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I am trying to connect a new server of mine to an existing FC Patch Panel on a strand that has been patched to a FC Switch.

The Fiber used is single-mode and in order to hook it up, I am using a single-mode lc-st cable. I am bit confused about choosing the right transceiver for this connection.

On a working connection, this is the transceiver. Brocade 10G SFP+. I did find quite a few transceivers of the same model number, but slightly different numbers/revisions? . Unfortunately, I have not been able to find what the different numbers mean. Here is an example from ebay

The only thing I did find was a brocade data-sheet that lists the compatibility of these models with their switches.

Any ideas?

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  • need details like distance, core size, cable rating...etc (on the cable)
    – Jacob Evans
    Jan 24, 2017 at 2:25
  • sure. the distance between the patch-panel and the server is not much. I am using a spare 10m LC-ST connector. These are the details I could gather from the cable. SMF-9/125 3.00mm 10 M cable.
    – feverDream
    Jan 24, 2017 at 3:24
  • Also there is a rating table on the cable. I will update the question with it.
    – feverDream
    Jan 24, 2017 at 3:24
  • how far is the patch to the switch
    – Jacob Evans
    Jan 24, 2017 at 3:57
  • The distance between the patch to switch should be around 30 meters. So are the numbers on the two SFP connectors (12-43, 14-35) distance ranges?
    – feverDream
    Jan 24, 2017 at 7:00

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Comments converted into answer: Please spend a bit of time learning the actual terminology rather than inventing your own, which confuses both you and us. An SFP (small form pluggable) is not a connector. It typically HAS one or more often two female optical connectors as part of itself, but what it IS is an electro-optical transceiver. The 10 Gig ones are not SFPs, they are SFP+ The optical cable does not matter if it's the right family and clean, what you need to is know what the SFP (or SFP+) that you are connecting to at the switch is, and get one compatible with it. Clean, by the way, is a VERY big deal with single mode fiber connections.

And the SFP+ you have shown (without showing the relevant part where the cables plug in) most likely needs a pair of optical cables, not a single cable. If it has two optical connectors, one is transmit, one is receive. Transmit at one end connects to receive on the other. I'd guess that 10GE-LR is intended to be 10GBASE-LR, which is 1310 nm lasers on single-mode fiber up to 10 kilometers, not a bidirectional standard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Gigabit_Ethernet

The cable test tag on your patch cable showing what its insertion and return losses at various wavelengths were when it shipped from the factory is utterly irrlevant to the choice of the correct SFP+ - which seems to be your question, buried under a lot of mis-used terminology you need to learn if you have anything to do with this equipment.

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  • Thanks for patiently responding to my question. This is my first sojourn into the fiber-world and I am afraid I do bring my own terminology :) Anyways, in your clarification I think you have answered my question. The two transceivers are compatible and I did find a local seller for it. I will update my results in the next few days. I also didn't know that these transceivers need to kept clean. Thanks for pointing it out. I will try to find out if I can get that done from the seller.
    – feverDream
    Jan 25, 2017 at 5:56
  • On the same note, I was able to find the brocade ones only through ebay with varying prices. The new ones on google/amazon are mostly listed are Brocade compatible? Are the Brocade ones out of production?
    – feverDream
    Jan 25, 2017 at 6:06
  • I'm going to suggest you head off to this question: networkengineering.stackexchange.com/q/37594/2301 and particularly that you visit thefoa.org As for "brocade compatible .vs. brocade" mostly a matter of sheer cost, though I personally don't know if they have also blinked out of existence (I don't think they have) - but their "sales channels" would not tend to include Amazon, and will include hefty markup to pay all the people in the sales channels. Some folks like that sort of thing, I'm not one of them.
    – Ecnerwal
    Jan 26, 2017 at 0:55

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