Should We Use Third-Party Compatible SFP Transceiver?

Many customers tend to use third-party compatible Cisco SFP transceivers to save costs on these expensive modules. But there maybe a problem that the Cisco’s new line switches do not support third-party SFPs. When inserting an SFP transceiver into Cisco switches to connect network backbone, you will find it doesn’t match an official Cisco product. Then you will stumble across the following error:

 

%PHY-4-UNSUPPORTED_TRANSCEIVER: Unsupported transceiver found in Gi1/0/0

%GBIC_SECURITY_CRYPT-4-VN_DATA_CRC_ERROR: GBIC in port 65538 has bad crc

 

The Catalyst switch disables the GBIC port. That’s because Cisco Catalyst switches are configured by default not to work with non-Cisco SFPs. When a third-party SFP inserted into the port, the switch immediately recognize it doesn’t match. And it will throw the above error message and disables the port.

 

Except the error, Cisco tends to be very strict about the warranty requirements for the third-party components including SFP transceivers. The details are as following: When Cisco determines that a fault or defect can be traced to the use of third-party transceivers installed by a customer or reseller, then, at Cisco’s discretion, Cisco may withhold support under warranty or a Cisco support program. In the course of providing support for a Cisco networking product Cisco may require that the end user install Cisco transceivers if Cisco determines that removing third-party parts will assist Cisco in diagnosing the cause of a support issue.

 

That means if you use a third-party transceiver and it causes actual damage. Cisco may refuse warranty support. If the transceiver is merely suspected of being at fault, they may refuse support until you install a supported Cisco-branded transceiver.

 

Now you may ask “Are the third-party compatible transceivers safe?”. The answer is yes. Most third-party transceivers are made and assembled in exactly the same plants assembling officially-branded transceivers. In a matter of speaking, an official Cisco transceiver and a third-party transceiver are the same, aside from the branding. In fact, the transceivers don’t have any real way of failing that would also damage a switch. So there is no problem to use third-party compatible transceiver.

 

Compatible SFP transceiver modules offered by fiber-mart.com are third-party and fully compatible with major brands (Cisco, HP, NETGEAR, Finisar, Juniper, etc.) and backed by a Lifetime Warranty. fiber-mart.com have a large selection of compatible SFP modules in stock and can ship within 24 hours.