[c-nsp] Cisco SG400XG 10GE switch

[Troy Lucero]

Hi Phillip,

The spec sheet on the SG500XG says it will only accept 40km transceivers, but here's one secret that not many know about:  Your SG500XG will actually go 80km (or 120km for that matter.)

This is because Cisco's software often superfluously prevents an optic from coming online, thereby limiting customers to shorter distance transceivers.  In this case, Cisco is offering a  lower cost "small business" switch without giving them too much power over their infrastructure.

Without a doubt, Cisco benefits by limiting the # of switches that accept high-end gbics.  (Note that dwdms, cwdms, bidi, ER & ZR are all commonly not listed as "compatible" even though they are.)
 
To get around this our engineers will code a ZR 80km SFP+ that will work in the SG500XG (as one example).  Honestly, the trick is to convince the switch that your ZR optic is actually an LRM so the software does not block it from coming online.  This can be done for almost any transceiver in any switch, and that's how we bypass Cisco's arbitrary software limitations.  :-)

Full disclosure, Phillip.  I work for a company that builds wholesale optical transceivers, but that is not my primary purpose!  I post here infrequently and just hope to help.  That said, we are the better than anyone in the field.  I am digressing - but feel free to ping me off the list for a sample sfp.

Troy Lucero


> Hi everyone,
> 
> This is a bit of a long shot, I know...
> 
> Does anyone have any experience of using the Cisco SG500XG 10GE switch 
> with (long haul - ie 80km) ZR optics?
> 
> Cisco don't list the SFP+ as a supported one in the spec (just goes up 
> to 40km).
> 
> I'm just wondering if I can use this switch as a "repeater" in some 
> long haul 10GE links. The idea was to put a simple managed switch in 
> so that it'd be easier troubleshooting individual spans (if required) 
> than putting in an unmanaged device like a 10Gbase to 10GBase optical 
> line converter (with two 10G ZR SFP+)
> 
> Thanks for any suggestions!
> 
> philip