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I'm looking to connect a Promise SanLink 10GbE SFP NIC to a Cisco 10GbE switch. My general question is whether the transceivers need to match. In other words, do I need to find a transceiver which is both compatible with the Cisco switch and the Promise? Obviously I intend on the wavelength and speed matching, but I wasn't sure if the model and brand need to match as well.

I'm more experienced in Fiber Channel infrastructure, less so in 10GbE. I've had issues in the past when mixing two different Brocade SFPs. I had one Brocade SFP in my fiber switch and a different Brocade model SFP in the interface, which ended up linking but causing a huge decrease in speed. I was wondering if the same holds true for 10GbE SFPs. Thanks!

Cornelius Qualley
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2 Answers2

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Simple answer: No.

You don't need to match Brand or Model, 10GbE is usually not as picky as FC.

bjoster
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Each device will need a transceiver that it's happy with, but they don't need to match at opposite ends of the link. (several manufacturers, and Cisco is one, read out the data in the module's EEPROM and refuse to use it if it isn't "approved". This only applies to the module that's physically plugged into the SFP+ cage on the device, though. There is no way for a device to determine who made the SFP+ module on the other end of the link.)

alex.forencich
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