SFP transceivers are available with a variety of transmitter and receiver specifications, allowing users to select the appropriate transceiver for each link to provide the required optical or electrical reach over the available media type (e.g. twisted pair or twinaxial copper cables, multi-mode or single-mode fiber cables). Transceivers are also designated by their transmission speed. SFP modules are commonly available in several different categories.
Note that the QSFP/QSFP+/QSFP28/QSFP56 are designed to be electrically backward compatible with SFP/SFP+/SFP28 or SFP56 respectively. Using a simple adapter or a special direct attached cable it is possible to connect those interfaces together using just one lane instead of four provided by the QSFP/QSFP+/QSFP28/QSFP56 form factor. The same applies to the QSFP-DD form factor with 8 lanes which can work downgraded to 4/2/1 lanes.
The SFP+ (enhanced small form-factor pluggable) is an enhanced version of the SFP that supports data rates up to 16 Gbit/s. The SFP+ specification was first published on May 9, 2006, and version 4.1 was published on July 6, 2009.33 SFP+ supports 8 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Optical Transport Network standard OTU2. It is a popular industry format supported by many network component vendors. Although the SFP+ standard does not include mention of 16 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, it can be used at this speed.34 Besides the data rate, the major difference between 8 and 16 Gbit/s Fibre Channel is the encoding method. The 64b/66b encoding used for 16 Gbit/s is a more efficient encoding mechanism than 8b/10b used for 8 Gbit/s, and allows for the data rate to double without doubling the line rate. 16GFC doesn't really use 16 Gbit/s signaling anywhere. It uses a 14.025 Gbit/s line rate to achieve twice the throughput of 8GFC.35
SFP+ also introduces direct attach for connecting two SFP+ ports without dedicated transceivers. Direct attach cables (DAC) exist in passive (up to 7 m), active (up to 15 m), and active optical (AOC, up to 100 m) variants.
10 Gbit/s SFP+ modules are exactly the same dimensions as regular SFPs, allowing the equipment manufacturer to re-use existing physical designs for 24 and 48-port switches and modular line cards. In comparison to earlier XENPAK or XFP modules, SFP+ modules leave more circuitry to be implemented on the host board instead of inside the module.36 Through the use of an active electronic adapter, SFP+ modules may be used in older equipment with XENPAK ports 37 and X2 ports.3839
SFP+ modules can be described as limiting or linear types; this describes the functionality of the inbuilt electronics. Limiting SFP+ modules include a signal amplifier to re-shape the (degraded) received signal whereas linear ones do not. Linear modules are mainly used with the low bandwidth standards such as 10GBASE-LRM; otherwise, limiting modules are preferred.40
SFP28 is a 25 Gbit/s interface which evolved from the 100 Gigabit Ethernet interface which is typically implemented with 4 by 25 Gbit/s data lanes. Identical in mechanical dimensions to SFP and SFP+, SFP28 implements one 28 Gbit/s lane41 accommodating 25 Gbit/s of data with encoding overhead.42
SFP28 modules exist supporting single-43 or multi-mode44 fiber connections, active optical cable45 and direct attach copper.4647
The compact small form-factor pluggable (cSFP) is a version of SFP with the same mechanical form factor allowing two independent bidirectional channels per port. It is used primarily to increase port density and decrease fiber usage per port.4849
The small form-factor pluggable double density (SFP-DD) multi-source agreement is a standard published in 2019 for doubling port density. According to the SFD-DD MSA website: "Network equipment based on the SFP-DD will support legacy SFP modules and cables, and new double density products."50 SFP-DD uses two lanes to transmit.
Currently, the following speeds are defined:
Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP) transceivers are available with a variety of transmitter and receiver types, allowing users to select the appropriate transceiver for each link to provide the required optical reach over multi-mode or single-mode fiber.
Switch and router manufacturers implementing QSFP+ ports in their products frequently allow for the use of a single QSFP+ port as four independent 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections, greatly increasing port density. For example, a typical 24-port QSFP+ 1U switch would be able to service 96x10GbE connections.666768 There also exist fanout cables to adapt a single QSFP28 port to four independent 25 Gigabit Ethernet SFP28 ports (QSFP28-to-4×SFP28)69 as well as cables to adapt a single QSFP56 port to four independent 50 Gigabit Ethernet SFP56 ports (QSFP56-to-4×SFP56).70
SFP sockets are found in Ethernet switches, routers, firewalls and network interface cards. They are used in Fibre Channel host adapters and storage equipment. Because of their low cost, low profile, and ability to provide a connection to different types of optical fiber, SFP provides such equipment with enhanced flexibility.
