GLC-SX-MM VS GLC-SX-MMD VS GLC-SX-MM-RGD VS SFP-GE-S

Cisco is a worldwide leader in the telecommunication industry whose routers, switches are very welcome among the users. To work well with those Cisco networking applications, Cisco SFP transceivers are the best choice. GLC-SX-MM, GLC-SX-MMD, GLC-SX-MM-RGD and SFP-GE-S are different types of Cisco 1000BASE SFP transceiver module. All these transceiver modules comply with IEEE 802.3z 1000BASE standard. And since there are similar specifications for these four transceiver modules, users may be confused when they need to choose one SFP module for their Cisco switches. Here we’ll make a comparison of GLC-SX-MM, GLC-SX-MMD, GLC-SX-MM-RGD and SFP-GE-S transceiver modules to help you choose the suitable one.

Which transceiver module will you choose?

Cisco Transceiver Datasheet
Here are the datasheets of these four different Cisco SFP transceiver modules.

GLC-SX-MM Datasheet
The GLC-SX-MM is programmed to be fully compatible and functional with all intended Cisco 1GB switching devices. This transceiver module operates on ordinary multimode fiber optic link spans of up to 550 meters in length.


GLC-SX-MMD Datasheet
The GLC-SX-MMD 1000BASE transceiver module is made for multimode fiber only. It’s the replacement of GLC-SX-MM which features an enhanced DOM interface. And this SFP fiber transceiver module operates on legacy 50 µm multimode fiber links up to 550 meters.


GLC-SX-MM-RGD Datasheet
The GLC-SX-MM-RGD transceiver module is designed for Industrial Ethernet applications, including factory automation, intelligent transportation system and other deployments in hash environment. Compared with the ordinary transceivers which can endure the temperature ranging from 0 to 70°C，CLC-SX-MM-RGD can survive in the temperature from -40 to 85°C. It can support up to 550 meters of cabling.


SFP-GE-S Datasheet
The Cisco SFP-GE-S transceiver provides a high performance and cost-effective small form factor pluggable module for 1000BASE-SX Gigabit Ethernet and 1G Fiber Channel application. It’s designed for short wavelength applications. The max distance for this transceiver module is 550 meters. Besides, it also supports DOM.


Differences of GLC-SX-MM VS GLC-SX-MMD VS GLC-SX-MM-RGD VS SFP-GE-S
From the above Cisco transceiver datasheet, we have learned that these Cisco transceiver modules share many similarities. All of them can support up to 550 meters over multimode fibers. And they are designed with the same 850m wavelength, Tx power and LC duplex interface. The main difference is the DOM (Digital Optical Monitoring) function and operating temperature.

·DOM function
Except GLC-SX-MM, all the others support DOM. With this function, users can monitor the transceiver module’s parameters in real time like optical input and output power, temperature and so on.

·Operating Temperature
GLC-SX-MM, GLC-SX-MMD and SFP-GE-S can work at the same temperature ranging from 0 to 70°C. But GLC-SX-MM-RGD SFP transceiver can work in a wider operating temperature of -40 to 85°, which is especially suitable for industrial Ethernet switches.

Conclusion
According to the above discussion, we can say GLC-SX-MM, GLC-SX-MMD, GLC-SX-MM-RGD and SFP-GE-S transceivers share many similarities. However, please note that the differences still exist, and ensure the transceiver module you choose will be compatible with the existing networking equipment. FS.COM is the one-stop shop to help you get these Cisco transceivers and other networking products that are compatible with the Cisco transceivers. If you have any questions in buying guide, please contact us via sales@fs.com.

10G Network Switch Price Comparison

10G network switches are quite popular on the market since our modern business and home networking applications have become increasingly digital. However, it’s not easy to choose the best network switch for your network need from the abundance of available switches, and the network switch price varies greatly. Here focus on 10G network switch price comparison, to help you select a cheap network switch.



