Understand 100G Ethernet Standards

People want 100G Ethernet, meanwhile, they want to reduce the cost and increase the port density to the most. Driven by the combination of elements like that, 100G Ethernet standards and related optical transceivers have improved a lot in the past few years. As so many 100G Ethernet standards and package form factors are used, people might be confused by them easily. This post offers a detailed introduction about 100G Ethernet standards.

The first 100G Ethernet standard was approved in 2010. After that tremendous changes have happened in 100G technology in many aspects. The first generation of the 100G standards use the 10x10G lane in electrical signaling. For media signaling, some use 10x10G and some use 4x10G. The second generation 100G Ethernet standards apply 4x10G signaling for both electrical and media. In terms of transmission distances, different standards can support different transmission distance. Now there are more choices for transmission distances ranging from 1 meter to 40 kilometers. Meanwhile, the package form factors also changed a lot. The first 100G transceivers CFP is much larger than that of the new one QSFP28. To offer an intuitive way to illustrate these 100G Ethernet standards, I will list them in the following table.

Name	Distance	Media Type	Module Type	Media Signaling	Electrical Signaling	Standard
100GBASE-KP4	1m	Backplane	Backplane	4x25	4x25	June 2014 IEEE 802.3bj
100GBASE-KR4	1m	Backplane	Backplane	4x25	4x25	June 2014 IEEE 802.3bj
100GBASE-CR4	5m	Twinax Copper	CFP2, CFP4 QSFP28	4x25	10x10	June 2014 IEEE 802.3bj
100GBASE-CR10	7m	Twinax Copper	CXP, CFP2 CFP4, QSFP28	10x10	4x25	June 2010 IEEE 802.3ba
100GBASE-SR4	OM3: 70m OM4: 100m	Parallel MMF	CFP2, CFP4 CPAK, QSFP28	4x25	10x10	March 2015 IEEE 802.3bm
100GBASE-SR10	OM3: 100m OM4: 150m	Parallel MMF	CFP, CFP2, CFP4 CPAK, CXP	10x10	10x10	June 2010 IEEE 802.3ba
10x10-2km	2km	Duplex SMF	CFP	10x10	10x10	March 2011 10x10 MSA
10x10-10km	10km	Duplex SMF	CFP	10x10	10x10	August 2011 10x10 MSA
100GBASE-LR4	10km	Duplex SMF	CFP, CFP2, CFP4 CPAK, QSFP28	4x25	10x10	June 2010 IEEE 802.3ba
10x10-40km	40km	Duplex SMF	CFP	10x10	10x10	August 2011 10x10 MSA
100GBASE-ER4	40km	Duplex SMF	CFP, CFP2	4x25	10x10	June 2010 IEEE 802.3ba

The above table contains the 100G standards that published by IEEE and MSA, which are listed by the transmission distance from the top to the bottom. According to reports from many marketing reports, 100G optical component market will surge in 2016. FS.COM provide 100G solutions including transceivers, patch cable, cable management products, etc. Kindly contact sales@fs.com or visit FS.COM for more details about 100G Ethernet and products, if you are interested.

This post is originally published at: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/understand-100g-ethernet-standards.html

How to Connect Fiber Media Converter to Network

Fiber media converter is a device which can connect two types of medias, like copper to fiber optic and single-mode fiber to multimode fiber. As a cost-effective device that can connect two dissimilar cable media, it has been widely used in today’s network, especially FTTH systems. Although fiber media converters come into various types according to the parameters like data rate, interfaces, form factors, power options and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), the purposes to use fiber media converters in networks are usually simple. They are often used in pairs to extend a network over fiber by inserting a fiber segment into a copper network, or be used individually to accomplish the conversion between two different cable types. This post will introduce the connection guide of fiber media converters.

