SFP Transceivers

The small form-factor pluggable (SFP) transceiver is a compact, hot-pluggable optical module transceiver used for both telecommunication and data communication applications. The form factor and electrical interface are specified by a multi-source agreement (MSA) under the auspices of the Small Form Factor Committee, a popular industry format jointly developed and supported by many network component vendors. An SFP interface on networking hardware is a modular (plug-and-play) slot for a variable, media-specific transceiver to connect to fiber optic cable or copper cable. SFP transceivers exist supporting SONET, Gigabit Ethernet, Fiber Channel and other communications standards. Due to its smaller size, the SFP has replaced the gigabit interface converter (GBIC) in most applications, and is sometimes referred to as a Mini-GBIC.