms, active PoE refers to any type of PoE that negotiates the correct voltage between the switch and PoE-powered device. Passive PoE does no such negotiation, and as such is always sending electric current out over the Ethernet cable at a certain voltage regardless of the device it’s going to.

Active PoE

If your PoE switch uses 48V 802.3af or 802.3at standard, it is considered to be active PoE. The power supply unit inside the active PoE switch usually tests the connection before providing the supplying voltage, meaning that PoE switch will check the power coming in, and if it doesn’t meet the device requirement, it won’t power up.

Passive PoE

Passive PoE refers to any devices using PoE that is not 802.3af or 802.3at. Unlike active PoE switch, In passive PoE, no negotiation takes place between the two devices, but instead the known cable layout is used from Standard 802.3af, mode B. Therefore, it is extremely important to know what PoE voltage your devices requires before plugging in the Ethernet cable and powering it up. If you connect the wrong voltage, you may cause permanent electrical damage. Passive PoE is like plugging a 120V appliance into a 240V outlet, but with devices than cost much more than a simple toaster.

Conclusion

The big advantage of Power over Ethernet switch is that it allows greater flexibility in locating devices, as you don't have to be situated near a power source—power is carried to them right in the Ethernet cable. That also frequently results in significantly lower installation costs, especially where many Access Points must be setup. The difference between Passive PoE and active PoE switch is quite obvious. For more, you can go through previous articles.

10GBASE-T SFP+ Copper Module up to 200m – Is It Possible?

Fri, 03 Nov 2017 07:56:00 +0000

The introduction of 10gb SFP+ copper modules made people rethink 10G optical network, and was treated as the thrive of copper cabling. Vendors like Cisco, HPE, Amazon, prolabs and FS.COM provides 10GBase-T SFP+ module around $300 with 30m linking length and 2.5W power consumption, but it is a controversial and expensive copper devices. Today’s article decodes the 10GBASE-T SFP+ copper modules that can support up to 200m, and auto-negotiate to 1G, 2.5G, 5G data rate.

10GBASE-T Copper Can Auto-negotiate to 5G, 2.5G, 1G, 100Mbps, 10Mbps

10GBASE-T SFP+ transceivers, terminated with RJ45 connectors, allow 10G bandwidth over existing infrastructure and reuse Ethernet cables. However, owing to the high price and unstable performance, 10GBASE-T is not usually the type when competing with cost-effective DAC cables, and reliable SFP+ fiber modules. Customers use ideally DAC twinax cables for shorter reach transmission, or if they need longer distance, they would go for fiber SFP+ or SFP+ AOC cables.

10GBASE-T can auto-negotiate to 5G, 2.5G, 1G, 100Mbps, 10Mbps data rate, which is the highlight of this product. For 2.5GBASE-T/5GBASE-T networks, you can use this module.

Is It Possible to Support up to 200m?

The regular 10G copper modules launched by fiber optic vendors are specified to support up to 30m over Cat6a/Cat7 cables. According to wikipedia, 10GBASE-T, or IEEE 802.3an-2006 standard is released to provide 10G connections over unshielded or shielded twisted pair cables, with distances up to 100 meters (Cat6a), 55m (Cat6). What’s more, 10GBASE-T cable infrastructure can also be used for 1000BASE-T allowing a gradual upgrade from 1000BASE-T using auto-negotiation to select which speed to use.

Therefore, 10GBASE-T copper modules can auto-negotiate to lower data rate e.g. 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, 2.5 Gbps, 5 Gbps, 10 Gbps. A new type 10GBASE-T SFP+ from Mikrotik can support all the above five data rates over different link length. The max power consumption is 2.4W, and can only be used in SFP+ ports.

Table 2 shows the 10GBASE-T Cable Types and max supported lengths.

According to the above table, we can see that it can reach up to 200m over 1000BASE-T network, or at 2.5G 200m using Cat6a STP cables. So please be mindful of where you want to use them.

Isn’t 10GbE Copper Power Hungry?

10GBASE-Cu DAC twinax cables consumes 4-8 Watts power during the operation, while SFP+ 10GBASE-T copper modules draw less (2.5W), and it is not a standard compliant transceiver, hence the shorter distance of 30m. But if dig deeper, we will find that if there were more power, they would use it. So, in order to be fully compatible with 10GBASE-T standard, you need more power.

