How to Convert SFP to Ethernet?

SFP ports and RJ45 ports are the most common interfaces which are used in Gigabit Ethernet applications. And we complete the fiber to Ethernet or Ethernet to fiber conversion via these ports. How much do you know about SFP ports and RJ45 ports? And do you know how to convert SFP to Ethernet? This article will explain these questions.

What Are SFP Ports?
SFP ports are the input and output interfaces that are able to be hot-pluggable. They are seen in network switches or network interface cards. And SFP port is capable of working with the standards of 1000BASE-SX, 1000BASE-LX/LH, 1000BASE-ZX or 1000BASE- BX10-D/U.

At present, network switches are usually designed with two or more SFP ports, which comply with IEEE 802.3ab standard. Note that in all cases, the SFP transceiver module must be inserted then the SFP ports can work. The ports make it possible for Gigabit switches to connect to the fiber and copper cables, converting SFP to Ethernet or Ethernet to SFP and completing the switching function.

What Are RJ45 Ports?
RJ45 port, which stands for registered jack 45, is the ubiquitous Ethernet style data port seen on switches, routers and network cards, following the 1000BASE-T Ethernet standard. It only supports RJ45 cables like CAT5e, Cat6 with the transmission speed of 1Gbit/s. By far, the most common use of RJ45 port is with Ethernet data connections from computers network cards, wireless access points, network switches and routers in home and enterprises networks. RJ45 ports on a data switch use the built-in design. Connecting two RJ45 copper switches, we just need a Cat5e or Cat6 copper cables. But if we want to convert Ethernet to SFP, an RJ45 SFP transceiver is required.

FS Solutions to Convert SFP to Ethernet
From the above, we have a good understanding of SFP ports and RJ45 ports. They are the interfaces for converting SFP to Ethernet or Ethernet to SFP. But how? Here FS provides two solutions for you.

Solution 1: Using SFP Transceiver Module
As we have mentioned above, the network switches on the market are generally equipped with SFP ports. Thus, under this circumstance, we can use SFP modules to complete the interconnections between switches or servers. Insert the Ethernet SFP module into the network switches, then plug one end of Cat5e or Cat6 cables into the transceivers and the other end is connected with other terminal devices. This figure shows how we can use SFP transceiver for our conversion need.



We can see this is a full solution, covering the following equipment.



Solution 2: Using Ethernet Media Converters
If your switch doesn’t have SFP ports, then you need an Ethernet media converter. It’s a device used to interconnect fiber and copper cables to facilitate communication between them. This device looks like a small box where fiber and copper cables could be plugged in. Here is the SFP to Ethernet converter from FS.COM. It has one RJ45 port and one SFP port. And the mini converter can support 1000Base-X to 10/100/1000Base-T UTP convention. Designed with compact package size, it’s a reliable plug and play converter. Therefore, just plug the fiber and copper cables into the slots and connect the other ends of cables to the terminal devices, ensuring the whole network works properly.

Conclusion
Using SFP transceiver module or Ethernet media converter can help us convert SFP to Ethernet, which can better expand network function. FS.COM offers an extensive choice of full SFP to Ethernet or Ethernet to SFP solutions. Choose FS.COM for the right product to meet your conversion project needs.

What Is Ethernet Leaf Switch

At present, with the massive increase in data transmitting and the need for real time data travel within the network, Ethernet switching technology has evolved greatly over the last decade. As a result, the existing aging three-tier design has been replaced by the new leaf and spine architecture in data centers. This new network architecture requires specially designed leaf switch in order to work. So how much do you know about leaf switch? Here we’ll explain this data switch in this article.

Leaf Switch Introduction
As the figure1 shows, a leaf-spine architecture is usually composed of spine switches and leaf switches. Leaf switch is used to gather the traffic from the server nodes, then link to the network core that consists of spine switches. In this case, every leaf switch connects to every spine, which contributes to minimizing the network latency and bottlenecks. Therefore, the leaf and spine architecture allows for huge amounts of bandwidth and provides a high level of redundancy.



Figure 1: Leaf-Spine Architecture

Traditional Three-Tier VS Leaf-Spine Architecture
Commonly, a traditional model includes three layers, core, aggregation and access. And most data center services and functions run on physical hardware that drives “north-south” traffic. If there are some east-west traffic that needed to be transferred across the traditional model, devices connected on the same access layer contend for bandwidth. Therefore, congestion will be created between the access and aggregation layer.

Figure 2: Traditional Three-Tier Topology

Unlike the traditional three-tier, the access layer of leaf-spine structure is formed by each leaf switch that is directly connected to each spine switch. And this direct connection helps to minimize the traffic bottlenecks and latency, and utilize the networking protocols and methodologies to create a dynamic network.

Leaf-Spine Architecture Advantages
As described above, we know the advantage of leaf-spine model is the improved latency and reduced bottlenecks. With this new approach, only a few data switches are needed to create a large and non-blocking fabric. This is the main advantage that makes it popular in networking system.

