I'm trying to get buy-in to go with Arista for some new infrastructure, but the Arista optics just aren't in the ballpark for us at "proof-of-concept" volume. In Cisco-land, we've had great success using Finisar optics, and they've been an easy "sell" to management since many Cisco optics are just rebranded Finisar's.
The relevant Arista optics I'm looking at are QSFP-100G-LR4 and SFP-10G-LR. Does anybody know what supplier(s) manufacture these optics for Arista? Alternatively, does anyone have any experience using third-party comparable optics (especially the 100G) in the battlefield?
Since optics sales are pretty cut-throat, I do ask that you disclose if you have a financial interest in any of your suggestions.
Last I heard, EOS locks out non-Arista optics by default. You have to contact support for instructions to enable 3rd party modules.
I’m running all Arista cables/optics - at the point when we ordered the pricing was competitive with 3rd party, but that was several years ago and the vendor was hungry.
We have good experience with Flexoptix. You can brand them yourself
using their (free?) USB box to any vendor you want, including Arista.
Not sure if they have QSFP's yet, but we have CFP-LR4's running
successfully on multiple paths of our backbone.
As for the OP’s question, I’ve run Cisco OEM, Brocade OEM, and a number of different 3rd party SFP/SFP+s in the few Arista switches we operate with no issues. Arista OEM is likely the same 2-3 vendors that make or have made Cisco’s optics. It’s all been 10GBASE-SR, -LR, and 1000BASE-T, though. No 40GbE or 100GbE.
Note that if you see something you don't like (the price, the
compatibility, or whatever) then do get in touch with them; they can be
extremely accommodating.
Luma Optics has Arista Compatibles available. Please bear in mind some versions of Arista OS do not accept compatibles. We are happy to discuss our findings with you.
They used to lock in, but optics have gotten so competitive that they aren't pushing it anymore. They have a list of optics they interop with, and will give you an unlock code with your order.
If you are going to be using Flexoptics copper SFPs, be aware that if you
are on the latest code revision 4.15.x that you may have to manually reseat
the flexoptics SFPs for them to work. I have run into this issue recently
in our lab. I can confirm that if you use 4.14.x that you will not have to
reseat them.
*edit* be aware that if you are on the latest code revision 4.15.x that
you may have to manually reseat the flexoptics SFPs for them to work ---
this is after you reboot/reload the switch.
I'm trying to get buy-in to go with Arista for some new infrastructure,
but the Arista optics just aren't in the ballpark for us at
"proof-of-concept" volume. In Cisco-land, we've had great success using
Finisar optics, and they've been an easy "sell" to management since many
Cisco optics are just rebranded Finisar's.
The relevant Arista optics I'm looking at are QSFP-100G-LR4 and
SFP-10G-LR. Does anybody know what supplier(s) manufacture these optics for
Arista? Alternatively, does anyone have any experience using third-party
comparable optics (especially the 100G) in the battlefield?
No 100G experience, but Flexoptix has been very helpful and accommodating.
Particularly with issues we had with 10G and certain server NICs.
Best support I've ever seen for optics in $jobs.