10G Network Switch On the Market
Defined by IEEE 802.3ae standard, 10 Gigabit Ethernet has become affordable for most companies, and 10Gb Ethernet switch has become their best choice for easing network pressure. A typical network switch has many ports to connect different devices like PCs, printer, etc. at the same time. And the ports are connected to the host separately. Then transmission medium such as transceiver modules, cables are inserted into the ports. And the network switch uses the ports to transmit data at a quick rate to the Ethernet devices on the other end. According to different connections, here we will discuss two kinds of 48 port switches from different vendors. One kind of network switch requires fiber cable connection, and the other kind needs copper cable connection.

These are two products of 48 port switches which rely on fiber cable connection. Cisco WS C3850-48XS-S switch has 48 SFP+ ports that support up to 10G, and 4 QSFP ports that support up to 40G. FS S5850-48S6Q switch has 48 10GbE SFP+ ports and 6 40GbE QSFP+ ports.

These are two products of 48 port switches which rely on copper cable connection. Netgear XS748T 48 port 10G switch includes 44 10GBase-T ports and 4 10G SFP+ ports. FS S5850-48T4Q switch is designed with 48 10GBase-T ports and 4 40GbE uplink.

10G Network Switch Price Comparison of Different Vendors
The following table 1 summarizes the Cisco and FS network switch price and compares the fiber network switches performance.


Table 1

From the table, we can see clearly that both of them are Layer 3 switches that support SFP+ and QSFP+ ports. Switching capacity of FS S5850-48S6Q switch is much more bigger than that of the Cisco WS C3850-48XS-S switch. However, the price between them varies greatly. Cisco WS C3850-48XS-S network switch price is almost the double of FS S5850-48S6Q network switch. Therefore, FS product is the cost-effective one.

Table 2 compares 48 port switches from Netgear and FS.COM.


Table 2

The two Ethernet switches are connected by copper cables. Forwarding rate of FS S5850-48T4Q network switch is bigger, which means it can process more network packets than the other one. Besides, FS S5850-48T4Q switch can support 40GbE uplink. Therefore, although FS S5850-48T4Q network switch price is a little higher than Netgear XS748T switch, I recommend you choose the FS product for its better performance.

Conclusion
From the above, we compare the network switch price from different vendors. FS switches are the highly cost-effective choice. FS.COM covers everything you need to make your network stronger and bigger, including 24 port switch, patch panel, transceiver module and so on. So raise your network with FS networking products.

What Is DWDM？

The Internet demand is always growing, especially the hugely popular video streaming services are increasing greatly. This provides a threat for the service provider. As the hottest topic in the telecommunication industry, DWDM offers unprecedented bandwidth which promises an effective solution to the challenges posted by the Internet growth. But what is DWDM, do you really know？

What Is DWDM?
DWDM wiki has defined it as an optical multiplexing technology. As one wavelength pattern of WDM system (the other pattern is CWDM), it stands for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing, which is used to increase bandwidth over existing fiber networks. This powerful technology can create multiple virtual optical fibers, so as to increase bandwidth on existing fiber optic backbones. It means that the fiber in DWDM system can transmit multiple signals of different wavelengths simultaneously. More specifically, the incoming signals are assigned to specific wavelengths within a designated frequency band, then the signals are multiplexed to one fiber. In addition, the most commonly used grid is the 100GHz grid, which consists of a spacing of 0.8nm per channel.

After knowing what is DWDM, we need to learn DWDM architecture. A typical DWDM architecture includes transmitter, receiver, optical amplifier, transponder, DWDM multiplexer and demultiplexer. Transmitter and receiver are the place where the source signal comes in and then multiplexed. Optical amplifier can amplify the signals in the wavelength range, which is very important for DWDM application. Transponder is the converter of wavelength. It’s responsible for converting the client optical signal back to an electrical signal. Multiplexer first combine multiple wavelengths of different fiber to one fiber, and at the receiving end, the demultiplexer separates all wavelengths of the composite signal onto individual fibers. Commonly, channels of DWDM Mux/Demux are available in 8, 16, 40 and 96 channels. All the DWDM basics work together to enable high capacity data flow in ultra-long distance transmission. The following figure is DWDM working principle.



