What is the difference between XFP and SFP +?

10G Optical module with low cost and power consumption is widely used in schools, companies and other applications. XFP and SFP + are two common package types of 10G Optical module, so how much do you know about them?

XFP & SFP +: what is it?

XFP is defined by XFP multi-source protocol (MSA). XFP optical module is a kind of 10G Optical module which is hot pluggable and independent of communication protocol. It can transmit data at 850nm / 1310nm / 1550nm wavelength. It is mainly used in 10G Ethernet, 10Gbit / s optical channel, OC-192 digital transmission, synchronous optical network STM-64, 10Gbit / s optical transmission network (OTN) out-2 and parallel optical link.

SFP + is an upgraded version of SFP, defined by SFP + multi-source protocol (MSA). SFP + optical module is a small hot pluggable 10G Optical module, which follows IEEE 802.3ae, sff-8431 and sff-8432 protocols. It can work at 850nm / 1310nm / 1550nm wavelength, and is applied to 10G Ethernet, 10g fibre channel, 10g SONET / SDH, OTN, CPRI wireless, 16g fibre channel and 32g fibre channel.

The following table shows the comparison of basic parameters of 10G XFP and SFP + optical module.

Differences between XFP and SFP +

From the above introduction, we can find that XFP and SFP + are different in transmission distance, speed and so on. In addition, what are the differences between them? The details are as follows:

Size & heat dissipation: the size of XFP optical module is larger than that of SFP + optical module, but the heat dissipation is better.

Structure: different from XFP, the signal modulation function, serial / deserializer, MAC, CDR and EDC function of SFP + are on the motherboard instead of the module.

Compatibility: first, it can be seen from the above that the sizes of the two are inconsistent, so they are not compatible. Second, the optical module of SFPs and SFPs + can be supported on the SFPs + port, which has certain compatibility, but only the optical module of xfps can be supported on the xfps port.

Cost: the cost of 10G SFP + optical module is lower than that of 10G XFP optical module, and it can interact with other types of 10G Optical modules.

Application: for short distance transmission of 10G Optical signal, DAC high-speed cable can be directly used without optical module. However, there is only 10g SFP + DAC high-speed cable on the market, and there is no 10g XFP DAC high-speed cable.

Popularity: it can be seen from the above that, compared with XFP, SFP + has greater advantages in size, structure, compatibility, cost, etc., meeting users' requirements for high density, low cost, compatibility and scalability, and has become the mainstream of 10G market.

Can XFP be connected with SFP +?

Because 10g XFP and SFP + optical modules have the same transmission rate (10g transmission rate) and wavelength (850nm / 1310nm / 1550nm), they can coexist in the same Ethernet. This means that as long as XFP optical module and SFP + optical module have the same parameters, they can be connected. For example, 10g XFP optical module with 1310nm wavelength and 10g SFP + optical module with 1310nm wavelength can be connected. However, it should be noted that XFP optical module and SFP + optical module cannot replace each other.

Although the industry has launched 25g / 40g / 100g / 400g Ethernet in order to meet the needs of users for larger bandwidth and higher speed, it does not mean that 10G Ethernet will withdraw from the market, and 10G Optical module is still the mainstream. At the same time, due to the differences in size, structure and compatibility between XFP and SFP +, they cannot be replaced each other.

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