Small Form-factor Pluggable: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:20, 14 November 2023

Revision as of 11:44, 1 December 2023

Line 6:

[[file:SFP board 2.jpg|thumb|Small Form-factor Pluggable connected to a pair of [[fiber-optic cable]]s]]

'''Small Form-factor Pluggable''' ('''SFP''') is a compact, [[hot swapping|hot-pluggable]] network interface module format used for both [[telecommunication]] and [[data communications]] applications. An SFP interface on [[networking hardware]] is a modular slot for a media-specific [[transceiver]], such as for a [[fiber-optic cable]] or a copper cable.<ref name="pcmag"/> The advantage of using SFPs compared to fixed interfaces (e.g. [[modular connector]]s in [[Ethernet switches]]) is that individual ports can be equipped with different types of transceivers as required, with the majority including [[Optical line terminal|OLTs]], [[Network cards]], [[Network Switch|Switches]] and [[Router (computing)|Routers]].

The [[Form factor (design)|form factor]] and electrical interface are specified by a [[multi-source agreement]] (MSA) under the auspices of the [[Small Form Factor Committee]].<ref name="sfpmsa"/> The SFP replaced the larger [[gigabit interface converter]] (GBIC) in most applications, and has been referred to as a '''Mini-GBIC''' by some vendors.<ref name="Cisco MGBSX1"/>