In addition, leaf-spine uses all interconnection links. This means an additional spine switch could be added and the uplinks can be extended to each leaf switch, which can increase the interlayer bandwidth. Therefore, it allows the network to scale without managing or disrupting the Layer 2 switching protocols as the traffic grows.

Leaf Switch Recommendation
To keep pace with the market needs, FS.COM has produced S5850 series 10GbE switches for using as leaf switches, including three products. We’re going to see these three leaf switches.

These three leaf switches are made of the same robust materials. All of their airflow directions are front-back. From the table, we can see that all S5850 series products support MLAG, SNMP, SFLOW and son on. So you can choose one according to your demands.

Conclusion
Leaf switch and leaf-spine architecture make the network more flexible. And FS S5850 series data switches are the quite cost-efficient selections. FS provides a full line of network switches including 24 port switch, 48 port switch and 1G switch, 10GbE switch and 40GbE switch. Come and choose the suitable switch.

SFP Fiber Switch Introduction and Cabling Solutions

With the growth of today’s network, the amount of hardware involved has become a barrier to efficient and optimized network operations. In some cases, a fiber switch is the answer. These fiber switches with management functions can reduce the burden on the network backbone, by connecting different edge-level devices and combining them into a single data stream. Today, we’ll focus on SFP fiber switch and its cabling solutions.

SFP Fiber Switch Introduction
As the name implies, an SFP fiber switch is a communication control device with SFP ports. And like a common networking switch, SFP fiber switch is also used to send and receive data transmission, but in fiber channel. These SFP ports are small form-factor hot pluggable interfaces, so the SFP optical transceiver modules can be inserted into the SFP ports. Then the fiber cables can be used to connect the fiber switch to other networking equipment.

Advantages of SFP Fiber Switch
SFP fiber switch can provide a higher reliability and security than the RJ45 port switch. As we know, fiber cables transfer data in light, which is faster than the copper cables’ electronic transmission speed. And due to the special design of fibers, the SFP fiber switch generates less data loss and electromagnetic interference. Therefore, using an SFP fiber switch is better than the RJ45 port copper switch. For example, if the transmitting distance is more than 100 meters, copper cables like Cat5e or Cat6a is unable to reach. So you need the fiber cables which are often used to interconnect switches in multi-building deployments.

FS SFP Fiber Switch Cabling Solution
To meet the market demands, FS.COM has published a set of fiber switches and the corresponding cabling solutions. Here we take S5800-48F4S SFP fiber switch as an example. Before we learn its cabling solutions, let’s have a look at the fiber switch first.

This SFP network switch is a 10GbE switch. It’ s designed with 48 1GbE SFP ports and 4 10GbE SFP+ ports, which allows high performance routing, host and access protocol emulation. With the latency of 2.3us and switching capacity of 176Gbps, this Layer 3 switch is a great option for data centers. Its body is compact and made of sturdy material that complies with ISO9001, ETL, CE, FCC standards.


A completed cabling solution of a fiber switch includes transceiver and fiber cables. Here S5800-48F4S switch can support 1G SFP, 1GBASE-T and 10G SFP+ transceivers. So we list some supported transceivers as shown in table 1 for your reference.


Table 1

The following table 2 are the supported cables that can be used for connecting S5800-48F4S switch to other networking equipment.


Table 2

Conclusion
SFP fiber switch can actually improve overall speeds and responsiveness of one’s network. FS carries a full line of Gigabit Ethernet switch, including 8 port SFP fiber switch, 24 or 48 port fiber switch. Contact us via sales@fs.com for a free consultation on your networking needs and choose the suitable fiber switch based on your specific requirement.

Home Network Switch Buying Guide

Today, almost every home has built a home network which requires some basic hardware. The first important hardware for your home network is a data switch. It allows you to connect several computers and some other networking devices like printers, IP cameras together. Since there are so many data switches like 12 or 24 port switch on the market, which one is the right for your actual needs? Here focus on home network switch buying guide to help you find the best home network switch.

Benefits of Using Home Network Switch
For home use, one of the main advantages of using a data switch is that Ethernet connections will become much faster and more reliable, due to the higher bandwidth it can provide. As such, it’s perfect for things like gaming or transferring network files, and other real time application will perform better through the home network switch. For example, if there are several users in your home, then you can use the switch to share an Internet connection to all the users and all the connected devices at the same time. Also, you can use the network switch to build a home LAN. Then you can share any type of files maybe a music folder across your home network. Instead of transferring files on the Internet, other members of your home network can access the songs in the folder through the home network switch. This helps to simplify the transmission flow. In addition, you can add a guest VLAN to manage the guest’s access permission and ensure the Internet security.

Specifications Should be Considered Before Buying
Before you decide to buy a network switch for your network, here are some specifications you should pay attention to.

Speed
Network speed is always the most important performance that people concern most. Currently, the network switches are capable of handling 10,100 even 1000 Mbps transfer data, which is sufficient for home use. Therefore, choose the switch that can provide appropriate speed that you need.

Ports
The port number means how many networking devices can be connected to the switch. Network switches with 8 ports, 12 ports, 24 ports and 48 ports are available on the market. So select a switch with enough ports for your devices. If you’ll add more devices in the future, then choose a switch which will offer you extra room to grow.

