With the growing demand for high-performance computing among end users, and increasing need for faster data transfer rates, the business case for 40 Gigabit Ethernet is becoming inescapably compelling. The biggest market for 40G Ethernet (40GbE) is in data center for interconnection links with servers and storage area networks. How to deploy 40G Ethernet? This post gives some basic information about 40G cabling and transceivers.

When it comes to cabling choices for 40G applications, fiber optic cable is a good choice in many aspects. OM3 or OM4 is optimal for the 40 Gigabit Ethernet data center environment. In a 40 Gigabit Ethernet environment, OM3 can be used up to 100m and OM4 up to 150m, according to the IEEE802.3ba standard. OM3 and OM4 multimode cabling is generally recommended because its reach supports a wider range of deployment configurations compared to copper solutions, and the cost is lower compared to single-mode solutions. 40G active optical cable for 40GbE applications is terminated with 40GBASE QSFP+ transceiver on one end while on the other end, it can be terminated with QSFP+ connector, SFP+ connector, or LC/SC/FC/ST connector. Active optical cable uses electrical-to-optical conversion on the cable ends to improve speed and distance performance of the cable without sacrificing compatibility with standard electrical interfaces. QSFP+ AOC integrates four data lanes in each direction with 40Gbps aggregate bandwidth. Each lane can operate at 10Gbps with lengths ranging from one to 100m. It is compliant with the QSFP MSA and IEEE P802.3ba. The following picture shows a Cisco QSFP-4X10G-AOC10M compatible QSFP+ to 4SFP+ active optical cable.

Other than fiber optic cabling, you still have another choice for your 40G applications, which is 40G direct attach copper cable (DAC). There are active DACs and passive DACs. Passive copper cables are preferred alternative for short-reaches in the data center. QSFP+ (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable Plus) copper cable assemblies were developed for high-density applications, offering a cost-effective, and low-power option for high speed data center interconnects up to 10 meters. 40GbE passive copper cables provide robust connections for leading edge 40G systems and have extremely low power consumption which improves data center power consumption and thermal efficiency which are ideal for 40G LAN, HPC and SAN applications. QSFP+ to QSFP+ passive copper cable and QSFP+ to 4SFP+ passive breakout copper cable are the two common types of QSFP+ cables. Fiberstore provides QSFP+ to QSFP+ passive copper cables of different lengths branded by many famous companies like Cisco, Juniper, and HP. For example, Cisco QSFP-H40G-CU1M, QSFP-H40G-CU3M, and QSFP-H40G-CU5M compatible QSFP+ to QSFP+ passive copper cables are 1m, 3m and 5m options. The picture below shows a 1m Cisco QSFP-H40G-CU1M passive copper cable.

40 Gigabit Ethernet transceivers are being developed along several standard form factors. The C Form-Factor Pluggable (CFP) transceiver features 12 transmit and 12 receive 10-Gbps lanes to support one 100 Gigabit Ethernet port, or up to three 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports. Its larger size is suitable for the needs of single-mode optics and can easily serve multi-mode optics or copper as well. The CXP transceiver form factor also provides 12 lanes in each direction, but is much smaller than the CFP and serves the needs of multimode optics and copper. The Quad Small-Form-Factor Pluggable plus (QSFP+) provides four transmit and four receive lanes to support 40 Gigabit Ethernet applications. Fiberstore offers you a large amount of QSFP+ module options for you, such as Avago QSFP+, Brocade QSFP+, Dell QSFP+, Juniper QSFP+, Mellanox QSFP+, Finisar QSFP+, Intel QSFP+, ets. The picture below shows a Cisco QSFP-40G-CSR4 compatible 40GBASE-CSR4 QSFP+ transceiver.

One of the most attractive characteristics of 40 Gigabit Ethernet is broad applications and design flexibility. Considering the productivity gains and decrease in OpEx, migrating to 40 Gigabit Ethernet will prove very cost-effective for those who do it right. Fiberstore offers all kinds of cabling and transceiver choices for your 40G applications. You can buy from us with confidence.

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