SFP sockets and transceivers are also used for long-distance serial digital interface (SDI) transmission.71
The SFP transceiver is not standardized by any official standards body, but rather is specified by a multi-source agreement (MSA) among competing manufacturers. The SFP was designed after the GBIC interface, and allows greater port density (number of transceivers per given area) than the GBIC, which is why SFP is also known as mini-GBIC.
However, as a practical matter, some networking equipment manufacturers engage in vendor lock-in practices whereby they deliberately break compatibility with generic SFPs by adding a check in the device's firmware that will enable only the vendor's own modules.72 Third-party SFP manufacturers have introduced SFPs with EEPROMs which may be programmed to match any vendor ID.73
Black
Blue
SFP transceivers are right-handed: From their perspective, they transmit on the right and receive on the left. When looking into the optical connectors, transmission comes from the left and reception is on the right.76
The SFP transceiver contains a printed circuit board with an edge connector with 20 pads that mate on the rear with the SFP electrical connector in the host system. The QSFP has 38 pads including 4 high-speed transmit data pairs and 4 high-speed receive data pairs.7778
The physical dimensions of the SFP transceiver (and its subsequent faster variants) are narrower than the later QSFP counterparts, which allows for SFP transceivers to be placed in QSFP ports via an inexpensive adapter. Both are smaller than the XFP transceiver.
The SFP MSA defines a 256-byte memory map into an EEPROM describing the transceiver's capabilities, standard interfaces, manufacturer, and other information, which is accessible over a serial I²C interface at the 8-bit address 0b1010000X (0xA0).85
Modern optical SFP transceivers support standard digital diagnostics monitoring (DDM) functions.86 This feature is also known as digital optical monitoring (DOM). This capability allows monitoring of the SFP operating parameters in real time. Parameters include optical output power, optical input power, temperature, laser bias current, and transceiver supply voltage. In network equipment, this information is typically made available via Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). A DDM interface allows end users to display diagnostics data and alarms for optical fiber transceivers and can be used to diagnose why a transceiver is not working.
"SFP Definition from PC Magazine Encyclopedia". www.pcmag.com. Retrieved May 10, 2018. https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/64582/sfp ↩
SFF Committee (May 12, 2001), INF-8074i Specification for SFP (Small Formfactor Pluggable) Transceiver, retrieved April 30, 2020 https://members.snia.org/document/dl/26184 ↩
"Cisco MGBSX1 Gigabit SX Mini-GBIC SFP Transceiver". Retrieved March 25, 2018. https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/interfaces-modules/mgbsx1-gigabit-sx-mini-gbic-sfp-transceiver/model.html ↩
"4G Fibre Channel SFP". Flexoptix GmbH. Retrieved October 5, 2019. https://www.flexoptix.net/en/transceiver/sfp-singlemode-transceiver-4g-fc-sm-1310nm-5km-10db-ddm-dom.html?co3101=18397 ↩
"DRAFT SFF-8402 CB". SNIA Members. Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). December 2, 2022. Retrieved September 24, 2024. https://members.snia.org/document/dl/35505 ↩
"SFF-8402: SFP+ 1X 28 Gb/s Pluggable Transceiver Solution (SFP28)". 1.9. SNIA SFF Committee. September 13, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2019. https://members.snia.org/document/dl/25869 ↩
