What is SFP+ & What are Its Upgrades?

What is SFP+? SFP+ means enhanced small form-factor pluggable, it is the enhanced version of SFP.

Introduction:

What is SFP+? SFP+ provides data rates up to 16 Gbit/s. It supports 8 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and Optical Transport Network standard OTU2. It is popular on many networks.

SFP+ industry standards have a short history. SFF Committee published the first specification in May 2006. A few years later, they updated and improved the specification to meet the industry demand. The latest version of SFF-8431 is Rev4.1, updated in September 2013.

SFP+ has shown strong industry attraction. It offers higher speed than SFP when holding the same small size. Therefore, it allows the manufacturer or vendors to increase port density by 4 to 10 times without changing the SFP-based mechanism. For the past XFP application scenarios, it also provides a better replacement choice.

What is the difference between SPF and SPF+?

What is SFP+? SFP+ provide a much higher speed of 8G/10G/16G. Its module is an enhanced small form factor pluggable transceiver that fits into the port of the switch or other networking device. A complete system contains three parts: module, port, and connector in the hosting device.

SFP supports 10/1000Mbps Ethernet speed, SFP+ is an updated version that provides higher speeds up to 10Gbps. Since the different data rates, thus the applications and transmission distance are not the same. The enhanced version has a longer transmission distance. Its specification is based on SFF-8431. In the point of compatibility, the higher version ports often accept SFP optics but at a reduced speed of 1Gbps. However, please note that you cannot plug the enhanced version transceiver into an SFP port because the enhanced version does not support speeds less than 1Gbps. Enhanced version could be the most popular 10 Gigabit Ethernet module in the market.

Benefits of SFP+ Module

• lHigh speed: SFP+ can afford a much higher speed than the standard SFP module, which meets the dramatically demanding data traffic growth. 
• lHot pluggable: Perfect for expanding or modifying existing networks without completely changing the cable infrastructure.
• lCompact size: It has the same standard SFP size and appearance, the design of SFP+ provides high port density and saves space. 
• lLower cost: SFP+ shares a great shipment, and plenty of vendors provide the lower cost.
• lComprehensive interoperability: optical interoperates with the traditional XFP, X2, and XENPAK module, efficiently upgrading the old cabling to modern networking.

How to Choose the Correct SFP+ Module? 

1. Check your switch (or other network devices) port-supported speed and match the correct SFP+.

2. Know your target link distance and link budget. But remember, choose an SFP+ supporting longer transmission distances than expected.

3. Considering the operating temperature. For a typical indoor environment, using a commercial-grade SFP+ transceiver is enough. While in harsh outdoor applications, you should use the industrial transceiver.

4. Remember to confirm compatibility with the vendor before ordering. Because the switch will not identify an incompatible transceiver, you will waste money and time. As a result, always use a known compatible transceiver.

Conclusion:

SFP and SFP+ have the same size and appearance. From the price, SFP+ is usually more expensive than SFP. The enhanced version can be used in Gigabit Ethernet applications while SFP is for 100Bse or 1000Base applications. SFP cannot match 10G transmission data rate, which means they can't be used in the same network. Enhanced version transceivers use the same dimensions of pluggable transceivers in the 10Gbs Ethernet and 8.5Gbs fiber channel with SFP. SFP comply with standards of IEEE802.3 and SFF-8472 while the plus edition is based on SFF-8431.