Supported SFPs and QSFPs

Supported SFP/QSFP transceivers for Vectra physical appliances.

Applicability and Supporting Information

Please refer to the Appliance and Sensor Specifications article for details on the various Vectra physical appliances and types of interfaces offered by each model. When selecting SFPs to be supplied by Vectra as part of an order, or when sourcing SFPs from other vendors, it is important to match the SFP module to the SFPs supported in your target appliance.

Nomenclature for SFP Types

Many people refer to all different SFP types as "SFPs" but in reality there are many different types such as SFP, SFP+, SFP28, QSFP, QSFP+, etc. The specific name refers to specifications supported, and typically the bandwidth supported is the main differentiating factor. When Vectra generically speaks of an "SFP" it is typically referring the overall category of SFPs and not a specific variant.

There are 2 main physical sizes: SFP and QSFP

• QSFPs are both wider and deeper than SFPs but they are both the same height.
• Some backwards compatibility exists between the different standards as well.

  • For example, a QSFP28 slot can be filled with a QSFP28 transceiver module, but it could also take a QSFP+ or even a SFP+ module (SFP+ requires a physical adapter to make it fit into a QSFP size slot).

For more details on the different standards, please see this Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Form-factor_Pluggable

From a Vectra perspective, the main thing to keep in mind is what size slot you have and the maximum bandwidth supported in the port. This can be found in the Supported SFP Modules per Physical Appliance Model below and is also in the Appliance and Sensor Specifications article.

Supported SFP Transceivers

Vectra recommends using only Vectra supported SFPs in Vectra appliances.

Please Note:

Each table below lists modules that have been validated and are supported by Vectra when purchased through Vectra.

They also label if the module is available for purchase through Vectra "Vectra supplied", or if the module has been validated by Vectra but must be purchased through other channels "procured elsewhere".

Please Note:

Vectra cannot guarantee successful operation for SFP transceivers not listed below. Genuine SFPs from reputable vendors which are fully compliant with all relevant specifications are expected to work normally and reliably. When using a module that is not supported by Vectra, support advice will be on a best effort basis.

SFP or SFP+ - Supported modules (Vectra supplied)

SFP Type	Manufacturer	Model	Specifications Link
10 GbE SR SFP+	Intel	E10GSFPSR	CDW Product Page
10 GbE LR SFP+	Intel	E10GSFPLR	CDW Product Page
1 GbE Copper SFP	Finisar	FCLF8522P2BTL	CDW Product Page

SFP28 - Supported modules (Vectra supplied)

SFP28 Type	Manufacturer	Model	Specifications Link
25 GbE SR SFP28	Dell	407-BCHI	Dell Product Page

QSFP+ or QSFP28 - Supported modules (Vectra supplied)

QSFP Type	Manufacturer	Model(s)	Specifications Link
40 GbE SR QSFP+ 40 GbE SR QSFP+ 40 GbE SR QSFP+	Dell Finisar Mellanox	407-BBOZ FTL410QE4C MMA1B00-B150D	Dell Product Page Datasheet Datasheet
40 GbE LR QSFP+	Mellanox	MC2210511-LR4	NVIDIA Specifications PDF (NVIDIA owns Mellanox)
100 GbE SR QSFP28	Dell	407-BCEX	Dell Product Page
100 GbE LR QSFP28	Mellanox	MMA1L10-CR	NVIDIA Specifications PDF (NVIDIA owns Mellanox)

QSPFP+ or QSFP28 BiDi - Supported modules (procured elsewhere)

Please Note:

The 40 and 100 GbE BiDi QSFPs listed below were only validated for use in the S101 appliance. They have not been validated by Vectra for supported use in any other appliance.

These modules were previously available for purchase through Vectra but due to low demand, Vectra no longer offers these modules for purchase. If you wish to use either, you must procure them elsewhere and support will be on a best effort basis.

QSFP Type	Manufacturer	Model(s)	Specifications Link
40 GbE SR BiDi QSFP+	Cisco	QSFP-40G-SR-BD	Cisco Data Sheet
100 GbE SR BiDi QSFP28	Cisco	QSFP-40/100-SRBD	Cisco Data Sheet

SFP+ 10 GbE Copper - Supported modules (procured elsewhere)

SFP Type	Manufacturer	Model	Specifications Link
10 GbE Copper SFP+ 30m	FS	SFP-10G-T-30	FS #89577 Product Page
10 GbE Copper SFP+ 80m	FS	SFP-10G-T-80	FS #200049 Product Page
10 GbE Copper SFP+ 30m	FS	SFP-10G-T-30I	FS #111943 Product Page (“I” is for Industrial variant)
10 GbE Copper SFP+ 100m	FS	SFP-10G-T-100	FS #154924 Product Page

SFP+ Data Diodes - Supported modules (must be procured elsewhere)

SFP Type	Manufacturer	Model	Specifications Link
10 GbE Singlemode RX SFP+	Patton	SFX-SC92DR-0031-A	Patton Product Page
10 GbE Singlemode TX SFP+	Patton	SFX-SC92DT-3100-A

• Please see Sensor Data Diode SFP+ Support for additional details if a data diode is required for your deployment.

