The rapid growth of the data center requires a higher performance server, from 100M, 1G, 10G to 40G and 100G, high-speed Ethernet has never stopped the pace of development. The standard of 10G Ethernet (IEEE802.3ae) had been approved in 2002. In the 10G network, engineers are often confused about choosing fiber or copper. This article will analyze three 10G network solutions for you to refer to.

10G solution

Three 10G solutions to 10G network

1. 10G SFP+ optical module

SFP+ optical module uses duplex LC interface, can be used in fiber cabling to work with LC fiber jumper. It provides a variety of 10G Ethernet connect options for the data center, enterprise distribution cabinet and service provider transmission. Generally the wavelength can be categorized into 850nm, 1310nm and 1550nm.

2. 10G SFP+ high speed cable

10G SFP+ high speed cable is the commonly used components for the data center top-of-rack cabling, used for connecting small access switches and servers.10G SFP+ high speed cable is a low-cost solution for alternative optical modules, used for achieving short-distance high speed interconnection with the characteristics of low power consumption and low latency.

3. 10GBASE-T SFP optical module

10GBASE-T SFP optical module uses unshielded or shielded twisted pair cable to achieve 10G connection in the case of up to 100 meters, applicable to copper cabling. Using 10GBAST-T SFP can easily realize the upgrade from 1GbE to 10GbE. The use of 10GBASE-T SFP optical modules is due to the fact that the network cable is still more common and is cheaper than the fiber jumper, but the fiber jumper need to be used if the transmission distance is more than 100 meters.

10G SFP+ to SFP+ high speed cable solution

10G SFP+ to SFP+ high speed cable is based on SFP+MSA (Multi Source Agreement), and adopts copper coaxial cable which at both ends with SFP + connector, provides 10 Gigabit Ethernet connection between two network devices. In short, it integrated SFP + connector with copper coaxial cable, is a low loss, energy-saving, efficient and low cost interconnection solution. 10G SFP+ to SFP+ high speed cable available in a variety of lengths, the max length can reach 10m, it is the best cable choice for 10 Gigabit Ethernet connection.

Comparison of SFP+ and10GBASE-T

	SFP+	10GBASE-T
Power/10G/s 40nm	0.7W	5W
Power/10G/s 28nm	0.7W	3.5W
Power short range	0.7W	2W
Max reach	300m	100m
Cable/Fiber type	Standard LC-LC MMF	Standard Cat6 A
Connector on the panel	SFP+ -electrical	RJ45-electrical
connectivity	10GEth switch, NIC	10GEth switch, NIC
Connector size latency	13.55mm x 8.55mm 0.3 usec	14.2mm x 9.1mm 2-2.5 usec (1.6RX,0.6TX) (depends on cable length)
Cross-talk sensitivity	None	High

Advantages of 10G SFP+ to SFP+ high speed cable relative to 10GBASE-T

1. Lower latency

10G SFP+ to SFP+ high speed cable ensures the best optical performance and the lowest signal latency. Under the development trend of the data center, it can support wired infrastructure to handle latency-sensitive applications anywhere. Compared with 10GBASE-T technology and alternative SFP + technology, it is obvious that SFP+ is the best technology to guarantee that gain the lowest latency and the best performance from the data center.

The number of links	SFP+ high speed cable latency	SFP+ optical module latency	10GBASE-T SFP optical module latency
1	0.3	0.1	2.6
2	0.6	0.2	5.2
3	0.9	0.3	7.8
4	1.2	0.4	10.4
5	1.5	0.5	13.0
6	1.8	0.6	15..6

2. Lower power consumption

10G SFP+ to SFP+ high speed cable reduced power consumption. SFP + technology provides much less power than 10GBase-T technology, and the costs can be significantly saved when the cable deployment in the data center increases from 1000 to 10000, this solution will be more cost-effective.

While a 10 gigabit Ethernet network or 10G Network adds a tenfold increase in performance, there are some needs and challenges of 10G networks need to be improved in the future.

According to the article above, 10G SFP+ optical module and SFP+ high speed cable solutions are more suitable for 10G data centers than 10GASE-T SFP optical modules, but 10GbE is not the final destination. Cozlink (cozlink.com) provides data center interconnection of high-speed direct connection solutions, especially 10G SFP + to SFP + high-speed cable solution, not only reduces power consumption, but increases the network scalability as well.