Why Use DWDM Technology?
The most obvious advantage of DWDM technology is providing the infinite transmission capacity, which would meet the increasing Internet demand. And more capacity can be added just by upgrading several equipment or increasing the number of lambdas on the optical fiber. Thus, the investment of DWDM technology has been reduced. Besides, DWDM technology also enjoys several other advantages, like the transparency and scalability.

Transparency. Due to DWDM is a physical layer architecture, it can support Time Division Multiplex and data formats like Gigabit Ethernet, Fiber Channel with open interfaces over a physical layer.

Scalability. It’s easy to be expanded. A single fiber can be divided into many channels, thus there is no need to add extra fiber but the wavelength will be increased. All these advantages make DWDM popular in the network.

Application of DWDM
As a new technology more applications of DWDM are yet to be tapped and explored. It was first deployed on long-haul routes. And now, DWDM technology is ready for long distance telecommunication operators. Using point to point or ring topology, the capacity will be dramatically improved without deploying an extra fiber. In the future, DWDM will continue to provide a higher bandwidth for the mass of data. With the development of technology, the system capacity will grow.

Conclusion
As for the question what is DWDM, I believe you have a good understanding of it. This powerful technology is related closely with current industry advancements trend. Now, service providers are faced with the sharp growth in demand for network capacity, DWDM is the best solution. With DWDM technology, the transmission work is no longer limited by the speed of available equipment, because it provides the high bandwidth without limit. We believe, DWDM will shine in the network world.

The Truth About Single Mode Fiber Types

OS1 and OS2 single mode fibers are the essential communication medium that works by delivering optical signals in extremely pure glass or plastic fiber. However, for the layperson, all fiber cables look like the same, with differences hidden in their dimensions. But if you study deeper, there are countless changes between them, such as the performance, cost and so on. And choosing the right fiber optic cable is also critical. In this post, I’d like to focus on single mode fiber types.

What Is Single Mode Fiber?
Single mode fiber optic cable is a type of fiber optic cable, which features a core diameter of nominally 9µm. This is the most basic difference between single mode and multimode fibers. Due to its small diameter, there’s only one transmission mode of light. Thus, compared with the multimode fiber, single mode fiber prohibits light reflection so that attenuation of signal could be reduced and offers the highest transmission speed. As a result, light in single mode fiber can go further, which means its transmission distance is longer. In addition, the core number of single mode fiber includes 24, 48, 72, 96 and so on. And you can customize the fiber product with the specific core number.



Figure: Single mode fibers are connected in a patch panel.

Single Mode Fiber Types: OS1 VS OS2
OS1 and OS2 fiber are the two single mode fiber types that are generally well known today.

What Is OS1?
OS1 is an indoor cable that uses the tight buffered cable construction. And this single mode fiber is compliant with all ITU-T G.652 standards including ITU-T G.652A, ITU-T G.652B, ITU-T G.652C, ITU-T G.652D. In general, the maximum attenuation of OS1 can achieve 1.0 dB/km.

What Is OS2?
OS2 is an outdoor loose tube fiber optic cable. It’s widely used in outdoor applications where the cabling process applies no stress to the optical cables. Unlike OS1, OS2 cables just meet the ITU-T G.652C or ITU-T G.652D standards. And the maximum attenuation of OS2 is 0.4 dB/km. Therefore, the maximum transmission distance of OS2 is much longer than that of OS1, and OS2 fiber optic cable price is higher than OS1.

OS1 VS OS2: Differences
The difference between OS1 and OS2 are quite clear. They have different construction, standards, attenuation and transmission distance. As a result, OS1 and OS2 are applied in different applications. OS1 is commonly used in a campus or data center, whereas OS2 is applied in outdoor constructions like the street etc.

