Where is the difference between the HP SFP transceivers J4858C and JD118B?

Besides PC and printer products the company Hewlett Packard (HP) has offered various switching solutions as part of the in-house network division since 1998. HPIs new company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), has now been formed through the demerger of the network division from HP. The most popular products in the portfolio are the ProCurve series developed by HP and the HP Switch and Router series.

The HP Switch and Router series is made up of products that extended the HP network business through a merger with H3C and 3Com.

Besides PC and printer products the company Hewlett Packard (HP) has offered various switching solutions as part of the in-house network division since 1998. HPs new company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), has now been formed through the demerger of the network division from HP. The most popular products in the portfolio are the ProCurve series developed by HP and the HP Switch and Router series.

The HP Pro Curve and the HP H3C Switch and Router Series

The HP Switch and Router series is made up of products that extended the HP network business through a merger with H3C and 3Com. Existing hardware from H3C and 3Com has been migrated to the HP brand and is now run under the following product ranges: 12500, 9500, 8800, 7500, A5120 EI, A5120 SI, A5500 EI, A5500 SI, A5800, A5820X and A-MSR.

All ProCurve Switch Series products run with the ProVision operating system with a focus on LAN switching, which is often used in campus networks. The Switch and Router series features the Comware operating system, which runs on chassis-based switches and WAN routers with a wide range of functions and protocols.

For the various models HP offers a wide range of optical transceiver modules for multimode and single-mode data links. There are several things to consider so that the used hardware will also be compatible with the appropriate transceivers, because HP SFP is not equal to HP SFP. The following comparison of the multimode SFP transceiver J4858C and JD118B clarifies the differences.

The J4858C Transceiver

The J4858C Gigabit Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFP) Transceiver is designed for the use with HP ProCurve hardware. The C in the item number represents the version number of the SFP. In the course of development this has replaced the previous versions A and B. It is therefore advisable to consult the manual of your switch to see which version number is supported by the hardware or you just rely on the J4858C Version. The following version is always downward compatible with the previous one.

The JD118B Transceiver

JD118B Gigabit SFP Transceiver, on the other hand, must be used in HPs H3C switch and router series (and can also be used in old H3C (3Com) Hardware). The module is also equipped with a Digital Diagnostics Monitoring (DDM) (also known as Digital Optical Monitoring (DOM)) function. This gives you the possibility to read information about the JD118B SFP module regarding transmitter and receiver power, temperature, electrical voltage and current.

1000BASE-SX Multimode SFP Transceiver Specifications

Both transceivers support 1000BASE-SX Ethernet applications, operate in a wavelength range of 850 nanometers and are designed for distances of up to 1.1 kilometers on OM4 fibers. Intercompatibility of the SFPs in the ProCurve and the H3C Switch and Router series is unfortunately not possible in this case. The corresponding transceiver must be used for each hardware.

HP compatible J4858C and JD118B SFP Transceiver

The larger a network the higher the cost of pluggable optical transceiver modules. In order to significantly reduce expenditure, it is possible to use HP compatible J4858C and JD118B transceivers. These are cheaper to buy, but you should pay attention to a very good quality and a long lifetime in order to find a comparable solution to the original version, because also with compatible products there are serious qualitative differences. When procuring, ensure that the transceivers are equipped with high-quality lasers (for example from Avago, Oclaro or Lumentum) and high-performance ICs (for example from Maxim Integrated, Analog Devices, etc.) so they do not malfunction after a short operating time or create network errors and increase your maintenance costs.

For more information and strong product images on HP compatible J4858C and JD118B transceivers, please visit gbic-shop.de.