Summary:
This article answers the question of interoperability between cnMatrix switches and standard SFP/SFP+ transceivers.
SFP/SFP+ Interoperability
cnMatrix Switches allow interoperability with all standard SFP/SFP+ transceivers, both OEM and company branded.
That is:
OEM: Finisar, JDSU, Avago, etc.
Company Branded: Cisco, Juniper, Avaya, etc.
Note that the difference is that Company Branded/Labeled transceivers take a standard OEM part and have it coded with additional information internally that can be read by a system (Company P/N, CLEI, etc).
There are switch companies that require branded transceivers to be used in their system, where they read the company field data, and allow/disallow operation based on those fields. cnMatrix Switches do not disallow.
The main reason for this it allows a customer to be able to use any transceiver they may already have on hand.
In our labs for SFPs (1G), for example, we have used:
Agilent HFBR-5710LP
Finisar FTLF8519P2BNL
Avago AFBR-5715PZ
For SFP+ (10G):
JDSU PLRXPL-SC-S43-AY
Finisar FTLX8571D3BCL
Likewise, 1G copper SFP transceivers are used in our lab as well:
Finisar FCLF-8521-3-N2
Avago/Agilent QBCU-5794R
We have tested with many other transceivers in our labs, as well as by our trial partners.
Do note that we recommend transceivers from trusted and established manufacturers. However, we do not go as far as making specific part recommendations to customers.