How to Choose Single Mode Fiber Types
Knowing single mode fiber types can help us to choose the suitable fiber cable. Transmission distance is always the most important part when buying the cable. Besides, fiber optic cables price is also very critical when making the final choice. When you need fibers for indoors application, choose OS1. And choose OS2 for outdoors uses. However, considering that there’s not a big difference between OS1 and OS2 price and future’s network upgrade, I recommend you choose the OS2 fiber which has better performance. The following is single mode fiber optic cable price comparison between FS.COM and another vendor.


We can see, FS.COM offers OS2 fibers with reasonable price and good quality.

Conclusion
OS1 and OS2 are the two single mode fiber types used in telecommunication infrastructure. When you decide to buy single mode fiber cables, consider the transmission distance and price based on your actual need. FS.COM offers you fiber products with good quality and favorable price. For further information on optical fiber products, please contact us via sales@fs.com.

Best Way to Set Up Ethernet Switch and Mesh Network

Want to connect all your wired and wireless devices and expand your network with ease? Setting up an Ethernet switch and mesh network may be the best way. Because today it becomes increasingly difficult to use only a router to make your all connections since the approach of IoT. However, Ethernet switch and mesh network will function adequately no matter how many connections you want to make. Here focus on the Ethernet switch and mesh networking.

Why Mesh Networking?
Unlike the stand-alone routers, which will arise signal loss or strength drops when you go away from them, while mesh Wifi networks can use another connection to create a continuous wireless link which minimizes the possibility of dead zones. For example, you put your router in the downstairs living room. When you are on the first floor, your phone can connect to the Internet with a strong signal. But when you want to search the Internet in the upstairs office, the signal would degrade. Of course, you can boost a Wifi router’s connection with a signal amplifier. But in that situation, you have to manually connect your phone to the amplifier’s Wifi network. And if you go back to the downstairs, you have to switch back to the main router’s wireless network again. What a pain! Luckily, working with mesh Wifi networks, things are different. In a wireless network, all the nodes are connected with each other which means any node could be an Access Point (AP). Therefore, through the APs, wireless mesh network allows your phone automatically connects to the strongest signal no matter you are in the upstairs or downstairs. That’s better than what we could do with the traditional router Wifi networks.



Figure 1: Mesh network exists in our life.

When to Set Up Ethernet Switch and Mesh network
If you want to build a wireless mesh network, using an Ethernet switch is a good choice. Before installation, you should consider how much coverage you need in your home. For many people, the money might be better spent on a Wifi router with good quality, since the mesh network equipment like the switches cost too much. But if you want to cover a large area with signal and your home brick is too solid for signal travel through, then use a switch to build wireless mesh network is a way to go.

Use FS Ethernet Switch to Build Mesh Network
Achieving a cheap mesh network is based on switches. FS.COM publishes a set of Gigabit Ethernet switch supporting 1G, 10G, 40G and 100G Ethernet, in order to meet different demands. All the Ethernet switches meet all design and safety standards made by international and industrial organizations like ISO9001, FCC etc.

The following is a 10Gb switch named S5800-48F4S. It has 48 1GbE SFP ports and 4 10GbE SFP+ ports. This switch is a Layer2/3 switch with low latency of 2.3us. With the switching capacity, it provides a throughput of 130.95MB. Besides, it supports functions like MLAG, SNMP and so, making it becomes popular on market. Following the S5800-48F4S switch installation guide, you can easily finish the switch installation. Then you can configure the bridge parameters of AP according to the installation instructions to build a mesh network.



Figure 2: S5800-48F4S 48 Port Ethernet Switch

Conclusion
Due to mesh network advantages and disadvantages, we understand why and when to use wireless mesh network. Based on Ethernet switch, mesh networking can spread out fast Wifi across a relatively large area, which makes our life and work more efficiently. So don’t hesitate, pick one Ethernet switch from FS.COM to optimize your Wifi network.