Today's fiber SFP+ modules like 10GBASE-SR draw less than 1W, much lower than the 5 to 8 Watts per 10GBASE-T port. Drawing an increase in power by a factor of 5 can seem like an expensive upgrade cost. When factored against servers that can draw up to 1000W or more, the overall proportion is low. For small to mid-sized (SMB) organization switch-server installations, short reach cable runs of less than 45 meters will apply and use even less power and therefore cost less.

Future-Proof 10GBase-T Technology

Although fiber becomes popular with the benefit of delivering flexible cabling, lowest latency, many IT departments still adopt copper cables for switch-to-switch or switch-to-server connections in 10G Ethernet applications. 10GBase-T Copper SFP+ is backward compatible with Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet and can automatically negotiate to lower speed connections. More importantly, 10GBase-T provides a cost-effective method for migrating from your current network to 10G Ethernet by utilizing your existing RJ-45 copper short connections. Amazon, FS.COM, Prolabs, Mikrotik and HPE supply 10GBAST-T copper transceivers, you can get what you want from them.

Reach to 40km Transmission – 100G QSFP28 ER4 Lite Module

Fri, 20 Oct 2017 04:27:00 +0000

Today’s world is undergoing an infrastructure transformation, which requires higher speed, greater scalability, higher performance, flexibility and reliability to meet the demands. Take 100G data rate as an example, the MSA groups keep driving development of 500m, 2km, 10km and 40km cost-effective 100G optics targeting modern data center. The 100G QSFP28 ER4-Lite standard was sampling several months ago, but now we are glad to announce that 100G QSFP28 ER4 modules are available in several vendors, e.g. FS.COM, Flexoptics, Smartoptics, etc. Today’s article will explain this long-reach 100G optics in detail.

How Does It Develop?

A heated topic—how to reach beyond 10km in 100G network aroused much attention in Reddit. For applications beyond 10km, 100GBASE-ER4 is proposed. This type of optical transceivers are manufactured by using a semiconductor amplifier (SOA) inside the transceiver to increase power budget. However, 100G ER4 is available in CFP and CFP2 form factors, but because of the large form factor and power consumption, they are seldom utilized in 100G long-reach applications. What’s worst, the newly launched 100G optical switches are commonly equipped with compact QSFP28 ports instead of larger CFP interface.

These extended reaches are preferring to use high-density 100G QSFP28 modules to maximum capacity and minimize space, power usage and maintenance cost. The CWDM4 MSA defined the first duplex low-cost 100G specification for 2km reaches based on a CWDM grid and using RS (528,514) FEC. Now the 4WDM MSA is extending the value proposition of the CWDM4 MSA and RS-FEC to define an even more cost-effective set of specifications for reaches from 10 to 40 km. Customers, particularly hyperscale cloud service providers and carriers, are looking for optimized solutions for up to 40 km.

What’s New with QSFP28 ER4-Lite Solution?

QSFP-100G-ER4L-S is designed for extended reach 100 Gigabit Ethernet link. The 100GBASE-ER4-Lite QSFP28 supports both 100GbE and OTU4 applications over single-mode fibers, and supports up to 40km with FEC and up to 30km without FEC. 100G QSFP28 ER4 Lite module consumes 4.5W power in max.

The 100 Gigabit Ethernet signal is carried over four independent channels over four LAN-WDM wavelengths—1296nm, 1300nm, 1305nm, 1309nm. Multiplexing and demultiplexing of the four wavelengths are managed within the device. This QSFP28 was standardized by ITU-T as G.959.1 4L1-9D1F and 4-Wavelength WDM MSA Group. The following table displays the existing 100G QSFP28 MSA optics in detail.

Product	Description	Connector Type
QSFP-100G-SR4-S	100GBASE SR4 QSFP Transceiver, 100m over OM4 MMF	MPO-12 (12 fibers)
QSFP-100G-LR4-S	100GBASE LR4 QSFP Transceiver, 0km over SMF	LC
QSFP-100G-CWDM4-S	100GBASE CWDM4 QSFP Transceiver, 2km over SMF	LC
QSFP-100G-PSM4-S	100GBASE PSM4 QSFP Transceiver, 500m over SMF	MPO-12 (12 fibers)
QSFP-100G-ER4L-S	100GBASE ER4 Lite QSFP Transceiver, 25-40km over SMF	LC

The 100G QSFP ER4-Lite module will interoperate with existing ER4 solutions in the field up to 30km. Foe example, QSFP100 ER4-Lite provides backward compatibility with Cisco’s CPAK ER4-Lite, whose reach is up to 25km, and with IEEE 100GBASE-ER4 standardized transceivers, such as CFP 100G ER4, up to 30km. It also interoperates with QSFP28 and CPAK IEEE 100GBASE-LR4 modules up to 10km.

