10GBASE-T SFP: Increasing Trend and FAQs

10GBASE-T SFP+ Wiki

The maximum transmission distance of the 10GBASE-T SFP+ RJ45 electric port optical module on cat6a/7 is up to 100m. Compared with the embedded 10GBASE-T RJ45 port, each port saves at least 0.5W power. It is the first module that can provide 10Gb/s rate through Ethernet copper cable, and the module complies with SFF-8431 and SFF-8432 MSA standards. In addition, compared with the 10GBASE-T fixed port switch, the 10GBASE-T SFP+ port optical module can work on the existing SFP+ port, providing greater flexibility for its application. Typical characteristics of 10GBASE-T SFP+ electrical port optical module are as follows:

– Size: Interoperable with rack systems of any SFP+ port.

– Performance: PHY standard is adopted, and block coding can be used to transmit data on copper cable without error.

– Innovation: Support manageable hot plug function.

– Backward compatibility of Automatic Negotiation: It can be compatible with the previous generation 10/100/1000BASE-T network to seamlessly migrate to 10GB Ethernet.

Why 10GBASE-T SFP+ Module Is Increasing

10GBASE-T SFP+ electrical port optical module, 10G DAC high-speed cable and 10G SFP+ optical module are the main solutions of 10G Ethernet. However, with the cheap SFP+ DAC cable and SFP+ optical module that can be used for 10G Ethernet, why do you need a 10GB SFP+ electrical port optical module?

Firstly, the RJ45 port on the switch is used to connect with the copper cable, but the only RJ45 ports on the switch are not enough to meet the requirements of copper cabling in the data center. In this case, the 10GBASE-T SFP+ electrical port optical module can convert the optical port into electrical port to meet the demand of insufficient RJ45 port on the switch.

Secondly, in data centers and enterprise networks, the length of most links is between 10m and 100m. the 10GBASE-T SFP+ RJ45 port optical module can provide 10Gb/s data transmission within 100m, which makes up for the limitation that SFP+ DAC cable can only transmit 10m.

Finally, the 10GBASE-T electric port optical module can be backward compatible with 10/100/1000BASE-T optical modules, which saves a lot of budget for the data center network. When 10G Optical modules are connected to the copper network, 10GBASE-T port optical modules can be directly added to the copper network, while 10G SFP+ optical modules need to be used together with optical fiber transceivers to achieve this application. Therefore, 10GBASE-T SFP+ copper modules have advantages over SFP+ optical module solutions, because the cost of copper infrastructure is much lower than that of optical fiber.

FAQs About 10GBASE-T SFP+ Transceiver

1. Does Cat5e support 10GBASE-T?

After research, the IEEE802.3an group believes that the Cat5e cables have defects that need to be tolerated or compensated by electronic equipment, including NEXT, FEXT, etc., and external crosstalk interference should also be considered. On the physical layer chip of network equipment, the number of transistors used to overcome the performance limitations of five types of cables exceeds 50% of the total. The physical layer has high integration and complex technology.

Compared with enhanced Cat5e, Cat6 system has better anti noise performance and can provide more transparent and versatile transmission channels. This is especially true at high frequencies.

Tests show that 10G Ethernet requires linear transmission performance of at least 500MHz (initially 625mhz). Most enhanced Cat5e cables have only 150MHz or 250MHz, and the standard only requires 150MHz. Although Cat6 is not forced to reach 500MHz, it is a better medium for high bandwidth transmission.

The average anti noise capability of the Cat6 system at 500MHz is higher than that of the Cat5e system. The larger the basic capacity of the cabling system, the less compensation the network device manufacturer can make for its products. The final result is a cheaper solution, and people no longer rely on electronic components to compensate for lower-level wiring technology. 

Based on the above considerations, the IEEE802.3an group has abandoned its support for Cat5e Cabling systems.

2. Does 10GBASE-T SFP+ RJ45 module support hot-pluggable?

A: Yes. Please note that frequent hotplugging may affect the service life of the module. Frequent hot-plugging is not recommended.

Conclusion

As mentioned above, the 10GB SFP+ electrical port optical module is based on 10GBASE-T technology, which is an interoperable and standardized technology, uses common RJ45 connectors and provides backward compatibility with previous network infrastructure. A 10G SFP+ RJ45 port optical module can be used for top of rack (TOR), middle of line (more) or end of line architecture (EOR) in data center and enterprise networks. QSFPTEK provides 10GBASE-T fiber optic transceiver modules, each of SFP+ is rigorously and individually tested to ensure high-quality and high-reliability, welcome to consult via sales@qsfptek.com.