1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,930 In this lesson, 2 00:00:00,930 --> 00:00:03,150 we're going to discuss transceivers. 3 00:00:03,150 --> 00:00:05,880 Now, a transceiver is a generalized term for any device 4 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:08,460 that can both transmit and receive data. 5 00:00:08,460 --> 00:00:11,220 In fact, the name transceiver is simply a linguistic blend 6 00:00:11,220 --> 00:00:12,540 of the words transmitter 7 00:00:12,540 --> 00:00:16,320 and receiver to create this new word of transceiver. 8 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:18,030 Each transceiver is designed to transmit, 9 00:00:18,030 --> 00:00:20,730 receive data using a specific protocol though. 10 00:00:20,730 --> 00:00:22,350 Now a protocol is a set of rules 11 00:00:22,350 --> 00:00:24,570 and standards that govern how data is transmitted 12 00:00:24,570 --> 00:00:27,030 and received over a network to ensure consistent 13 00:00:27,030 --> 00:00:29,910 and reliable communication between your devices. 14 00:00:29,910 --> 00:00:31,320 When it comes to our networks, 15 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,020 there's really two main protocols that we're going to rely on. 16 00:00:34,020 --> 00:00:36,630 These are ethernet and fiber channel. 17 00:00:36,630 --> 00:00:37,860 Now, ethernet is a family 18 00:00:37,860 --> 00:00:39,630 of computer networking technologies 19 00:00:39,630 --> 00:00:42,000 that are commonly used in our local area networks, 20 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,060 metropolitan area networks, and wide area networks. 21 00:00:45,060 --> 00:00:46,110 As a protocol, 22 00:00:46,110 --> 00:00:48,270 ethernet is used to facilitate the communication 23 00:00:48,270 --> 00:00:51,480 and data transfer between your different network devices. 24 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:52,890 Ethernet defines the physical 25 00:00:52,890 --> 00:00:53,820 and electrical standards 26 00:00:53,820 --> 00:00:55,620 for the network cabling and connectors, 27 00:00:55,620 --> 00:00:56,820 as well as the data formats 28 00:00:56,820 --> 00:00:58,470 and rules for transmitting data 29 00:00:58,470 --> 00:01:00,450 over that network infrastructure. 30 00:01:00,450 --> 00:01:02,970 Ethernet is able to support a variety of data rates 31 00:01:02,970 --> 00:01:05,400 and provides the foundational communication standard 32 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,280 for most wired data networks that we're going to use today, 33 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:10,770 even when we're using copper media, fiber media, 34 00:01:10,770 --> 00:01:12,300 or wireless radio waves 35 00:01:12,300 --> 00:01:15,360 for our data transmission in our local area networks. 36 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,270 Now, fiber channel is another commonly used network protocol 37 00:01:18,270 --> 00:01:19,800 that you're going to come across when working 38 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:22,950 as a network technician or administrator out in the field. 39 00:01:22,950 --> 00:01:25,620 Fiber channel, which is also written as FC, 40 00:01:25,620 --> 00:01:28,530 is a high speed network technology that's primarily used 41 00:01:28,530 --> 00:01:31,110 to connect computer data storage to servers inside 42 00:01:31,110 --> 00:01:32,940 of your storage area networks. 43 00:01:32,940 --> 00:01:35,400 The fiber channel protocol is known for its ability 44 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,100 to handle multiple gigabits of data per second, 45 00:01:38,100 --> 00:01:40,170 which makes it ideal for transferring large volumes 46 00:01:40,170 --> 00:01:43,980 of data reliably and quickly over your storage area network. 47 00:01:43,980 --> 00:01:46,200 The fiber channel protocol can also support 48 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,440 both optical fiber optics and copper base media inside 49 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:51,120 of your network architecture. 50 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:53,310 The fiber channel protocols key features 51 00:01:53,310 --> 00:01:55,470 include high throughput, low latency, 52 00:01:55,470 --> 00:01:57,600 and advanced data integrity mechanisms 53 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,090 that make it the preferred choice for enterprise storage 54 00:02:00,090 --> 00:02:02,310 and data intensive applications. 55 00:02:02,310 --> 00:02:03,540 But how are you able 56 00:02:03,540 --> 00:02:05,610 to convert data from something like ethernet 57 00:02:05,610 --> 00:02:06,810 over to fiber channel 58 00:02:06,810 --> 00:02:09,539 or to go from fiber channel back to ethernet? 