40km Transmission With FEC Turn On

To reach 40km transmission, QSFP ER4 lite requires the use of FEC on the host platform. So what is FEC? Forward Error Correction (FEC) can turn a mediocre to bad BER into a good BER. Ethernet network usually uses FEC in 1000BASE-PX (EPON), 10GBASE-KR, 10GEPON, 10GBASE-T, DSL, etc. High end long haul telecom industry also requires FEC. P802.3ba links have limited power budgets and SNR, for e.g. eye safety reasons.

Conclusion

The migration of current network infrastructure to 100G systems is inevitable, and a growing number of enterprises require 100G client interface to extend up to 40km without the use of expensive optical amplifiers. Thus, the new ER4-Lite specification enables cost-effective 100G 40km pluggable solutions in compact QSFP28 transceivers that use Forward Error Correction (FEC) and APD-based receivers. Such evolution is very exciting for not only everyone involved in its development and construction, but also for all those who seek a simple, reliable and cost-effective solution to extend the reach of their networks, without expensive network upgrades. FS.COM is devoting to change the world with our cost-effective self-developed devices, if you are interested, please feel free to contact us.

Power Supply: POE Switch for IP Camera

Fri, 29 Sep 2017 02:07:00 +0000

PoE switch, as the previous article describes, provides power and data to all PoE devices, including IP cameras, NVR recorders, computers, and VoIP phones, etc, via a single Ethernet cable (Cat5, Cat5e or Cat6). A PoE switch normally comes with multiply ports to support more than one IP camera. There are two types of PoE standards, one is IEEE802.3at, the other is IEEE802.3af. The major difference between them is that PoE+ standard (IEEE802.3at) can pump out up to 30 W per port, whereas PoE standard (IEEE802.3af) can provide up to 15.4 W per port. The question is how to choose or select a best PoE switch for your IP cameras in the perspectives of power supply.

Understand IP Camera Power Needs

The power consumption of PoE IP cameras varies owing to different types e.g. pan-tilt zoom (PTZ) cameras, Dome IP cameras, CCTV cameras, IP cameras with IR illumination night vision, etc. PTZ camera could draw up to 20 Watts, while other IP camera could consumes as little as 3 or 4 Watts. Therefore, a PoE switch should be able to provide enough power for different types of IP camera via Cat 5 or Cat 6 cables.

Although Security cameras, either CCTV cameras or PoE IP security cameras, are not energy-consuming as other gadgets like computers or TVs; they only need a very little electricity to work, you still need to count it in. Remember to double check your PoE IP camera power consumption ether in the user manual or technical specification spreadsheet.

To provide the proper amount of power for PoE IP cameras, another important feature to look for in a PoE switch for IP cameras is its abilities to automatically adjust voltage accordingly. Many security cameras run either 12V or 24V power, if not supplied with the proper power voltage, the IP camera either won’t work or even be overloaded.

Maximal Power Supply of PoE Switch

Besides the power consumption of IP cameras, the maximal power supplies of your PoE switch matters as well.

If the maximal power supply of all your cameras exceeds your PoE switch power cap, then the PoE switch won’t provide enough power for your PoE IP cameras, pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) IP cameras in particular. Insufficient power supply to the IP cameras are the common culprits for video loss and IP camera poor performance.

That being said, when buying a PoE switch for IP cameras, it’s important to go for a PoE switch with more power juice or reducing the number of PTZ IP cameras plugged into the PoE switch as PTZ cameras draw more power than other IP cameras.

Can Cat5 Ethernet Cables Cover PoE Transmission Range?

The transmission range of PoE network is 100 meters. PoE IEEE802.3af standard requires powered sourcing equipment (PSE) output power is 15.4W, after 100 meters transmission, the powered devices (PD) can receive 12.95W power. According to 802.3af standard current value-350ma to calculate, the resistance value of 100 meters Ethernet cable should be (15.4-12.95W)/350ma = 7 Ohm or (15.5-12.95)/350ma = 7.29 Ohm.

Obviously, Cat5 Ethernet cable can meet the requirement, but nowadays customers tend to use Ethernet cable Cat5e.

Conclusion

PoE switch is not only the device that provides data connection and electric power to IP cameras, but other PoE devices such as wireless access points, VOIP phones, and NVR recorders. Therefore, when choosing PoE switches, you should count all the devices that you meed to connect with. As a professional telecom supplier, our products including IP cameras, PoE switches and Cat5 cables, are thoroughly tested for use with video surveillance equipment. If you have questions about which PoE power supply is recommended for your security application, please contact us directly.

