Here are some more information for Gbic Switching:

Fiber Optic Transceivers And Its Classes

In the contemporary networking, fiber optics has been usually utilized, and selecting the right fiber optic transceivers for switches and routers are very crucial. Selecting the correct transceiver will depend entirely on its purpose, so don't be overwhelmed with the different types available on the market.

Let us first define the fiber optic and the different types of fiber optic transceivers. Basically, a fiber optic is a glass or plastic fiber that carries light. Generally utilized with Gigabit Ethernet and Fiber Channel is Gigabit Interface Converter or GBIC that translates SX, LX, LH, and other kinds of gigabit signals into a shared format. It calls for an SC type connector. Also a small hot-pluggable transceiver for Gigabit Ethernet and Fiber Channel is small form-factor pluggable or SFP. SFPs and GBICs are quite similar to each other only that the SFP is much smaller, and there are not as many kinds of SFPs available, compared to GBICs. An SFP needs an LC connector.

Currently, the single-mode fiber, and the multimode fiber are the two kinds of fiber optics that are normally used. The single-mode fiber optics has small cores, about 3.5 x 10-4 incches or 9 microns in diameter, and transmits infrared laser light with a wavelength of 1,300 to 1,550 nm. Because they emit 50 times further than multimode fiber optics, they cost more. On the other hand, the multimode fiber optics has larger cores, about 2.5 x 10-3 inches or 62.5 microns in diameter, and transmits infrared LED light and a wavelength of 1,300 to 1,550 nm.

The WS-G5483, WS-G484, WS-G5486, and WS-G5487 are some Cisco SFP transceivers available on the market. On the other hand, a few Cisco GBIC transceivers are the GLC-T, GLC-SX-MM, GLC-LH-SM, GLC-ZX-SM, and so many more. These Cisco SFPs and Cisco GBICs have different cable types, uses, connectors, and vary in maximum distances.

Fiber cables can be merged in combinations of 1000Base-T, 1000Base-SX, 1000Base-LX/LH, 1000Base-EX, 1000Base-ZX and so forth. These cables also utilize various types of connectors for different applications. But GBICs and SFPs more regularly use SC and LC connectors.

These are just some examples of the classes of fiber optic transceivers. There are many more available in your favorite fiber optics provider. Chose the correct fiber optic transceiver, whether it will be a Cisco SFP or a Cisco GBIC for your fiber optic network. The clever choice of such devices will definitely guide the realization of your networking.

www.opticfit.com

About the Author

Rahim Bidgoli is a honored writer for various technical industry authorities. He has spent the better part of her last 5 years announcing events, statistics, strategies, and other news. Bidgoli has been accredited globally with degrees from multiple countries. He speaks 3 languages and also has a strong finance background. Bidgoli is expected to play a big part in the technical infrastructure and urbanization journalism for years to come.

How do you stack 2 Cisco 3550 Catalyst switches?

I currently have 1 Cisco 3550 switch but have filled up all the GBIC ports with 2970 switches, i need more 2970 switches added to the LAN, i have another spare 3550 switch but need to know how to stack both 3550's to give me this greater capacity? I believe i need a Gigastack GBIC Connector to connect both 3550's together but what do i do then? How do i configure them? surely it's not as simply as plug and play? Any help would be appreciated.

As long as you're running a flat broadcast domain (no vlans), you can just plug the gigastacks into place, and life will be good. If you have a segmented broadcast domain, you will need to configure trunking along with specifying the trunking type (ie 802.1q)

Thanks for visiting!