Price
Price is always an important factor when buying anything. There are different types of switches on the market, such as the managed switch, unmanaged switch and Gigabit PoE switch, and their prices vary greatly. So you can establish a budget for your switch, thus you can narrow the buying scope and make a final decision.

Recommendations for Home Network Switch
Network switches with 24 ports are excellent for home use. Considering future upgrade, speed and ease of use, we choose FS S2800-24T4F as the best Ethernet switch for home networking. And we also recommend FS S1600-24T4F switch as an excellent budget option.

FS S2800-24T4F Switch
S2800-24T4F switch is a great option for home use and small business. It includes 24 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 copper ports and 4 1G SFP/RJ45 combo ports. The switch provides high performance with a packet forwarding rate up to 42Mpps. It supports multiple functions like VLAN, flash memory, etc. to make it easy for your network management. Besides, it adopts the fanless design and therefore it will not generate any noise, which is welcome in both homes and offices.

FS S1600-24T4F Switch
This is a Gigabit PoE+ switch features 24 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 Ethernet ports, 1 console port, 2 combo ports and 2 Gigabit SFP ports. The max power consumption of this switch is 600W. And another highlight of this switch is that it’s designed with green energy saving technology. Therefore it can save energy without sacrificing performance by sensing whether the ports are idle or not, and then power down the idle ports. It’s a great, standard switch with the plug-and-play design.

Conclusion
As described above, we know how to buy a home network switch. We can select one based on the speed, ports and budget. Using a network switch can help us optimize our home network. FS.COM is ready to help you purchase your new data switch. Feel like you need a direction, don’t hesitate to contact us via sales@fs.com.

What Is the Function of Patch Panel

As we know, patch panel is a passive device with a number of ports. It’s a cable management tool that most frequently used, typically in a data center. However, for some people, they are still confused about the function of patch panel, and post questions on forum such as what is the purpose of patch panel in networking, why not connect end device directly to switch? This article will help you find the answer.

How Patch Panel Works
Patch panels work in different ways due to the two types, fiber patch panel and copper patch panel. Usually, fiber patch panel is designed with ports both on the front and rear sides. Just insert the corresponding fiber cables into the ports, then you can achieve a neat cable management.

Figure 1: Fiber patch panel has ports on both sides.

Unlike the fiber patch panel, copper patch panel is divided into feed-through and punch down types. The feed-through panel contains RJ45 ports on two sides, which is convenient for users to plug the cables. And the punch down panel is equipped with Rj45 ports on the front side and punch down terminations and color coding on the rear side. Each set of punch down terminations corresponds to a port on the front side. So you have to terminate all cables into the patch panel first.

Figure 2: The rear side of copper patch panel.

Main Function of Patch Panel
As a cable management tool, the primary benefit of using patch panel is the improved organization and easier management of your network. But how? As the figure 3 shows, a patch panel is usually installed within a server rack. And you may encounter many or even thousands of fiber optic cables and cable connection. Using a patch panel, you can label the patch panel, so that you know which end device or room the cable run goes to. This will be helpful when you need to make changes on the cables.

Also, we can see that all cables on the server rack have a bend radius (a term used to describe how sharply a cable can safely bend at any given point). If the fibers bent beyond the minimum bend diameters may lead to break, causing network failures. Therefore, using a patch panel, the cables bend radius will be reduced, which can enhance the cables’ long term reliability.

As described above, we have learned the main function of patch panel is to provide a robust, reliable management solution and protect the cables. It doesn’t have any electrical or logical function like the network switch or router. Patch panel is solely a physical connection, which means patch panel can’t replace a switch or a router.


Figure 3: Cables are connected to the patch panel.

Where to Buy Patch Panel
FS.COM is the reputable source to buy patch panels. The following are some 1U patch panels I’d like to recommend to you.

1U Fiber Patch Panel
FS 1U fiber patch panels are designed with LC and SC ports. In order to meet different customers’ demands, FS has released 24 port patch panel and 48 port patch panel.


These 1U patch panels adopt the same material and design, but for different fibers connections. You can choose one according to your actual need.

1U Copper Patch Panel
FS provides Cat5e and Cat6 patch panels. Both are available in feed-through and punch down types. Here are the best-selling products.


The two products are used to connect unshielded copper cables. They share the same design. When you need to buy a copper patch panel, you should know what cables you want to connect, and this is very important.

Blank Keystone Patch Panel
If you need versatility of running different types of networking cable on a project, blank keystone patch panel is suitable for you. With a blank keystone patch panel, you can combine Ethernet cable, fiber cables through one patch panel. The following is a blank keystone patch panel from FS.COM. With no keystone jacks are pre-loaded into it, you can customize it according to your application.

Figure 4: Use blank keystone patch panel to make a mixed connection.

Conclusion
From the above, we know the main function of patch panel is to terminate all the cables, and provide a neat, reliable solution for cabling. When you want to buy one, please contact us via sales@fs.com.