Cabling Requirements
Gigabit Ethernet
Appendix B
86
Gigabit Ethernet
Connectors
The connectors on La cards adhere to appropriate standards agreed upon by various
standards bodies and are widely available. The 1000Base-SX port is compatible with the
IEEE 802.3z standard and uses SC or LC connectors. The 1000Base-T port is compatible
with the IEEE 802.3ab standard and uses an RJ-45 connector.
Cabling
Incorrectly wired or installed cabling is the most common cause of communications
problems for local area networks. HP recommends that you work with a qualified cable
installer for assistance in your cabling requirements. Table B-1 summarizes the cabling
requirements for the 1000Base-SX and 1000Base-T products.
Back-to-Back Connection
When running 1000Base-T back-to-back at either 10 or 100 Mbit/s, you must use a
crossover cable configuration. At 1000 Mbit/s, you can use either a crossover or
straight-through cable.
Table B-1 Cabling for 1000Base-SX and 1000Base-T
Cable Description
(850nm short-wave laser)
Modal Bandwidth Operating Distance
62.5 micron multimode fiber
(MMF) cable
160 (MHz * km) 2 to 220 meters (6.6 to
722 ft)
200 (MHz * km) 2 to 275 meters (6.6 to
902 ft)
50 micron multimode fiber
(MMF) cable
400 (MHz * km) 2 to 500 meters (6.6 to
1640 ft)
500 (MHz * km) 2 to 550 meters (6.6 to
1804 ft)
Category 5 or Category 5E
unshielded twisted-pair
(UTP)
100 MHz Up to 100 meters