Interface Types of Fiber Media Converters

Before connecting fiber media converters, the interface of them should be firstly acknowledged. The following picture shows the most commonly used connectors that a fiber media converters may use. The ST connector is designed for fiber using a bayonet locking system. SC connector and LC connector are the most popular small-form-factor fiber connectors. The MT-RJ connector is a RJ-style connector which has a molded body. The RJ45 is the familiar to most people, which is designed for copper cable and can be found on most of our devices that need to be connected to the Ethernet. The above mentioned interfaces of the fiber media converters can be connected to the target devices directly by patch cords. However, for SFP, SFP+ and XFP transceivers, there are two methods for connecting the media converters to the network. The connection methods will be introduced in the following.

Connecting Fiber Media Converters to Network

There is one of the most important things about fiber media converters, which is they are often used in pairs. The two fiber media converters should be connected to each other for single transmission and conversion.

The above picture shows an application example of fiber media converters. For fiber media converters with fiber optic interface of LC/ST/SC/MT-RJ, the interfaces on the two media converters can be connected directly by a length of fiber optic patch cable that has the corresponding connector type. The RJ45 port of each media converter is connected to 10/100Base-TX HUB and computer server separately. The two fiber media converters should be supported by electricity.

For fiber media converter that has a SFP/SFP+ or XFP transceiver interface. The connection between the two media converters is a little bit different from the others. Two optical transceivers are needed. Additional optical transceiver should be inserted to the port firstly and then the two media converter should be connected via ports of the two optical transceivers. If the port support 10G and the transmission distance between the two converters is less than 100 meters, then a length of SFP+ to SFP+ AOC can be used.

Conclusion

The above mentioned fiber media converters connections are just the most basic methods. As there are a variety of media converters and their functions are different from each other. Connecting the fiber media converters largely depends on the practical using. Kindly visit FS.COM or contact sales@fs.com for more details. Our professional sales and technical support are willing to solve your problems about media converters.

Source: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/how-to-connect-fiber-media-converter-to-network.html

Commonly Used Fiber Optic Cleaners

As cleanliness of the interfaces in fiber optic networks can directly affect the transmission quality, fiber optic cleaning is a must-have process during fiber optic network installation, testing and maintenance. You should always keep it in mind. You need to clean the fiber optic interface on the test equipment and fiber optic connectors before you actually doing the test. You need to clean the fiber optic connector or interfaces regularly in your daily maintenance. Various fiber optic cleaning methods are created. No matter you use dry cleaning or wet cleaning, basic tools are needed. However, we might be confused during the selecting of the fiber optic cleaning tools, cause there are so many different kinds of fiber optic connectors, interfaces and working environments. This post is to introduce the most commonly used fiber optic cleaners for different kinds fiber optic connectors.

One-Click Fiber Optic Cleaner

One-click fiber optic cleaner is one of the most popular fiber optic cleaner which eliminate the use of alcohol or solvents. Thus, it can save time efficiently with excellent performance. I would like to call it “Click and Cleaned”. Here I will introduce how to used one click fiber optic cleaner firstly.

The following picture is the top of an one-click connector, the cleaning tip of the cleaner is covered with a guide cap for fiber optic connectors. A cover is on the top of the guide cap, which can provide protection to the cleaning tip combining with the guide cap.

If you need to clean a fiber optic connector, the guide cap plays the function of a fiber optic adapter. Insert the cleaning tip into the connector with the guide cap as shown in the following picture, and press the cleaner until you hear a click. Then a cleaning is done by fiber optic cleaner.

If you need to clean a fiber optic adapter, you should firstly remove the whole guide cap on the one-click cleaner. Then insert the cleaning tip into the adapter as shown in the following picture. Just by simple pressing, until you hear the click, a cleaning for a fiber optic adapter is done. It is very useful during test, cause the test equipment usually have an interface of adapter.

Different types of connectors might have ferrules of different sizes. Thus, there are also accordance fiber optic cleaners for various connectors. Introduces several popular one-click fiber optic cleaners for different connectors.

