The enhanced small form-factor pluggable (SFP+) is an enhanced version of the SFP that supports data rates up to 16 Gbit/s. As we all know, SFP+ can support 8 Gbit/s Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 16G Fibre Channel. Therefore, there are three common SFP+: 8G SFP+, 10G SFP+ and 16G SFP+. In this text, I will mainly introduce the 10G SFP+ transceiver to you.
Introduction of 10G SFP+ Transceiver Standards
10 Gigabit Ethernet is a group of computer networking technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of 10 gigabits per second. It was first defined by the IEEE 802.3ae-2002 standard. Over the years the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 working group has published several standards relating to 10G SFP+ transceiver. Among these standards, in terms of the optical fiber, they can be seen clearly in the following table:
| Interconnect | Media Type | Wavelength | Max range |
| 10GBASE-SR | Multi-mode fiber | 850 nm | 300 m |
| 10GBASE-LR | single-mode fiber | 1310 nm | 10 km |
| 10GBASE-LRM | Multi-mode fiber | 1310 nm | 220 m |
| 10GBASE-ER | single-mode fiber | 1550 nm | 40 km |
| 10GBASE-ZR | single-mode fiber | 1550 nm | 80 km |
Specifications of 10G SFP+ Transceiver
10G SFP+ transceivers are multi-purpose optical modules for 10Gbit/s data transmission applications at 850nm, 1310nm and 1550nm. Since 10 gigabit ethernet is used more and more widely, there are a lot of manufacturers produce 10G SFP+. The following table shows the specifications of 10G SFP+ from Fiberstore, which provides these products at the best quality but the lowest price.
| Model Number | Transceiver Description |
| SFP-10G85-3M-xx | 10GBASE-SR SFP+ for MMF, 850-nm wavelength, up to 300m |
| SFP-10G31-10-xx | 10GBASE-LR SFP+ for SMF, 1310-nm wavelength, up to 10km |
| SFP-10G31-20-xx | 10GBASE-LR SFP+ for SMF, 1310-nm wavelength, up to 20km |
| SFP-10G31-2M-xx | 10GBASE-LRM SFP+ for MMF, 1310-nm wavelength, up to 220m |
| SFP-10G31-2-xx | 10GBASE SFP+ for MMF, 1310-nm wavelength, up to 2km |
| SFP-10G31-40-xx | 10GBASE SFP+ for SMF, 1310-nm wavelength, up to 40km |
| SFP-10G55-40-xx | 10GBASE-ER SFP+ for SMF, 1550-nm wavelength, up to 40km |
| SFP-10G55-80-xx | 10GBASE-ZR SFP+ for SMF, 1550-nm wavelength, up to 80km |
| SFP-10G55-100-xx | 10GBASE SFP+ for SMF, 1550-nm wavelength, up to 100km |
Note: 10GBASE-LR has a specified reach of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi), but 10GBASE-LR optical modules can often manage distances of up to 25 kilometres (16 mi) with no data loss.
CWDM SFP+ and DWDM SFP+ are all operate on 10 Gigabit Ethernet
Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) is a technology which multiplexes a number of optical carrier signals onto a single optical fiber by using different wavelengths of laser light. WDM is divided into different wavelength patterns, conventional/coarse wavelength-division multiplexing (CWDM) and dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM). CWDM and DWDM SFP+ are transceiver modules which are combined the CWDM or DWDM technology. This kind of SFP+ can allow you to expand your networks capacity without the need for physical fibre optic cabling.
- CWDM SFP+
CWDM SFP+ series single mode transceiver is small form factor pluggable module for bi-directional serial optical data communications such as IEEE 802.3ae 10GBASE-LR/LW/ER. The following table shows the specifications of CWDM SFP+ from Fiberstore:
| Model Number | Transceiver Description |
| CSFP-10GXX-10-xx | 10GBASE CWDM SFP+,1270nm~1330nm wavelength, up to 10km |
| CSFP-10GXX-10-xx | 10GBASE CWDM SFP+,1350nm~1610nm wavelength, up to 10km |
| CSFP-10GXX-20-xx | 10GBASE CWDM SFP+,1270nm~1330nm wavelength, up to 20km |
| CSFP-10GXX-20-xx | 10GBASE CWDM SFP+,1350nm~1450nm wavelength, up to 20km |
| CSFP-10GXX-40-xx | 10GBASE CWDM SFP+,1270nm~1450nm wavelength, up to 40km |
| CSFP-10GXX-40-xx | 10GBASE CWDM SFP+,1470nm~1610nm wavelength, up to 40km |
| CSFP-10GXX-60-xx | 10GBASE CWDM SFP+,1270nm~1450nm wavelength, up to 60km |
| CSFP-10GXX-60-xx | 10GBASE CWDM SFP+,1470nm~1610nm wavelength, up to 60km |
| CSFP-10GXX-80-xx | 10GBASE CWDM SFP+,1470nm~1610nm wavelength, up to 80km |
- DWDM SFP+
The DWDM SFP+ is specifically designed for carriers and large enterprises that require a scalable, flexible, cost-effective system for multiplexing, transporting and protecting high-speed data, storage, voice and video applications. DWDM enables service providers to accommodate many hundreds of aggregated services of any sub-rate protocol without installing additional dark fiber. DWDM SFP+ transceiver is therefore the choice for the highest-bandwidth applications. The following table shows the specifications of DWDM SFP+ from Fiberstore:
| Model Number | Transceiver Description |
| DSFP-10GXX-40-xx | 10GBASE 100GHz DWDM SFP+ for SMF, up to 40km |
| DSFP-10GHXXX-40-xx | 10GBASE 50GHz DWDM SFP+ for SMF, up to 40km |
| DSFP-10GXX-80-xx | 10GBASE 100GHz DWDM SFP+ for SMF, up to 80km |
| DSFP-10GHXXX-80-xx | 10GBASE 50GHz DWDM SFP+ for SMF, up to 80km |
Conclusion
10G SFP+ transceivers are used in Ethernet switches, routers, firewalls and network interface cards. Storage interface cards, also called HBAs or Fibre Channel storage switches, also make use of these modules. For high bandwidth, CWDM SFP+ and DWDM SFP+ will be the tendency in the future.