"SFF-8665: QSFP+ 28 Gb/s 4X Pluggable Transceiver Solution (QSFP28)". 1.9. SNIA SFF Committee. June 29, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2019. https://members.snia.org/document/dl/25963 ↩
"Management Interface for 4-lane Modules and Cables". SFF-8636 (Rev 2.10a ed.). SNIA SFF Committee. September 24, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019. https://members.snia.org/document/dl/26418 ↩
"Mellanox Quantum 8700 40 port QSFP56 Product Brief" (PDF). http://www.mellanox.com/related-docs/prod_ib_switch_systems/PB_QM8700.pdf ↩
"SFP-DD MSA". http://sfp-dd.com/ ↩
"QSFP-DD MSA". http://www.qsfp-dd.com/ ↩
"Lightwave Online news article re: 400Gb". November 18, 2016. http://www.lightwaveonline.com/articles/2016/11/osfp-msa-targets-400-gbps-optical-transceiver-module.html ↩
"Backward Compatibility: QSFP-DD/QSFP28/QSFP+/SFP+". Derek. Retrieved July 21, 2022. https://www.qsfptek.com/article/backward-compatibility-qsfp-dd-qsfp28-qsfp-sfp ↩
"Introduction - NVIDIA QM97X0 NDR SWITCH SYSTEMS USER MANUAL - NVIDIA Networking Docs". docs.nvidia.com. Retrieved January 18, 2022. https://docs.nvidia.com/networking/display/QM97X0PUB/Introduction#Introduction-speeds ↩
"OSFP MSA". https://osfpmsa.org/ ↩
"OSFP MSA Announces Release of OSFP 4.0 Specification for 800G Modules". www.osfpmsa.org (Press release). Retrieved January 18, 2022. With the 800G spec completed, group is developing specification for 1600G modules https://www.osfpmsa.org/press-releases/pr-20210603.html ↩
"OSFP to QSFP Adapter" (PDF). Retrieved November 2, 2021. https://osfpmsa.org/assets/pdf/OSFP-to-QSFP-Adapter.pdf ↩
SFP-DD MSA (March 11, 2022). "SFP-DD/SFP-DD112/SFP112 Hardware Specification for SFP112 AND SFP DOUBLE DENSITY PLUGGABLE TRANSCEIVER Revision 5.1" (PDF). http://sfp-dd.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/SFP-DDrev5.1.pdf ↩
"Cisco 400G QSFP-DD Cable and Transceiver Modules Data Sheet". Cisco. Retrieved March 27, 2020. https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/interfaces-modules/transceiver-modules/datasheet-c78-743172.html ↩
Agilestar/Finisar FTLF8524P2BNV specification (PDF) http://agilestar.com/p/datasheets/FTLF8524P2BNV-AS.pdf ↩
"PROLINE 1000BASE-SX EXT MMF SFP F/CISCO 1310NM 2KM - SFP-MX-CDW - Ethernet Transceivers". CDW.com. Retrieved January 2, 2017. https://www.cdw.com/shop/products/PROLINE-1000BASE-SX-EXT-MMF-SFP-F-CISCO-1310NM-2KM/2240353.aspx ↩
Single Fiber Bidirectional SFP Transceiver (PDF), MRV, archived from the original (PDF) on April 19, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160419114354/http://www.interlinkweb.com/systemics/assets/product_images/mrv/MRV-OP-SFPB_A4_HI-1.pdf ↩
Gigabit Bidirectional SFPs, Yamasaki Optical Technology http://yamasakiot.com/yamasaki-sfp-transceivers ↩
"Single-fiber single-wavelength gigabit transceivers". Lightwave. September 5, 2002. Retrieved September 5, 2002. http://www.lightwaveonline.com/articles/2002/09/single-fiber-single-wavelength-gigabit-transceivers-53448792.html ↩
"The principle of Single Wavelength BiDi Transceiver". Gigalight. Archived from the original on April 3, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140403232845/http://www.gigalight.com.cn/solutions/%26FrontComContent_list01-12987118519831ContId%3D3878029b-493c-4e70-b97c-766776c55cd0%26comContentId%3D3878029b-493c-4e70-b97c-766776c55cd0%26comp_stats%3Dcomp-FrontComContent_list01-12987118519831.html ↩
VSC8211 media converter/physical layer specification http://www.vitesse.com/products/download.php?fid=295&number=VSC8211 ↩