One-Click Cleaner for LC/MU 1.25mm Ferrules

• Price: $19.00
• Item Part Number: FS-CLK-1.25
• Package Form: One-click cleaner
• Target Use: LC, MU
• Cleaning Times: Over 800 times per unit

One-Click Cleaner for SC/ST/FC 2.5mm Ferrules

• Price: $19.00
• Item Part Number: FS-CLK-2.5
• Package Form: One-click cleaner
• Target Use: SC, ST, FC
• Cleaning Times: Over 800 times per unit

One-Click Cleaner for MTP/MPO Connector  

• Price: $48.00
• Item Part Number: CLE-MPO-600
• Package Form: One-click cleaner
• Target Use: MPO/MTP
• Cleaning Times: Over 600 times per unit

Reel-Type Fiber Optic Cleaner

Reel-type fiber optic cleaner contains a refillable lint free reel of cloth that is moved after each cleaning, always presenting a clean surface. Reel-type fiber optic cleaners come in different package forms, but most of them are cassette form.

This type of fiber optic cleaner is able to clean a wide rage of fiber optic connectors, which also avoid the using of alcohol or solvents. The following shows the basic structure of a reel-type fiber optic cleaner and its replacement tape. The cleaning with this cleaner is also very simple. Firstly depress lever to expose cleaning slot and cloth. Second, slide the connector end face gently. Third, keep connector perpendicular to cleaning surface. Then a cleaning is done.

CLE-BOX Fiber Optic Cassette Cleaner for LC/MU/SC/FC/ST/MPO/MTRJ

• Price: $21.00
• Item Part Number: FS-CLE-BOX
• Package Form: Cassette cleaner
• Target Use: LC, MU, SC, FC, ST, MPO, MTRJ
• Cleaning Times: Over 500 times per unit

Replacement Tape for CLE-BOX Fiber Optic Cassette Cleaner

• Price: $16.00
• Item Part Number: CLE-BOX-RT
• Package Form: Cassette cleaner
• Target Use: Replace tape for cassette cleaner
• Cleaning Times: Over 500 times per unit

The above mentioned fiber optic cleaners are just a small part of the cleaning product family and are generally for dry cleaning. Kindly visit FS.COM or contact sales@fs.com for more details about the wet cleaning for other fiber optic cleaning products.

Source: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/commonly-used-fiber-optic-cleaners.html

Double Density QSFP (QSFP-DD) Is Coming

Recently the building of QSFP-DD (Multi Source Agreement) Group has excited optical communication industry. This group, including 13 members which are all the leading vendors in the industry, like Cisco, Brocade and Finisar, aims to create a upgraded version of QSFP transceiver, which is called QSFP-DD ( double density QSFP) and will be able to support 200G/400G Ethernet.

Introduction

The QSFP-DD is similar to the current QSFP. But there are many differences between the current QSFP. The reason why the new transceiver is called "double density" is related to the current 100G QSFP28 transceivers. The "double density" means the doubling of the number of high-speed electrical interfaces that the module supports compare to regular QSFP28 module.

QSFP-DD and QSFP28

We can understand the QSFP-DD better by comparing it with the current 100G QSFP28 module. QSFP28 transceiver is a four-channel transceiver which is able to transmit and receive 100G per second simultaneously. With the advantages of high speed and low power, QSFP28 transceiver is becoming more popular than other 100G transceivers like CFP2 and CFP4. The 100G QSFP28 transceiver is implemented with four lanes with each supporting data rate of 25G.

The working principle of QSFP-DD is similar with 100G QSFP28 transceiver. The QSFP-DD MSA group will increase the lane to eight. There will be a row of contacts providing for an eight lane electrical interface in QSFP-DD. If modulated by NEZ, each lane of the QSFP-DD can support data rate up to 25G, thus, it can support a total data rate of 200G. If modulated by PAM4, QSFP-DD transceiver can support data rate up to 400G with each lane supporting data rate of 50G. The MSA group also announced that the QSFP-DD can enable up to 14.4Tbps aggregate bandwidth in a single switch slot, which can definitely satisfy the increasing need for higher bandwidth.

