What options are out there for re-programmable SFP and SFP+ transceivers?
So far I have found both
https://www.flexoptix.net/en/flexbox-v3-transceiver-programmer.html and
http://solid-optics.com/tools/multi-fiber-tool/so-multi-fiber-tool-id1768.html
Is there anything else out there? Any opinions on these two companies?
I believe they both require you to use their SFPs in order to program them,
but I could be wrong.
I got to know about them at a MEF event and their transceiver line seems to be very flexible.
Eric,
If you’ve got something to relevant to add to the discussion, feel free to reply to the list yourself. I’m not endorsing Menara’s pluggables any more than I’m endorsing yours. I’m just simply stating that I’m aware that Menara exists as a company. I took a quick look at your site and Luma’s products do indeed bear some relevance to this topic.
Best,
Daniel
We have purchased a lot through the Solid-Optics US team. Very happy with their pricing, reliability and support.
We have their multi-fiber tool and have reprogrammed optics as needed to go between MFG equipment. I can only recommend that you give them a try.
Sincerely,
Nick Ellermann – CTO & VP Cloud Services
BroadAspect
E: nellermann@broadaspect.com
P: 703-297-4639
F: 703-996-4443
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Luma Optics in California has re-progammable transceivers along with a
coding platform called CLOUDCODE.
In addition to re-programming, the tool can also be used for DWDM tuning.
Eric
Luma Optics
Satisfied customer of Flexoptix, largely for pre-coded transceivers, although my team have used their programmer in anger and are happy with it. No issues to date with C or J kit refusing to believe in the resulting transceivers - and obviously at a fraction of the price of blessed optics.
Regards,
Tim.
The only downside I see to Flexoptix is that their pricing for their SFPs,
and you must use their SFPs, are much more expensive than already
programmed SFP's from low cost providers.
For example, a regualr 10GBASE-LR SFP+ 1310nm 10km from Fiberstore is $34 (
http://www.fs.com/10gbase-lr-sfp-1310nm-10km-dom-transceiver-p-11591.html).
The same type of SFP+ from Flexoptics is $136.80
https://www.flexoptix.net/en/produkte/transceiver/sfp-plus-lr-transceiver-10-gigabit-stm64-sm-1310nm-10km-8db-ddm-dom.html
I know there should be a littler premium for using FlexOptics are you can
program on your own, but not 4X the amount.
How does Solid Optics compare on pricing? They don't list them on their
website.
How does Solid Optics compare on pricing? They don't list them on their
website.
Last time I checked, it was roughly US$90 for a SFP-10G-LR+-SO.
I don't know the US pricing ... but in the EU get it for less :).
I buy hundreds of optics per year from them - since 18 months they are our exclusive partner for optic deliveries. I've to work with Juniper, Extreme Networks, Cisco, Brocade, Fortinet, Radware and HP. Whatever you need: they make it happen :).
Best regards
Jürgen Jaritsch
Head of Network & Infrastructure
ANEXIA Internetdienstleistungs GmbH
Telefon: +43-5-0556-300
Telefax: +43-5-0556-500
E-Mail: JJaritsch@anexia-it.com
Web: http://www.anexia-it.com
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Geschäftsführer: Alexander Windbichler
Firmenbuch: FN 289918a | Gerichtsstand: Klagenfurt | UID-Nummer: AT U63216601
What options are out there for re-programmable SFP and SFP+ transceivers?
So far I have found both
https://www.flexoptix.net/en/flexbox-v3-transceiver-programmer.html and
http://solid-optics.com/tools/multi-fiber-tool/so-multi-fiber-tool-id1768.html
Is there anything else out there? Any opinions on these two companies?I believe they both require you to use their SFPs in order to program them,
but I could be wrong.
You're right, both companies programmers only work with their own transceiver.
We've some transceivers from FlexOptix including the FlexBoxv3. We
never had a problem with them. They have very good engineers.
From the pricing SolidOptics list prices are better than FlexOptics,
but just talk to them and see if they can meet your pricing
requirements.
In our case we ended up with FlexOptix but we're only ordering there
when we need something urgent (same/next day).
Otherwise we're buying directly from China (Fiberstore). Neither Solid
Optics or FlexOptix could beat their prices. We're buying all the
expensive stuff stuff and larger quantities from them. So far we never
had a problem with them either. After reaching a sales volume of 30000
USD they will give you a programmer for their transceivers too.
Best Regards,
Freddy
Freddy,
So are you saying if you order enough from Fiberstore.com they will give
you a programmer? That seems like the best solution.
https://www.flexoptix.net/en/ will give you a programmer on your first order if you post something about it on social media. They also send some candy with every order 
I’ve had very good luck with Flexoptics for SFP, SFP+ & XFP, Juniper, Cisco, HP all work perfectly.
I haven’t had to actually reprogram any, but have a bunch of flexoptics modules preprogrammed for Arista which have been working great. Very easy people to deal with, and yes, candy. :>
Ashley Kitto
Nominum
Yes, the magic number seems to be 30000 USD for fiberstore.
I looked into this compatibility magic some time ago.
It's all based on a simple I²C EEPROM. Which is read and values like
vendor/product ID is compared to check compatibility.
Some vendors apparently spend some extra effort making their optics
incompatible. E.g. HP/3COM protect their 10G SFP+ modules with
proprietary validation algorithms which require a micro controller to
emulate it (a basic EEPROM is not enough).
To prevent EEPROM modifications it's possible to set a password/code
sequence for write access. Apparently that's what e.g. flexOptix/solid
optics are doing to implement their own kind of vendor lock-in. Their
programmer only can program their own optics and their optics can be
only programmed by their programmer.
If you buy optics from china they are either not password protected at
all or they will provide you with the password if you ask for it so
you can use any generic programmer.
If you prefer super cheap optics over easy re-programming usability
have a look at the following generic EEPROM programmers (I've no
experience with any of these):
http://sfptotal.com/
https://dimiks.com/en/programmers
http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/tinout2018/product-detailUvTmnWbPvLVh/China-Compatible-Coding-Editor-Programmer-Test-Board-for-GBIC-SFP-SFP-Optical-Transceivers.html
http://www.optics-home.com/pro_details.asp?id=105
http://www.reveltronics.com/en/shop/52/12/chip-programmers/accessories-and-adapters/sfp-module-optical-transceiver-adapter-detail
Or if you prefer the do-it-yourself approach using a Raspberry Pi:
http://eoinpk.blogspot.com/2014/05/raspberry-pi-and-programming-eeproms-on.html
If someone has time to start a nice open source/community supported
generic programmer tool+database which provides the same usability as
e.g. FlexOptix we most likely would support it.
I've done small runs of boards that can do this and also do the OEO part. Let me know off list if you are interested.
Jared Mauch
Another choice out there as well. I’ve not yet tried their SmartCoder, but have been using their transceivers for years. They have been great.
Flexopitix allows 3rd party vendor rebranding by buying credits for the
branding box/account.
AFAIK you have to buy their transceivers, then you can use their
FlexBox to change the programming of the transceivers to be compatible
with $vendor.
In the past you had to buy credits or the Flatrate package in order to
reprogram their transceivers but at the beginning of the year they
announced "Unlimited reprogramming with your FLEXBOX in 2016". So for
at least this year reprogramming is free.
But AFAIK you can't easily reprogram third party transceivers (e.g.
from fiberstore).
I guess if you've an emergency and contact them they could help you to
reprogram pretty much any transceiver, but that would be an exception.
Best Regards,
Freddy