"Fiberstore: 100 M SFPs". http://www.fs.com/c/100base-sfp_1668 ↩
"FAQs for SFP+". The Siemon Company. August 20, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2016. http://www.siemon.com/sis/application-guide/2010-08-20-FAQs-for-SFP-plus.asp ↩
"2.5GBASE-T Copper SFP". Flexoptix GmbH. Retrieved October 4, 2019. https://www.flexoptix.net/en/transceiver/sfp-t-transceiver-2h-gigabit-cat-5e-rj-45-100m-100m-1000m-2500-base-t.html?co8829=85744 ↩
"5GBASE-T Copper SFP". Flexoptix GmbH. Retrieved October 4, 2019. https://www.flexoptix.net/en/transceiver/sfp-t-transceiver-5-gigabit-cat-5e-rj-45-70m-100m-1000m-5gbase-t.html?co8831=85745 ↩
"SFF-8431 Specifications for Enhanced Small Form Factor Pluggable Module SFP+ Revision 4.1". July 6, 2009. Retrieved September 25, 2023. https://members.snia.org/document/dl/25891 ↩
Tektronix (November 2013). "Characterizing an SFP+ Transceiver at the 16G Fibre Channel Rate". http://www.tek.com/primer/characterizing-sfp-transceiver-16g-fibre-channel-rate ↩
"Roadmaps". Fibre Channel Industry Association. Retrieved March 5, 2023. https://fibrechannel.org/roadmap/ ↩
"10-Gigabit Ethernet camp eyes SFP+". LightWave. April 2006. http://www.lightwaveonline.com/articles/print/volume-23/issue-4/technology/10-gigabit-ethernet-camp-eyes-sfp-53428172.html ↩
"SFP+ to XENPAK adapter". https://www.flexoptix.net/en/10-gigabit-xenpak-sfp-plus-adapter.html ↩
"10GBASE X2 to SFP+ Converter". December 27, 2016. https://www.optcore.net/product/cisco-cvr-x2-sfp10g-compatible-10gbase-x2-to-sfp-converter-module/ ↩
"SFP Transceiver". https://unoptix.com/collections/10g-sfp ↩
Ryan Latchman and Bharat Tailor (January 22, 2008). "The road to SFP+: Examining module and system architectures". Lightwave. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2011. https://archive.today/20130128011127/http://www.lightwaveonline.com/articles/2008/01/the-road-to-sfp-examining-module-and-system-architectures-54884162.html ↩
"Ethernet Summit SFP28 examples" (PDF). http://www.ethernetsummit.com/English/Collaterals/Proceedings/2015/20150414_H13_Neer.pdf ↩
"Cisco SFP28 product examples". http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/interfaces-modules/transceiver-modules/datasheet-c78-736950.html ↩
"SFP28 LR 1310 nm transceivers". http://global-sei.com/company/press/2016/03/prs022.html ↩
"SFP28 850 nm example product" (PDF). http://www.smartoptics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/SO-SFP28-SR-R4.0.pdf ↩
"25GbE SFP28 Active Optical Cable" (PDF). Mellanox. Retrieved October 25, 2018. https://www.mellanox.com/related-docs/prod_cables/PB_MFA2P10-Axxx_SFP25G-AOCxxM-TG_25GbE_SFP28_AOC.pdf ↩
"Intel Ethernet SFP28 Twinaxial Cables" (PDF). Retrieved October 25, 2018. https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-briefs/ethernet-sfp28-cables-brief.pdf ↩
"Cisco SFP28 direct attach cables" (PDF). http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/interfaces-modules/transceiver-modules/datasheet-c78-736950.pdf ↩
"Compact SFP, Compact SFF MSA group forms". Lightwave. February 20, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2018. http://www.lightwaveonline.com/articles/2008/02/compact-sfp-compact-sff-msa-group-forms-54884757.html ↩
"Introducing Compact Small Form-Factor Pluggable Module (Compact SFP)". Cisco Systems. Retrieved January 12, 2019. https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/interfaces-modules/transceiver-modules/product_bulletin_c25-682262.html ↩
http://sfp-dd.com/ SFP-DD MSA http://sfp-dd.com/ ↩