Supported SFP Modules per Physical Appliance Model

Please see the quick start guides for your specific physical appliance to see port diagrams showing the interfaces available. Some appliances offer options to configure a capture port SFP for use as the management port. Your appliance may support several, only one, or no SFPs.

Please Note (2 SFP/SFP+ included, SFP28 or QSFP available for purchase):

These purchasing guidelines apply to SFPs ordered as part of your appliance order:

• Up to 2 (if supported by your appliance model) SFP or SFP+ modules can be included at no additional cost in your Vectra appliance order.

  • This is valid for each appliance in your order.
• Additional SFP(s) of any type over the two specified above will incur additional cost.

  • All 25G SFP28s will incur additional cost over the base price of the appliance.
  • All 40/100G QSFPs will incur additional cost over the base price of the appliance.

Please Note (SFP module compatibility in each appliance):

In general, all supported SFPs in the charts above are supported for use with any appliance that has a port capable of holding the SFP in question. The exception to this rule is that the BiDi SFPs are only supported for use with the S101 appliance.

• SFP, SFP+, and SFP28 SFPs are all the same size.

  • SFP and SFP+ SFPs will function in an SFP28 slot.
• QSFP slots are physically larger but Vectra can supply an adapter with your appliance order if you need to use an SFP, SFP+, SFP28, or QSPF+ SFP in your QSFP28 slot.

Example:

If you have an S127 appliance and need to use a copper capture port, you can get a 1 GbE copper SFP through Vectra that will fit into a 10/25 GbE SFP28 slot, or you can ask for an adapter for a QSFP28 slot to allow that adapter to fit into the QSFP28 slot. You could also purchase a supported 10 GbE copper SFP+ through a 3rd party and also fit it similarly.

Appliance	SFP MGT Interfaces	SFP Capture Interfaces
S1	1 x 10 GbE SFP+ If management set to sfp	Up to 2 x 10 GbE SFP+ If capture is set to SFP
S1v2	1 x 10 GbE SFP+ If management set to sfp	2 x 10 GbE SFP+
S11	N/A (copper only, no SFPs)	N/A (copper only, no SFPs)
S101	2 x 10 GbE SFP+	2 x 10 GbE SFP+ 2 x 10/25 GbE SFP28
S127	2 x 10/25 GbE SFP28	2 x 10/25/40/100 QSFP28
X3	N/A	2 x 10 GbE SFP+
X29	1 x 10 GbE SFP+ If management set to sfp	2 x 10 GbE SFP+ Only 1 SFP+ if management set to sfp
X47	1 x 10/25 GbE SFP+ If management set to sfp	2 x 10/25 GbE SFP28 Only 1 SFP28 if management set to sfp
B101	2 x 10 GbE SFP+	N/A (Brain only, no capture support)
B127	2 x 10/25 GbE SFP28	N/A (Brain only, no capture support)
M29	1 x 10 GbE SFP+ If management set to sfp	N/A (Stream only, no capture support)
M47	1 x 10 GbE SFP+ If management set to sfp	N/A (Stream only, no capture support)

Speed Negotiation for SFP Interfaces

The Intel NICs used in Vectra appliances do not support dual-speed negotiation for SFP+ interfaces. For this reason, the capture port NICs will only operate at the highest speed available for the inserted SFP and will not attempt to negotiate a lower speed. For example, a 1G/10G SFP+ module inserted into a 10G SFP+ socket will only support 10G link speeds, even if the underlying SFP+ supports link speed negotiation down to 1G link speeds.

Should a dual-speed SFP be installed in a Vectra appliance, and be connected to a 1G interface one of the following symptoms may occur. These symptoms may not be consistent and depend on the specific SFP installed:

• The port may not bring the link up correctly and may show link down.
• The port may bring the link up inconsistently at 1G or 10G.
• The port state may be reset during appliance reboot or software upgrade, after which it may present either of the above symptoms.

These issues are a result of underlying hardware constraint for the Intel NIC and cannot be resolved with future software updates.

Single-speed SFPs (1G or 10G) do not exhibit these symptoms and for this reason, Vectra recommends that all customers order SFPs to match the expected link speed for the peer device.

Direct-Attach-Copper cables

• The Intel NICs used in Vectra appliances are expected to be compatible with SFP+ passive or active limiting direct attach copper cables that comply with the SFF-8431 v4.1 and SFF-8472 v10.4 specifications.

  • Cables up to 7m in length are expected to work.
• Only SFP+ (10G) DAC are compatible with Vectra NICs.

  • SFP (1G) DAC will not operate in any circumstances in Vectra interface ports.
• Vectra does not actively test DAC cables with Vectra appliances.

  • If you wish for Vectra to test specific cables in advance of purchasing a Vectra appliance please contact your account team or Vectra Support to discuss your requirements.

Cloned or Low-Quality SFP Transceivers

Customers should note that many unbranded or clone optics are readily available which are not compliant with all specifications or illegitimately claim to be manufactured by another vendor. In these cases performance, reliability and compatibility are likely to suffer and in many cases, the link will not come up. Customers may find that rebooting the appliance resets the link state for these SFPs and may cause these SFPs to successfully negotiate links that they did not before. Illegally cloned transceivers claiming to be Intel SFPs will cause the Intel NIC to shut down all ports until they are removed. We cannot recommend the use of these transceivers in any Vectra device.

