SFP transceiver
SFP Optical Transceiver, Small Form-Factor Pluggable Transceiver
SFP is a compact, hot-pluggable optical transceiver used for both telecom and datacom applications.
The small form-factor pluggable (SFP) is a compact, hot-pluggable optical module transceiver used for both telecommunication and data communications applications. The form factor and electrical interface are specified by a multi-source agreement (MSA) under the auspices of the Small Form Factor Committee. It is 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 in order to connect a fiber optic cable or sometimes a copper cable. SFP transceivers exist supporting SONET, Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre 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 by some vendors, but this name is not officially defined in the MSAs.