Another great feature of QSFP-DD is that its system will be backwards compatible, allowing them to support existing QSFP modules and provide flexibility for end users and system designer. This means the data center could save a considerable sum of money in the future upgrading.

Future and Present

The appearance of QSFP28 transceiver has changed the regular development road map of Ethernet. The regular upgrade road is 10G to 40G and then 100G. While the QSFP28 transceiver has changed it from 25G directly to 100G. The road map of this QSFP-DD is also drawing our attention. It is predicted that QSFP-DD will become a useful family of modules for the industry with application at greater than 400G. Meanwhile, there is no efforts underway to define these new speeds but it is expected that QSFP-DD will have a roadmap that supports.

Any way, no matter where the QSFP-DD lead our Ethernet to, it is good news for our future networking system. The creating of this new module will still need some time. For now, many data centers are considering about upgrading their data center with 100G QSFP28 transceivers. And there are a variety of switches which support QSFP28 interfaces on the market. However, 100G QSFP28 transceiver is still not cheap in the current market. For example, the price of a 100GBASE-SR4 QSFP28 transceiver is generally more than $2000.00. However, in FS.COM, supported by OEM, the price is much more favorable. A 100GBASE-SR4 QSFP28 transceiver only cost $650.00 in FS.COM. The following chart is detailed information of 100G QSFP28 transceivers in FS.COM.

FS P/N	Form Type	Data Rate	Wavelength	Max Cable Distance	Interface	Cable Type	DOM Support
100G QSFP28-SR4	QSFP28	103.1 Gbps	850 nm	100 m	MPO (MTP12)	MMF	Yes
100G QSFP28-LR4	QSFP28	103.1 Gbps	1310 nm	10 km	LC Duplex	SMF	Yes

For more details, please contact us at sales@fs.com or visit FS.COM.

Source: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/double-density-qsfp-qsfp-dd-is-coming.html

How to Take Full Advantages of Switches in Data Center

During data center upgrading or migration to higher data rate like 40G/100G, the network designer is always pursuing for flexibility. This is because devices or cabling components with great flexibility can not only decrease the cost for upgrading, but also provide more possibilities for the data center in the future. Switch has always been the most important device data center. Thus, a flexible switch should support a variety of transmission media and data rates, which could have significant positive influence during data center upgrading on cabling and costs. IBM G8264 switch is such a switch that is specially designed for data center, which is suggested to be used at layer 2 or layer 3, providing non-blocking line-rate, high-bandwidth switching, filtering, and traffic queuing without delaying data. However, to make full use of these switches, you should select proper connection components and cabling plans. This post will take IBM G8264 switch as an example to illustrate how to take full advantages of the switches in data center.

Understand Your Switch—IBM G8264 Switch

The first step to make full use of a switch is to have a full understanding of the switch you are using. There are many ways to understand your switch. While the most direct method is to understand the ports on the switches. This method also works for IBM G8264 switches. As shown in the following picture, which is the front panel of IBM G8264 switch, the most outstanding part of the switch is the 48 SFP/SFP+ ports. It occupied most space on IBM G8264 switch front panel. These ports can support data rate of 1G/10G. Four QSFP+ ports for 40G are beside these SFP/SFP+ ports. There are three another ports for other use on the from panel: one 10/100/1000 Ethernet RJ45 port for out of band management, one USB port for mass storage device connection and one mini-USE console port for serial access.

IBM G8264 Connection in Data Center

It is clear that IBM G8264 switch can support data rate of 1G, 10G and 40G. The following parts illustrate how to connect IBM G8264 with the target devices in 1G, 10G, and 40G network separately in details. During the cabling in data center, distance is always a factor that cannot be ignored. The transmission distance required, can largely decide the cabling components selection.