Original Source: www.fiber-optic-solutions.com

Optical Transceivers for Cisco 300 Series SMB Switch

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 07:44:00 +0000

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

400G CFP8 PAM4 & 400GBASE-SR16 NRZ Transceiver Modules

Thu, 31 Aug 2017 03:31:00 +0000

With the price of 100G QSFP28 optics and CFP form factors (CFP module/CFP2/CFP4) dropping down in 2017, 100G technology is becoming more and more popular among data center managers and IT pros in order to cope with the ever-lasting bandwidth needs. However, 100G is not the finish line. CFP multimode source agreement (MSA) demonstrated CFP8 (16X 25 Gb/s) form factor for 400 Gigabit Ethernet at OFC 2017. Although CFP8 module is still in development, it is assured to be popular in the near future. Therefore, this article will have a clearer introduction to 400G CFP8 PAM4 and NRZ modules, and compare with the former CFP modules and 400G CDFP.

Introduction to 400GbE CFP8 Modules

CFP8 module is the latest developing CFP from factor version, which supports eight times and four times the bandwidth density of CFP and CFP2 form factors, respectively. The CFP8 interface supports up to 16 different lanes in each direction with nominal signaling rates of 25Gb/s or 26Gb/s per lane, and either NRZ or PAM4 signaling. As the above image shows, CFP8 is approximately the size of a CFP2 optics. This interface has been generally specified to allow for 16 x 25 Gb/s and 8 x 50 Gb/s mode.

Example IEEE specifications supported by CFP8:

400GBASE-SR16 parallel MMF (16x25G NRZ)
400GBASE-FR8/LR8 duplex SMF (8x50G PAM4 WDM)
400GBASE-DR4 parallel SMF (4x100G PAM4)
CDAUI-16, CDAUI-8

400G CFP8 FR8 and LR8 Transceivers with PAM4 Technology

CFP8 PAM4 optics, compliant with IEEE 802.3bs 400GBASE-FR8 & LR8 electrical interface specifications, offers higher receiver bandwidth capacity for reach up to 2km and 10km. The 400GBASE-FR8 & LR8 consumes less than half the power per GB compared to a 100G CFP4 msa solution. CFP8 optics uses LC duplex fiber cables.

The PAM4 stands for pulse amplitude modulation with four levels. Instead of driving the laser to generate one of the two output amplitudes, like NRZ, PAM4 technology generates four different amplitude levels, meaning a network based on PAM-4 can send twice as much data as an NRZ version.

CFP8 400GBASE-SR16 with NRZ Technology

CFP8 400GBASE-SR16 modules focus on non-return to zero (NRZ) signal modulation Scheme. To use an analogy, it means you’re sending signals in the most simple format: “light on” and “light off.” A ‘1” is transmitted as pulse of light whereas ‘0” is no light output. Based on the currently available fast VCSEL light sources only achieving data rates of 25G, sixteen channels must transmit in parallel to create a 400G data stream.

Due to the design simplicity NRZ, the modulation format of choice for all data rates up to 25Gb/s. 400GBASE-SR16 CFP8 transceivers requires 16 fiber pairs to support a total of 400Gb/s with MPO multimode cables.

What’s New With CFP8 Module?

A CFP8 module is a hot pluggable module. Compared with the former modules, the control and status reporting functions between a host and a CFP8 module use non-data control and status reporting pins on the 124-pin connector. There are three Hardware Control pins, two Hardware Alarm pins, and four pins dedicated to the MDIO interface.

Compared to CFP2/CFP4 MSA Optics

CFP8 is the proposed CFP8 from factor by MSA member companies. It maintains the large size of CFP form factor (nearly the size of CFP2, larger than CFP4 MSA modules), but supports 4x100G i.e. 4x the CFP2. Besides this, CFP8 uses less power than the former CFP form factor modules. There are 400GBASE-SR16 for parallel MMF 16x25G NRZ, and 400GBase-FR8/LR8 duplex SMF 8x50G PAM4 WDM.

