Fake SFP and the Third Party SFP

It appears to be an old topic that whether using compatible SFP transceiver is reliable. We have previously discussed this topic couple of days ago. For certain, the reply is affirmative. In this paper we discuss Faked SFP and the Third Party SFP. As examples, there are Cisco SFP module and Brocade SFP module.

It Is A Faked SFP?

Like a break pad an SFP is somewhat a consumable. Light is converted into an electric signal and vice versa, produces heat and the components wear out over time. Some sooner, some later. When you bought the SFPs from Cisco for a switch under Cisco warranty or maintenance, broken SFPs will be substituted for free. However, if you simply decide to purchase an SFP, you will find after having a quick web search that there are lots of supplier out there providing the same SFP for a much cheaper price than Cisco. And with "the same SFP" I mean they provide exactly the same Cisco part number - for example SFP-GE-L . That's an Cisco 1000BASE-LX SFP 1310nm 10km EXT DDM Transceiver Module.

Really The Same SFP?

Absolutely not - even though they claim it to be the same. Their usual explanation is, that all these SFPs are coming from the same manufacturer anyway. SFPs are built using open standards based on T11 and for that reason they must be compatible per se. I can tell from several occasions: That's not true. There is obviously more than one SFP manufacturer and I'm sure each of you know a handful offhand. In addition: Even in times before 8G there were SFPs working much better with certain switches than others.

Utilizing the 8G platform Brocade decided to offer Brocade branded SFPs and restricted their switches to only support them and to refuse others (beside of very few exceptions for CWDM SFPs). So Brocade took control over which SFPs can be used and they were able to fine tune their ASICs to allow better signal handling and transmission. To enforce that the switch checks the vendor information from the SFP to determine if it's a Brocade branded one. Cisco does the same thing for the SFPs in their switches.

Faked SFP vs Third Party SFP

First, we must realize that Third Party SFP isn't faked SFP. If you are seeking further savings on your own network, consider Third Party SFP. When you purchase from a vendor with their own in-house shop, and guaranteed warranty, you get a purchase that's as reliable as new, at a fraction of the original costs. In my opinion, if you have enough budget, It is best to buy the original one. It doesn’t mean that the compatible one is as not good as the original one but you could save more time in thinking about this question. If you care about the cost, compatible one is the best choice, I suggest you choose the OEM manufacturers.

OEM manufacturers Recommendation

Fiberstore is a OEM manufacturer that provide customized solutions for fiber optics needs, As a Cisco OEM SFP transceiver provider, they offer a series of Cisco comaptible SFP modules which can be equivalent to Cisco GLC-T, Cisco GLC-SX-MM, Cisco GLC-LH-SM, Cisco GLC-ZX-SM, and Cisco CWDM SFP, Cisco DWDM SFP, etc. All their SFP transceivers are 100% compatible with major brands as follows and backed by a lifetime warranty.