1G Connection of IBM G8264 Switch

To accomplish the 1G connection of IBM G8264 switch and target devices, there are several methods according to transmission distance and transmission media (fiber optic or copper). For distance up to 100 meters, RJ-45 1000BASE-T SFP transceivers with UTP Cat5 cables are suggested, cause they are based on copper and is cheaper than fiber optic components. However, if you want reach a longer distance with good transmission quality, it would be better to use fiber optic cable and optical transceiver. By using 1000BASE-SX SFP optical transceivers with multimode fiber, the transmission distance is up to 220 (62.5 μ multimode fiber) meters and 550 meters (50 μ multimode fiber). For long distance transmission, single-mode fiber optic cables are suggested to be used with 1000BASE-LX SFP optical transceivers, which can connect IBM G8264 switch with the target devices that are 10 kilometers far away. The following chart is the detailed product solutions for IBM G8264 1G connection.

Transmission Media	Module	Cable & Connector	Distance
Copper Cable	BN-CKM-S-T: SFP 1000BASE-T copper transceiver	RJ45, Cat5 cable	100 m
Fiber Optic Cable	BN-CKM-S-SX: SFP 1000BASE-SX optical transceiver	LC duplex, MMF	220 m(50μ multimode fiber)
			550 m(62.5μ multimode fiber)
	BN-CKM-S-LX: SFP 1000BASE-LX optical transceiver	LC duplex, SMF	10 km

10G Connection of IBM G8264 Switch

As mentioned, IBM G8264 switch supports 10G configuration. For 10G, there are mainly two methods: using DACs (direct attach cables) or using transceivers and patch cords. The beauty of using DAC is the eliminating of transceivers and reduction of cost. However, the transmission distance is limited to 7 meters by using DACs. If longer distances are required, 10GBASE-SR transceiver used with OM3 multimode fiber can support transmission distance up to 300 meters. If 10GBASE-SR transceiver is used with OM4 fiber optic cable, distance up to 400 meters could be reached. Using 10GBASE-LR transceiver with single-mode fiber optic cable, IBM G8264 switch can be connected with target devices that are 40 kilometers away.

If the 10G ports number cannot satisfy the requirements, the one QSFP+ port on IBM G8264 can be split into four 10G ports, by using QSFP+ DAC breakout cables for distances up to 5 meters. For distances up to 100 meters, optical MTP-to-LC break-out cables can be used with the 40GBASE-SR4 transceiver. Kindly check the following table for IBM G8264 switch 10G cabling components solutions.

Data Rate	Modules	Cable & Connector	Distance
10G-10G Connection	BN-SP-CBL-1M: SFP+ Copper Direct Attach Cable (1 meter)		0.5-7 m
	BN-SP-CBL-3M: SFP+ Copper Direct Attach Cable (3 meter)
	BN-SP-CBL-5M: SFP+ Copper Direct Attach Cable (5 meter)
	BN-CKM-SP-SR: SFP+ 10GBASE-SR Short Range Transceiver	LC duplex, MMF	300 m(OM3)
			400 m(OM4)
	BN-CKM-SP-LR: SFP+ 10GBASE-LR Long Range Transceiver	LC duplex, SMF	40 km
40G-10G Connection	BN-QS-SP-CBL-1M: QSFP+ DAC Break Out Cable (1 meter)		5 m
	BN-QS-SP-CBL-3M: QSFP+ DAC Break Out Cable (3 meter)
	BN-QS-SP-CBL-5M: QSFP+ DAC Break Out Cable (5 meter)
	BN-CKM-QS-SR: QSFP+ 40GBASE-SR Transceiver	MTP-to-LC break-out cables	100 m

40G Connection of IBM G8264 Switch

For 40G connection, both fiber optic connection and copper connection can be built by using different components. A 40GBASE QSFP+ to QSFP+ DAC can provide connection between IBM G8264 and target devices up to 7 meters. With multimode fiber optic cables, distance up to 100 meters (OM3) and 150 meters (OM4) can be reached, when using with 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceivers. For long distance 40G transmission, 40GBSE-LR QSFP+ transceiver and single-mode fiber optic cable with LC connectors are suggested. Related components for IBM G8264 switch are concluded in the following chart.