CFP8 Vs. CDFP

CFP8 is not the first released 16x25G= 400G modules, but CDFP. 400G CDFP module (CD=400 in Latin), is the four generation CFP form factor. Providing a high level of integration, performance and long-term reliability, the CDFP 400 Gbps interface is available in short- and long-body versions. The specifications are compatible for use with direct attach cables, active optical cables, and connectorized optical modules. The CDFP module will support:

5 meter direct attach cables
100 meter multimode fiber
500 meter parallel single‐mode fiber
2 kilometers of duplex single‐mode fiber

The compact modules are well suited for low power applications using copper, VCSEL or silicon photonics based technology. They also targeted InfiniBand EDR hydra cables and 128GFC applications but so far little market segment pick up. Though relatively new with 2014 and 2015 rev releases, CDFP may be short lived due to the smaller more efficient developing set of CFP8 solutions.

Latest Trend With 400 Gb/s in the Industry

While 400 GbE standard is still a few years away, the need for 400 Gb/s interfaces is here today. The CDFP form factor is already being used in proprietary interfaces to interconnect high performance servers and will soon be used to interconnect switch and router chassis. 400G CFP8 FR8/LR8 PAM4 and 400GBASE-SR16 modules had been displayed at OFC 2017. Finisar, Fujitsu, and oclaro, etc MSA member enterprises will introduce low profile 400G modules in a short period.

These proprietary chassis interconnects have always been massively parallel and will continue because they provide the massive bandwidth needed to interconnect equipment so that multiple chassis perform as one big chassis. While 16 lanes is a fairly wide interface, multiple applications need the maximum amount of bandwidth that can only be provided by many parallel lanes running at the fastest speed available. It seem that CFP8 with the same 16 MPO connectors has much potential than CDFP modules. FS.COM offers a large stock MSA-compliant optical transceivers, including 100G CFP/CFP2/CFP4 MSA, CXP, and QSFP28 transceiver modules. We will keep in path with the informative world, and provide the best services & telecom products to all of our customers.

Original Source: 400G CFP8 PAM4 & 400GBASE-SR16 NRZ Transceiver Modules

100G CFP Transceiver – Ultra High Speed Transmission Solution

Wed, 16 Aug 2017 09:24:00 +0000

During the past few years, 40G technology has dominated telecommunications. But now, with the introduction of the 100G technology, everyone is talking about 100 Gbps as the next generation. Whether willing or not, IT managers and data center designers have to consider migrate their network to 100 Gbps in the near future. And CFP is designed to fulfil the deployment of 100G network for companies and enterprises.

Brief Introduction to 100G CFP Optics
CFP transceiver was designed after SFP transceiver interface, but it supports much larger internet speed, which is realized by using 10×10Gbit/s in each direction (RX, TX). Here the C stands for 100 in Roman numerals (centum). We can infer from the name that CFP is introduced to serve as optical transceiver for 100G interfaces. Since the electrical connection of the CFP uses 10×10Gbit/s lanes in every direction, the optical connection can support both 10×10Gbit/s and 4×25Gbit/s variants of 100Gbit/s interconnects (typically known as 100GBASE-LR10 and 100GBASE-LR4 in 10km SMF reach, and 100GBASE-ER10 and 100GBASE-ER4 in 40km SMF reach, and 100GBASE-SR10 in 100 meter MMF reach respectively.)

Different Types of 100G CFP
There are several CFP types to be introduced—CFP, CFP2 and CFP4. CFP2 and CFP4 are the upgraded generation of CFP. Among them, the size of CFP is the largest. CFP2 is half the size of CFP while CFP4 is the half size of CFP2. And the features of the three different types have been summarized in the following texts. One thing that needs to be noted is that although they are not interchangeable, but could be interoperable at the optical interface with appropriate connectors.

Features and Benefits of CFP:

Supports 40G and 100G Ethernet CFP optical transceivers
Capable of side by side mounting as well as “belly to belly” mounting
Provides full EMI shielding
Uses a universal rail for both left and right positions
Allows integration of host PCB to host bezel (face plate) by either of two methods for manufacturing flexibility.

Features and Benefits of CFP2 and CFP4:

Up to 28 Gbps per lane – 2.8 times faster than current CFP products
High density, 0.6mm contact pitch
Provides one of the industry’s leading Signal Integrity (SI) performance for 28 Gbps per lane
Features a ruggedized cage construction for a more robust solution to help mitigate cage warping
Flexible design options to address your needs including ganged cages, heat sinks, single-sided and belly-to-belly mounting styles, light-pipes, and the capability to support mid- to long-reach applications

FS 100G CFP Solution
As one of the leading providers in optical communication , FS provides customers with transceivers that are manufactured at the highest quality of standards in the industry. All the CFP transceivers mentioned above, including both CFP2 and CFP4, are available in our website. And every transceiver is individually tested on corresponding equipment such as Cisco, Arista, Juniper, Dell, Brocade and other brands, and passed the monitoring of our intelligent quality control system. Also, all the products in FS are fully warranted against defects in material and workmanship with a lifetime guarantee.

