What Is SFP+ Switch And How to Choose It for Home Use?

10G for home use is more and more commonly. When setting up the 10G network for home, people may pay much attention on the SFP+ switch, including its type, performance, price, etc. But do you really know what the SFP+ switch is and how to choose it for your home use?

What Is an SFP+ Switch?

As a network switch, SFP+ switch is used for directing the bandwidth of the network connection to multiple network wired devices. It is also called 10gb switch or 10 Gigabit switch, because it can support up to 10Gb uplink connection. Usually, SFP+ switch works at the data link layer (layer 2) or the network layer (layer 3) of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model. That’s to say, some 10Gb switches may be the Layer 2 switch, and some may be the Layer 3 switch.

SFP+ switch

Figure 1: SFP+ switch

SFP+ Switch vs. 10GBASE-T Switch

For 10Gb switch solutions, SFP+ switch and 10GBASE-T switch are two popular choices. 10GBASE-T is an interoperable, standards-based technology that uses RJ45 connector. It can provide backwards compatibility with legacy networks. While SFP+ fiber switch offers little or no backwards compatibility. However, the SFP+ switch uses less power consumption than 10GBASE-T switch. Moreover, SFP+ switch offers better latency with about 0.3 microseconds per link while 10GBASE-T latency is about 2.6 microseconds per link. The last but not the least, the price of 10GBASE-T switch is dramatically dropped down now, so it is cheaper than SFP+ switch. All in all, if cost, flexibility and scalability are more important for you, 10GBase-T solution may be your ideal choice. If you want to lower power consumption and latency, you’d better consider SFP+ solution.

How to Choose SFP+ Switch for Home Use?

When choosing an SFP+ switch for home use in the market, you’ll find there are many options. Here is a guide for you.

Port type – The 10G switch often comes with 10G SFP+ ports, RJ45 or SFP combo ports, and a console port. 10G SFP+ ports are used for uplinking connections and combo ports are deployed for accessing networks. The count of the main ports often come with 8, 12, 24 or 48. Besides, the 8-port and 12-port SFP+ switches are commonly used for home. You can choose a suitable one based on your need.

Performance – 10G switch is a high-compatibility and network-scaling application. It supports advanced features, including MLAG, SFLOW, SNMP, etc. And it facilitates the rapid service deployment and management for both traditional L2/L3/IPv6 networks. You can make a choice according to the detailed features such as the angles of switching capacity, power budget, and switching layer.

Vendor – A reliable vendor can not only offer good-quality switches, but also can help customers solve other problems such as cost, network solutions and so on. Famous brands like Cisco, HP and Dell provide 10Gb switch at the higher price in the market. While some 3rd-party vendors like FS.COM can offer low price but quality switches. If you have cost problem or want to get cost-effective products, you can consider the reliable 3rd-party vendors.

Summary

This article presents some basic information about SFP+ switch for home use. FS provides comprehensive 10G switch solutions, including 10Gb switch, optical transceivers, and cables. If you want to know more about 10Gb switch solutions, welcome to visit FS.COM.

Related Article: Choose 10GBASE-T Copper Over SFP+ for 10G Ethernet

10GbE Switch for Small and Medium Business

The current information ear is and will continue to be in full swing while pulsed by networking high traffic and applications. Meanwhile, with productivity greatly improved by technologies like VLAN, Cloud Computing and IEEE 802.11ac, gigabit Ethernet switch can no longer bear the high pressure in enterprise-class data centers, SMBs and even homes. In this circumstance 10GbE network is required for meeting the demands. And as a core component, 10GbE switch is dispensable for 10G network upgrade. So here provides a guide for buying 10GbE switch for SMB and offers some cost-effective 10gbe switches for your selection.

Overview of 10GbE Switch for SMB

For the high expense out of advanced performance required by 10GbE network, the purchase market of 10GbE switch is generally not very optimistic for SMBs. Searching on many forums and communities for 10Gb switch, we can see Cisco switches are always the hot topic. However, one will hesitate to pick Cisco and some other brand-name 10GbE switches especially for SMB out of budget concerns. In this regard FS specially designed a series of 10Gb switches for SMBs under cost-effectiveness and equal performance concerns. By deploying such 10GbE switch to your SMB network, one can benefit from reduced response time, smooth operation in high traffic and improved work efficiency.

10GbE Switch for SMB Buying Considerations

Based on budget saving of SMBs, here are some considerations for choosing an affordable 10GbE switch.

·Port Quantity

In the market the 1/10Gb switch is often equipped with 4 × SFP+ uplink ports for 10G uplink network, which is very suitable for small, medium and some start-up business. For the demand of remaining your gigabit for 1G devices, you should also consider about the gigabit ports with 12/24/32/48 ports for selection.

·Stackable Ability

Stackable 10GbE switch is very common in network upgrade for simplified management and link aggregation. Taking FS S3900 Series managed stackable switches as example. With 6 × S3900-24T4S 10Gb switches stacked together to work as a whole system, operators no longer need to control each switch individually but managed it as a single switch with one console port. Moreover, it will become very easy to add and remove any switch from the stacking system.

·Managed or Unmanaged

Unmanged 10GbE switch is a configuration fixed plug-and-play switch, which not supports any customized configuration. Managed 10Gb switch has partly managed smart switch and fully managed switch option. Generally, for optimized performance of 10G network, managed switch is dispensable for SMB to ensure smooth operation in heavy workload. Also, it provides traffic control, customization and security monitoring.

·PoE or Non-PoE

Getting rid of extra power cable for connecting devices with power outlet, PoE 10GbE switch provides placing flexibility to powered devices such as IP phones and wireless access points. For instance, FS S1600-48T4S 48 port PoE+ switch with 4 × 10G SFP+ ports can supply power to a series PDs with PoE budget up to 600W. However, if power supply is not a question, one can pick non-PoE for budget saving.

FS 10GbE Switch Options for SMB

After explaining the aforesaid factors for 10GbE switch selection, we’ll give you a clue for affordable options of 10Gb switch. For SMBs and home labs, the most cost-effective solution is to pick up gigabit switch with 10G uplink rather than 10G core switch. Here we recommend you such managed 10GbE switches, ranging from 1000Base-T copper switch or SFP switch with 24/48 ports and PoE availability.

1/10GbE Switch P/N Port Quantity Managed Stackable
Copper Switch S3900-24T4S 24 × 1000Base-T RJ45, 4 × 10G SFP+ Yes Yes
Copper Switch S3900-48T4S 48 × 1000Base-T RJ45, 4 × 10G SFP+ Yes Yes

For SMB with a very tight budget, one can go for S3900 Series. S1600-48T4S 10Gb switch is also a cost-saving way to go for PoE technology. It is noted that SFP switch often costs more than copper switch, but owns higher switch class and functionality. Say, S5800-48F4S 10GbE switch is a layer2/3 SFP switch, natural fit for applications of data centers as carrier access switch. It has low latency and advanced features such as MLAG and SFLOW.

Conclusion

For 10GbE switch option of small to medium business, budget is always a big concern. Based on this regard, one should consider buying gigabit Ethernet switch with 10G uplink. Further, taking a comprehensive consideration of the number of port, managed ability, PoE and stackability will make the best decision of 10Gb switch.