Modules	Cable & Connector	Distance
49Y7884: QSFP+ 40GBASE-SR Transceiver	MTP connector, MMF	100 m(OM3)
		100 m(OM4)
00D6222: 40GBASE-LR4 QSFP+ Transceiver	LC connector, SMF	10 km
BN-QS-QS-CBL-1M: QSFP-to-QSFP cable (1 meter)		1-7 m
BN-QS-QS-CBL-3M: QSFP-to-QSFP cable (3 meter)

Conclusion

To make full used of the switches in data center with great flexibility, both the selection of switch and cabling solutions is very important. IBM G8264 as a switch with great flexibility is an ideal solution for data center upgrading to 40G. The above mentioned modules and cables are all provided by FS.COM, which are IBM G8264 compatible and are fully tested on the IBM G8264 switches. Kindly contact sales@fs.com for more details, if you are interested.

This post is originally published in my blog: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/how-to-take-full-advantages-of-switches-in-data-center.html 

Cisco ME 3400 Series Switches Cabling Solution

Cisco is the leading provider of switches in telecommunication industry. Its switches cover a wide range of applications. One of them is deigned for Metro Ethernet application, which is widely used and known as Cisco ME 3400 series. It is a series of switches which support data rate ranging from 10 M (Mbps) to 1000 M (1 Gbps) with advantages of safety, flexibility, simple deployment and trouble shooting in network. There are several Cisco ME 3400 switch modules with different configurations to satisfy different market needs. The following table is the detailed port information of these switches.

Switch Model	Port Information
Cisco ME 3400-24TS-AC	24 10/100 FastEthernet ports and 2 SFP module ports, AC power
Cisco ME 3400-24TS-DC	24 10/100 FastEthernet ports and 2 SFP module ports, DC power
Cisco ME-3400-24FS-A	24 100BASE-FX SFP module ports and 2 Gigabit Ethernet SFP module ports, AC power
Cisco ME 3400G-12CS-AC	12 dual-purpose ports and 4 SFP module ports, AC power
Cisco ME 3400G-12CS-DC	12 dual-purpose ports and 4 SFP module ports, DC power
Cisco ME 3400G-2CS	2 dual-purpose ports and 2 SFP module ports, AC power

Ports On Cisco ME 3400 Switches

Although Cisco ME 3400 has a variety of port configurations, there are mainly three types of ports on the panel rear of Cisco ME 3400 switches concluded from the above table. They are RJ45 port, SFP port and dual-purpose port. The following part will illustrate how to use these ports to connect Cisco ME 3400 switches in network.

RJ45 Ports on Cisco ME 3400 Switches

It is widely known that RJ45 port are based on copper. The RJ45 Ethernet ports on Cisco 3400 switches can be connected with 10Base-T, 100Base-TX, or 1000Base-T devices via copper cables that are attached with RJ45 connector (shown in the above picture). One of the benefits of using these ports is that they can configure themselves to operate at the speed of attached devices from 10 M, 100 M to 1000 M. If the attached ports do not support auto-negotiation, the specific speed and duplex parameters can be set to the required value.

SFP Ports on Cisco 3400 Switches

The SFP ports on Cisco ME 3400 switches are base on either fiber optic or copper. For a fiber optic connection, a fiber optic SFP module should be plugged in the SFP port firstly, then one end of fiber optic cable with fiber optic connector (usually LC connector) should be inserted into the interface of the SFP module (shown in the above picture). Then insert the other cable end into a fiber optic connector on the target device. When the status LED of the port turns green a fiber optic link is established. If the connection is based copper cable, copper SFP module and copper cable attached with RJ45 connectors should be used to link the switch and target device. Two Cisco ME 3400 switches could be connected with SFP module patch cable (as shown in the following picture).