Conclusion
2017 has witnessed the prosperity of the telecommunication market. Many research company predicts that the market of 2018 for telecommunication field will continue to thrive. With such a bright future, fiber optics market attracts a wide attention and many vendors want a piece of the pie. At present, 40G is ubiquitous in the data center and 100G is accelerating. As for the optical transceiver, it has been developed in the past decades to adapt to the high-speed requirement from 1G to 40G even to 100G. Believe it or not, 100G is on the way. Don’t wait to get fully prepared for the upcoming 100G era with CFP transceivers.

Source : 100G CFP Transceiver – Ultra High Speed Transmission Solution

OM5 Fiber Cable – Is It Worthwhile for 40G/100G SWDM4 Cabling Solution

Fri, 04 Aug 2017 06:15:00 +0000

OM5 multimode fiber, as the advanced version of the old OM4 fiber, is thought to be the future of multimode cabling. It is the Wideband multimode fiber (WBMMF) that can support wavelengths between 850nm and 953nm. It is also designed to support the short wavelength division multiplexing (SWDM)—one of the new technology for 40G/100G connection. However, will it be the ideal transmission medium for 40GbE/100GbE cabling solution?

How OM5 Fiber Developed

Over the past thirty years, multimode fiber has been evolved from OM1 to OM5 multimode fiber. OM1 and OM2 fiber, released at the end of 20th century, are the legacy 125µm multimode fiber that are working fine in 10Mb/s, 100Mb/s and 1000Mb/s cabling solution. However, with the high speed data rate like 10Gb/s, 40Gb/s, 100Gb/s and beyond coming into our life, multimode cabling (OM1 and OM2 ) with LEDs can not meet the requirement. The laser-optimized OM3 and OM4 has been developed subsequently. OM4 fiber cable, with the internal construction, possess higher modal bandwidth than OM3 fiber, which is commonly used fiber medium for 40G/100G connection.

But there is a problem. In a 40G layout, fiber optic technicians have to use one MTP fiber and 4 OM4 duplex fibers (total 8 fibers), which is obvious not preferable for high-density cabling networks. So here comes the OM5 fiber. By utilizing SWDM technology, it can greatly reduce fiber count into 2 fibers (4×10G) in 40G networks, 2 fibers (4×25G) in 100G links. OM5 is the lime green multimode fiber, displayed as follows.

OM5 Fiber for 40G/100G SWDM Cabling Solution

Reduce fiber count for 40G/100G connection—OM5 fiber as the advanced version of OM3/OM4 fiber, is backward compatible with OM3 and OM4 fiber cabling. And with the SWDM technology, this fiber can only use two OM5 fibers and 40/100G SWDM4 transceivers in 40G and 100G SWDM4 cabling.

Longer-transmission distance—OM5 is designed and specified to support at least four WDM channels at a minimum speed of 28Gbps per channel through the 850-953 window. Compared to OM4 fiber cable, it is specified only to work at the 850 nm window. OM5 multimode fiber delivers higher value to network owners for distances up to 440m (for data rates up to 40Gbps), and allows for smooth migration to 400Gbps for distances up to 150m. While OM4 fiber cover the distance of 350m, 100m over 40G/100G respectively.

Easy management & installation—in 40G/100G network, multimode connectivity together with MTP/MPO systems makes for a more user-friendly solution for data centers as well as building and campus backbones, especially in cable installation, troubleshooting, cleaning, and overall maintenance.

FS OM5 Cable Solution

FS offer Lime green OM5 fibers. All our OM5 fiber cables are guaranteed by End Face Geometry Test, Continuity Test, and 3D interferometry Test to be high quality. Available in LC, SC, FC, ST, etc. Connectors, and the cable length of OM5 fiber can be provided from less than 1 meter to more than 100 meters, which will well meet the needs for 400m transmission of 40G SWDM4 QSFP+ module and 100m transmission of 100G SWDM4 QSFP28 module, as well as the links on the same rack or row.

Not only the OM1/OM2/OM3/OM4/OM5 fibers are provided, but singlemode fibers (OS1/OS2) are also offered. For more information about the detailed information of the cost-effective fiber patch cables, Please feel free to contact us via www.fs.com.