QSFP-DD MSA (July 26, 2022). "QSFP-DD/QSFP-DD800/QSFP112 Hardware Specification for QSFP DOUBLE DENSITY 8X AND QSFP 4X PLUGGABLE TRANSCEIVERS Revision 6.3" (PDF). http://www.qsfp-dd.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/QSFP-DD-Hardware-Rev6.3-final.pdf ↩
SFF INF-8628 ↩
"QSFP-DD MSA" (PDF). July 25, 2024. Retrieved August 15, 2024. http://www.qsfp-dd.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/QSFP-DD-Hardware-Rev7.1.pdf ↩
SFF Committee. "QSFP Public Specification (INF-8438)" (PDF). SFF Committee. p. 12. Retrieved June 22, 2016. http://ftp.seagate.com/sff/INF-8438.PDF ↩
SFF Committee. "QSFP+ 10 Gbs 4X Pluggable Transceiver (SFF-8436)" (PDF). p. 13. Retrieved June 22, 2016. http://ftp.seagate.com/sff/SFF-8436.PDF ↩
SFF Committee. "QSFP+ 14 Gb/s 4X Pluggable Transceiver Solution (QSFP14)" (PDF). p. 5. Retrieved June 22, 2016. http://ftp.seagate.com/sff/SFF-8685.PDF ↩
"100G Optics and Cabling Q&A Document" (PDF). www.arista.com. Arista Networks. https://www.arista.com/assets/data/pdf/Arista100G_TC_QA.pdf ↩
"SFF-8024: Management Interface for Cabled Environments". 4.6. SNIA SFF Committee. February 14, 2019. Retrieved April 4, 2019. https://members.snia.org/document/dl/26423 ↩
"Arista 400G Transceivers and Cables: Q&A" (PDF). www.arista.com. Arista Networks, Inc. Retrieved April 4, 2019. https://www.arista.com/assets/data/pdf/Datasheets/Arista-400G_Optics_FAQ.pdf ↩
"Cisco Nexus 5600 specifications". http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/nexus-5624q-switch/datasheet-c78-733100.html ↩
"Finisar 4 x 10GbE fanout QSFP". https://www.finisar.com/active-optical-cables/fcbn510qe2cxx ↩
"Arista 40Gb port to 4 x 10GbE breakout" (PDF). https://www.arista.com/assets/data/pdf/40G_FAQ.pdf ↩
"QSFP28-to-SFP28 breakout". http://www.prolabs.com/products/direct-attach-cables/msa_standard/QSFP28-SFP28/QSFP28-4XSFP28-DAC-3M-NC/ ↩
"QSFP56 : 4-2334236-1 Pluggable I/O Cable Assemblies". TE Connectivity. https://www.te.com/usa-en/product-4-2334236-1.html ↩
For Television — Serial Digital Fiber Transmission System for SMPTE 259M, SMPTE 344M, SMPTE 292 and SMPTE 424M Signals. doi:10.5594/SMPTE.ST297.2006. ISBN 978-1-61482-435-0. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2024. 978-1-61482-435-0 ↩
John Gilmore. "Gigabit Ethernet fiber SFP slots and lock-in". Retrieved December 21, 2010. http://www.toad.com/gnu/sysadmin/sfp-lockin.html ↩
"FLEXBOX SERIES - CONFIGURE UNIVERSAL TRANSCEIVERS". Retrieved September 20, 2019. https://www.flexoptix.net/en/flexbox-series-configure-universal-transceivers.html?395=1357&co9424= ↩
"SFP28 Transceiver, 25G SFP28 Optical Transceiver Module". FS Germany. Retrieved March 28, 2020. https://www.fs.com/de-en/c/25g-sfp28-transceivers-3215 ↩
"Do You Know the CWDM Transceiver Color Code? | Optcore.net". May 31, 2018. Retrieved March 28, 2020. https://www.optcore.net/do-you-know-cwdm-transceiver-color-code/ ↩
"Cisco SFP and SFP+ Transceiver Module Installation Notes". Cisco Systems. Retrieved June 26, 2021. https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/interfaces_modules/transceiver_modules/installation/note/78_15160.html ↩
INF-8074i B4 ↩
"INF-8077i: 10 Gigabit Small Form Factor Pluggable Module" (PDF). Small Form Factor Committee. August 31, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 17, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170317055048/https://ta.snia.org/kws/public/download/97/INF-8077.PDF ↩
SFF INF-8438i 6.2.2 Management Interface Timing Specification ↩
SFF-8472 (PDF), November 21, 2014, archived from the original (PDF) on March 17, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170317055100/https://ta.snia.org/kws/public/download/294/SFF-8472.PDF ↩