Dual-Purpose Ports on Cisco ME 3400 Switches

A big highlight of Cisco ME 3400 switches is its dual-purpose port. Please note that only Cisco ME 3400G-12CS-DC/AC and Cisco ME 3400G-2CS have such kind of ports. Literally, dual-purpose can be used in two different ways. One is for fiber optic connection and one is for copper connection. These ports can be can be configured as either 10/100/1000M ports or as SFP module ports according to the needs. The switch dynamically selects the media type for each dual port (10/100/1000BASE-T or SFP). When a link is achieved on one media type, the switch disables the other media type until the active link goes down. If links are active on both media, the SFP module port has priority. The following picture shows part of the Cisco ME 3400G-12CS dual-purpose ports. The Cisco ME3400G-2CS switch dual-purpose ports are similar to those shown in this section.

The following picture shows both fiber optic cable and copper cables connection with Cisco ME 3400G-12CS via dual-purpose ports. For the RJ45 ports, RJ45 connector and copper cable are used. For the SFP ports, both fiber optic connection and copper connection can be achieved by using fiber optic SFP module and copper SFP module separately. Thus, Cisco ME 3400 switches armed with dual-purpose ports can greatly increase it flexibility during cabling and network designing.

Cisco ME 3400 Series Switches Cabling Guide

As Cisco ME 3400 series switches could be connected to a variety types of network and devices, customer might be confused during the selecting of cables, connector and modules. The following table offers the detailed information how to connect Cisco ME 3400 switches to the network.

Port Type	Data Rate	Connectors/Modules & Cables
RJ45 Ports	10BASE-T ports	RJ-45 connectors, two-pair Cat 3, 4, or 5 unshielded twisted-pair (UTP)
	100BASE-TX ports	RJ-45 connectors, two-pair Cat 5 UTP
SFP Ports	100M	GLC-GE-100FX	LC duplex, MMF
		GLC-FE-100FX
		GLC-FE-100EX	LC duplex, SMF
		GLC-FE-100ZX
		GLC-FE-100LX
		GLC-FE-100BX-D	LC simplex, SMF
		GLC-FE-100BX-U
	1000M (1G)	GLC-SX-MM	LC duplex, MMF
		GLC-SX-MMD
		SFP-GE-S
		GLC-EX-SMD	LC duplex, SMF
		GLC-LH-SM
		GLC-ZX-SM
		GLC-ZX-SMD
		GLC-LH-SMD
		SFP-GE-Z
		SFP-GE-L
		CWDM SFP
		DWDM SFP
		GLC-BX-U	LC simplex, SMF
		GLC-BX-D
			RJ-45, Cat 5
		GLC-T
		SFP-GE-T

All the above mentioned products can be provided in Fiberstore (FS.COM). If you are interested please contact sales@fs.com or visit FS.COM for more details.

Source: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/cisco-me-3400-series-switches-cabling-solution.html

Connect Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches to Network

Cisco Catalyst 3750 series switches are widely used in today’s access layer of the network, which can provide Ethernet speed of Gigabit. There are a variety of configurations in this series of Cisco switches. They can fit different applications and offering forward data rates from 32G to 128G by using Cisco StackWise technology. It is an economical solution to many midsize enterprises and office. However, to make full use of these switches, how to connect them to network becomes very important. This post will illustrate Cisco Catalyst 3750 series switches connection in details.

Do You Know Cisco Catalyst Series Switches?

The ports on switches decide what types of connectors and cables can be connected with the switches. Thus, let’s get a close look at Cisco Catalyst 3750 switches ports details first. As mentioned, one of the biggest advantages is that Cisco Catalyst 3750 can support Cisco StackWise technology. Up to nice physical Catalyst 3750 switches can be interconnected into one logical switch with a high performance of 32G or 128G. This is largely depending on the StackWise ports on the rear panel of the switch as shown in the following picture.

