HP ProCurve Tech Brief: 10-Gigabit Ethernet Cabling

5
To extend the current distance limitation of 15 m for
10GBASE-CX4, ProCurve has introduced a 10-GbE
optical media converter to extend the supported
distance up to 300 m. These converters snap directly
to the CX4 port and receive power through the CX4
connector to ease implementation for customers.
The fiber cable used is 12-fiber 62.5 μm or 50 μm
multimode ribbon cable terminated by standard
Multiple Terminations Push-Pull Latch (MTP™)
connectors in a simple crossover configuration. These
cables are generically known as Multi-Fiber Push On, or
MPO, cables.
ProCurve can now provide much higher flexibility
and 10GBASE-SR distance at half the price using a
10GBASE-CX4 switch port.
10-GbE transceivers
IT professionals must also consider the devices that
connect their cabling to their network. Transceivers
provide the interface between the equipment sending
and receiving data and the cabling transporting it. Just
as there are distinct cabling technologies that coincide
with distinct gigabit technologies, various transceivers
are also available to match each gigabit standard.
Both gigabit and 10-GbE technologies have “pluggable”
transceivers. For gigabit technology, there are two
defined transceiver types: Gigabit Interface Connector
(GBIC) with its large metal case for insertion into low-
density interface modules and units (switches), and the
newer “mini-GBIC” or Small Form Factor Pluggable
(SFP).
10-GbE has five defined transceiver types. These
transceivers are the result of Multi-Source Agreements
(MSAs) that enable vendors to produce IEEE 802.3ae-
compliant pluggable transceivers. The five types are:
• XENPAK—the first 10-GbE pluggable transceivers on
the market to support the IEEE 802.3ae standard
transmission optics. They are large and bulky, and
are mainly used in LAN switches. These transceivers
are “hot-pluggable” and support the new IEEE
802.3ak copper standard with vendors now
producing transceivers to connect CX4 cables.
• XPAK—used primarily in network interface cards
(NICs) and host bus adapter (HBA) markets for use in
servers and NAS devices.
• X2—the smaller brother of the XENPAK pluggable
transceivers, the X2 form factor is about two-thirds
the size of the XENPAK. With the same “hot-
pluggable” specifications and supporting all the
10-GbE standards (including copper), the X2 form
factor allows for more port density on switches. X2 is
being used by ProCurve and Cisco, thereby providing
customers with a strong sense of assurance that this
technology is the best choice for today and will have
strong vendor support.
Utilizing CX4 optical media converters
Extends 15 m to 300 m distance
Lowest cost solution
Simple to implement
Fiber reliability
Data center
CX4 switch
High-availability
backbone
High-density
wiring closets
Multimode fiber
> 15 m to 300 m