Know Your Cables and Transceivers.

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Common Terminologies

Modal Bandwidth – Maximal signaling rate for a given distance or the maximal distance for a given signal. Calculated as the product of bandwidth and distance (MHz.km).
Patch Panels – Hardware units with multiple ports, each connecting to a different location, allowing for the organization of a group of cables. They are passive devices.
Form Factor – In the context of transceivers it refers to the size, shape and electrical interface of the device.
- Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP): They are compact optical or copper modules used in networking equipment to transmit and receive data over single channel of fiber optic or copper cables.
- Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable (QSFP): Compact optical transceiver module that supports four independent channels of data transmission over fiber optic cables.
- Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable Double Density (QSFP-DD): Supports eight channels of data transmission.
Attenuation – Reduction in signal strength or intensity as it travels through a medium such as an optical fiber or transmission line.
Channel – Combination of independent data paths used to receive and transmit data.
Baud Rate – Measure of the rate at which data is transmitted over a communication channel and typically expressed in symbols per second (baud).

There are three major interconnect types.

Direct Attach Copper Cable (DAC): Has two electrical interfaces at the end of a copper cable.
Active Optical Cable (AOC): Has two electrical interfaces at the end of an optical cable made of optical fiber.
Transceiver Module+Connector+Transmission Cable(Optical /Copper)