Another great advantage of Cisco Catalyst 3750 switch is its great flexibility and adaptability owning to its various configurations. The Ethernet ports of Cisco Catalyst 3750 can support data rage from 10M to 1G. For instance, or example, Cisco Catalyst 3750G-12S contains 12 SFP ports, Cisco Catalyst 3750G-24TS-1U has 24 Ethernet 10/100/1000 ports plus 4 SFP uplinks in 1 rack unit (RU) height, Cisco Catalyst 3750G-48PS is armed with 48 Ethernet 10/100/1000 ports with IEEE 802.3af PoE and 4 SFP uplinks. The following picture shows the detailed ports information of Cisco Catalyst 3750G-48TS, which has 48 Ethernet 10/100/1000 ports and 4 SFP uplinks.

Connecting Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switch to Network

There are mainly two types of ports on Cisco Catalyst 3750 switches: RJ45 and SFP. Different cables and connectors are used to connect the switches to network. The following will offer detailed information about how to connect these ports.

Cisco Catalyst 3750 Switch 10/100/1000 Ports Connection

10/100/1000 Ports on Cisco Catalyst 3750 are RJ45 ports, which should be connected with copper cables (as shown in the following picture). For different applications, the cable types are also different. For example, when connecting Cisco Catalyst 3750 to workstation, servers, router, the straight-through cables are suggested to use with RJ45 connector. When it the switch is connected to repeaters, crossover cable is recommended. When connecting to 1000Base-T-compatible devices, be sure to use a twisted four-pair, Cat5 cable.

Cisco Catalyst 3750 Switch SFP Module Ports Connection

Most Cisco Catalyst 3750 switches have several SFP ports on their front panel. They can support Gigabit Ethernet, by using SFP modules related. Both copper and fiber optic links can be built with these ports and SFP modules. If connected with fiber optic 1000Base-LX or 1000Base-SX SFP modules a link supporting Gigabit Ethernet based on fiber optic can be built. If connected with copper SFP module like 1000Base-T, a copper link will be built. The following picture illustrates the connections with fiber optic SFP module port and Copper SFP module port from left to right separately.

Cabling Solution for Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches

More related cables and modules that Cisco Catalyst 3750 switches supporting are listed in the following chart for your reference.

Port Type	Data Rate	Connectors/Modules & Cables
RJ45 Ports	10BASE-T ports	RJ-45 connectors, two-pair Cat 3, 4, or 5 unshielded twisted-pair (UTP)
	10BASE-T PoE ports	RJ-45 connectors, two-pair Cat 3, 4, or 5 UTP cabling power pins 1, 2 (negative) and 3, 6 (positive)
	100BASE-TX ports	RJ-45 connectors, two-pair Cat 5 UTP
	100BASE-TX PoE ports	RJ-45 connectors, two-pair Cat 5 UTP, power on pins 1, 2 (negative) and 3, 6 (positive)
SFP Ports	100M	GLC-GE-100FX	LC duplex, MMF
		GLC-FE-100FX
		GLC-FE-100LX	LC duplex, SMF
		GLC-FE-100BX-D	LC simplex, SMF
		GLC-FE-100BX-U
	1G	GLC-SX-MM	LC duplex, MMF
		GLC-SX-MMD
		SFP-GE-S
		GLC-EX-SMD	LC duplex, SMF
		GLC-LH-SM
		GLC-ZX-SM
		GLC-BX-D
		SFP-GE-Z
		SFP-GE-L
		CWDM SFP
		DWDM SFP
		GLC-BX-U	LC simplex, SMF
		GLC-T	RJ-45, Cat 5

All the above mentioned products are fully tested in FS.COM Test Center. Please contact sales@fs.com for more details.

Source: http://www.fiber-optic-tutorial.com/connect-cisco-catalyst-3750-series-switches-to-network.html