The Four Types of 25G Transceivers You Need in Your Network


12.16.21

We’ve had 10 Gbps for a long time. So long in fact that consumers can buy 10G switches for about $100. At that saturation level, you can tell that businesses are transitioning to new technologies offering higher speeds. This is where 25G comes into play! The form factor looks just like a normal SFP/SFP+, but the ports are capable of 1Gbps, 10Gbps, and 25Gbps. This is really convenient because your legacy optics are hardware compatible with the new ports!

Two Advantages to 25G Transceivers

Of course, the ability to work over the existing fibers that are already in place is a big help too.

Speaking of your existing fiber plant, there are lots of options available today and even more coming. If you’re a small business, research facility, datacenter, or MSO, 25G is the natural growth path.

 

The Standard Offerings in “Graywave”:

  • SFP28 SR – Using an OM4 multimode fiber pair can take 25G connections to 100 meters. 70 Meters with OM3.
  • SFP28 IR – connections up to 2km over a singlemode fiber pair
  • SFP28 LR – connections up to 10km over a singlemode fiber pair
  • SFP28 eLR – connections up to 20km over a singlemode fiber pair
  • SFP28 ER – connections up to 40km over a singlemode fiber pair
  • SFP28 ZR – 80km (and beyond) over a singlemode fiber pair (coming soon!)

These are available in C-temp and I-temp variations. While ZR 80km optics are not available yet, they are in development and are something we could see hitting the market sometime in 2022.

“But what if I’m fiber constrained?”, you may ask.  Or what if your facilities need more than the 25G per fiber pair? Don’t worry. Bidirectional transceivers (AKA BiDis) come in 25G as well! Over a single fiber, these are available in 10km, 20km, and 40km distances. Branch offices can function as if they were right next door. Increase your in-building distribution speeds without running new fiber and get more out of the infrastructure you already have.

For those working with Passive filters to absolutely make the most of your fiber, 25G is available in the CWDM and DWDM space as well.

When you consider the costs and term commitments of adding additional dark fiber, it works out better to add channelized WDM optics and passive filters. Now more than ever with 25G CWDM and DWDM options emerging.

Of course, 25G is also breaking into the WDM space. CWDM is currently only available in fixed channels at 10km, but further reaches are right around the corner. DWDM is more mature, with 10 and 40km variants and 25G tunables are currently in Integra’s R&D!

Datacenters aren’t left out either! The variety of Direct Attach Copper cables (DAC] and Active Optical Cables (AOC) also have ready-for-prime-time offerings.

25Gb varieties provide diverse options in terms of lengths and breakouts.

  • 25G to 25G
  • 100G to 4x 25G
  • 200G to 8x 25G
  • All in distances up to 100m!

Whether your customers’ connection speeds are increasing and you don’t want to be the bottleneck or you are leasing more fiber and it is becoming costly, the age of 25G proliferation is here and Integra Optics can get you up to speed! Talk to one of our optics experts today about our 25G transceiver solutions.