Networking / AV-IT
SFP — Small Form-factor Pluggable
01 — Definition
The small hot-swappable transceiver module that carries fibre or high-speed copper links. The rates: 1 Gbps for SFP, 10 for SFP+, 25 for SFP28, 40 and above for QSFP. In fibre it is either multimode (short distance, orange/aqua cable) or single-mode (long distance, yellow cable); and for a short SFP+ run, a DAC cable does the job for less.
02 — In the field
An SFP from another brand is not always accepted by a given switch: some only take whitelisted modules. Use manufacturer-certified ones, or verify third-party compatibility before the event — an incompatible SFP will not negotiate a link.