Guidance for QSFP Interfaces

Some Vectra appliances, like the S101v2, include QSFP28 interfaces and can support SFPs that work up to 100 Gbps. This does not necessarily mean that the appliance can process 100 Gbps of traffic just because the physical interface supports 100 Gbps. The maximum performance of the given appliance is specified in the Appliance and Sensor Specifications article. Please expand or collapse the section below to learn more about QSFP support and such options as using break out cables.

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The QSFP interfaces on the S101v2 platform support 10G SFP+ (with adapter), 25G SFP28 (with adapter), 40G QSFP+ or 100G QSFP28 that fully comply with all standards. Deployments may freely connect any combination of these ports, including multiple 40G ports in combination with multiple 10G ports (depending on number of interfaces in the appliance).

For supported SFPs, please see the tables in the Supported SFP Transceivers section above.

When using multiple ports, for example on an S101v2, where the total Ethernet bandwidth available exceeds 50G the total traffic throughput of the system across all ports should not be allowed to exceed 50G.

The QSFP interfaces on the S101v2 platform with a 40G QSFP+ may only be configured as a single port using all four 10G lanes.

QSFP breakout cables are supported, but they have extremely limited use cases and are unlikely to be a practical option. The use of breakout cables require that all 4 SFP+ modules be connected to a single switch with the four ports configured to operate as a single 40G interface. Typically a single 40Gb QSFP+ link or individual 10Gb links across multiple interfaces will be a superior solution.

For this reason there is usually no benefit in connecting breakout cables to the 40G interfaces. Breakout cables may still be used but only where the four 10G lanes are connected to an appropriate endpoint also configured in 1x40G mode. The four 10G lanes cannot be configured in 4 x 10G mode as four separate interfaces.

For customers requiring four 10G interfaces the S101v2 may be configured to use the two 10G ports in 10G mode and the two 40G interfaces in 10G mode using appropriate 10G SFPs. Vectra does not provide any recommendations for 10G SFPs compatible with QSFP ports however can confirm that we have tested the combination of the Mellanox MAM1Q00A-QSA28-S and the Intel E10GSFPSR. This combination is known to be fully compatible. Vectra does expect for any high quality solutions from well reputed vendors to work without issue.

It is exceptionally important to note the comments in the section above for cloned or low quality SFPs. Third party SFPs have an increased chance of being non-compliant with standards and an increased chance of interface instability or errors.

Vectra cannot recommend the use of any SFPs not fully compliant with all relevant SFP standards and expects for these SFPs to offer inconsistent and unpredictable behaviors.

Sensor Data Diode SFP+ Support

Certain customers in highly secure environments require support for data diodes that allow network traffic to flow only in one direction. Vectra expects that Data Diode support will typically only be required in certain government or military environments where data diode use is enforced by policy. Please expand the section below to see details about Data Diode support in a FAQ.

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What is a Data Diode?

According to Wikipedia: A unidirectional network (also referred to as a unidirectional gateway or data diode) is a network appliance or device that allows data to travel in only one direction. Data diodes can be found most commonly in high security environments, such as defense, where they serve as connections between two or more networks of differing security classifications. Given the rise of industrial IoT and digitization, this technology can now be found at the industrial control level for such facilities as nuclear power plants, power generation and safety critical systems like railway networks.

How does Vectra support Data Diode requirements?

Vectra supports data diodes on any of our physical appliance Sensor capture ports that support SFP+ 10 Gbps connections. Please see Supported_SFPs for details.

The method of support is that Vectra has validated specific SFP+ modules that function as data diodes. These SFP+ modules will always be deployed in pairs:

• One RX module in the Vectra Sensor.
• One TX module in the switch or packet broker, etc that feeds the Sensor network traffic.

Vectra physical appliance capture ports already operate in a manner where they do not get an IP from the local network and do not communicate on the customer network. Using a data diode SFP+ makes it physically impossible for the Sensor to send any traffic and complies with specifications that require data diodes. The use of a data diode is essentially invisible to the Vectra software and all functions behave normally. Traditional SFP+ modules often require a hardware handshake over a TX/RX pair of fibers. Data diode SFP+ modules do not require a handshake and do not even have 2 fiber connectors as seen below:

Which SFP+ modules does Vectra officially support?

Vectra has validated the following Patton data diode modules:

• SFX-SC92DR-0031-A

  • Single Mode RX for your Vectra Sensor
• SFX-SC92DT-3100-A

  • Single Mode TX for your switch, packet broker, etc

Additional information can be found at https://www.patton.com/sfx-10dd/ Modules that Vectra has not validated may work but Vectra has not tested them and if issues are encountered support will be a best effort. If you have needs for other validated modules, please work with you Vectra account team to prioritize module validation with Vectra's product management and engineering teams.

Can Vectra supply the Data Diode SFP+ modules?

Vectra does not offer Data Diodes on their price list. Customers requiring them will need to procure and install them separately.