59 00:02:09,539 --> 00:02:12,780 Well, this is one reason you may opt to use a transceiver 60 00:02:12,780 --> 00:02:14,190 because a transceiver can convert 61 00:02:14,190 --> 00:02:16,560 or translate the data set by one protocol 62 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:18,900 into that used by another protocol. 63 00:02:18,900 --> 00:02:21,090 The transceiver will convert the ethernet signal, 64 00:02:21,090 --> 00:02:23,460 which is typically transmitted over copper cabling, 65 00:02:23,460 --> 00:02:26,250 into a signal that can be transmitted over fiber optics 66 00:02:26,250 --> 00:02:27,420 that could be compatible with something 67 00:02:27,420 --> 00:02:29,220 like fiber channel standards. 68 00:02:29,220 --> 00:02:31,920 This allows devices in an ethernet network to communicate 69 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:33,840 with devices in a fiber channel network, 70 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:36,180 and it facilitates data exchange between different types 71 00:02:36,180 --> 00:02:37,770 of network infrastructures. 72 00:02:37,770 --> 00:02:40,620 This allows the transceiver to act as a media converter 73 00:02:40,620 --> 00:02:42,000 and it'll help bridge the ethernet 74 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,160 and fiber channel networks together. 75 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,230 Now, another use case for transceivers is 76 00:02:46,230 --> 00:02:48,240 to convert your network connections from one type 77 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:50,910 to another type, even if you're using the same protocol 78 00:02:50,910 --> 00:02:52,830 on both types of connections. 79 00:02:52,830 --> 00:02:55,260 For example, in one of my previous organizations 80 00:02:55,260 --> 00:02:57,420 that I worked at, we actually ran ethernet 81 00:02:57,420 --> 00:02:59,940 over multimode fiber on our network. 82 00:02:59,940 --> 00:03:02,010 We did this to ensure that the security concerns 83 00:03:02,010 --> 00:03:02,940 were being addressed 84 00:03:02,940 --> 00:03:05,820 and to combat the effects of EMI on our systems 85 00:03:05,820 --> 00:03:06,653 because we were working 86 00:03:06,653 --> 00:03:09,270 in a high security, military type environment, 87 00:03:09,270 --> 00:03:11,190 but many of the computers we installed 88 00:03:11,190 --> 00:03:12,780 on our employees desktops didn't 89 00:03:12,780 --> 00:03:15,540 actually support fiber optic cable connections directly 90 00:03:15,540 --> 00:03:18,510 because they had an embedded Cat 6A network port 91 00:03:18,510 --> 00:03:19,680 on their motherboard. 92 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:21,990 So to overcome this limitation, 93 00:03:21,990 --> 00:03:24,870 we would use media converters, known as transceivers, 94 00:03:24,870 --> 00:03:26,970 to accept the ST-based fiber connections 95 00:03:26,970 --> 00:03:28,530 from our closest wall jack, 96 00:03:28,530 --> 00:03:30,390 and then we would use that media converter 97 00:03:30,390 --> 00:03:31,920 to convert the data being received 98 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:33,390 from that fiber optic cable 99 00:03:33,390 --> 00:03:36,000 as a light signal into an electrical signal 100 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,460 that could then be sent over a Cat 6A cable 101 00:03:38,460 --> 00:03:40,800 to the motherboard's embedded network jack. 102 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,070 In this case, we were converting light to electrical signals 103 00:03:44,070 --> 00:03:47,040 while the protocol remained the exact same on both systems 104 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:49,020 because we use ethernet on both of them 105 00:03:49,020 --> 00:03:51,120 as their communication protocol. 106 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:52,920 Another common use case for transceivers 107 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:54,150 or media converters is 108 00:03:54,150 --> 00:03:56,250 to convert a long distance fiber connection 109 00:03:56,250 --> 00:03:59,310 between two buildings back into a copper media connection 110 00:03:59,310 --> 00:04:00,600 that your computers, switches, 111 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:02,610 or routers are going to be able to use. 112 00:04:02,610 --> 00:04:04,050 For example, let's pretend 113 00:04:04,050 --> 00:04:05,730 that I had a new fiber optic cable run 114 00:04:05,730 --> 00:04:08,940 between two office buildings on different sides of my city. 115 00:04:08,940 --> 00:04:10,530 For this example, let's pretend we need 116 00:04:10,530 --> 00:04:12,390 to cover about 30 miles in distance 117 00:04:12,390 --> 00:04:14,010 between those two buildings. 118 00:04:14,010 --> 00:04:16,560 Now, obviously, I can't use a copper cable to cover 119 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:18,240 that much distance because I'm going 120 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,820 to hit the 100 meter limit pretty quickly, 121 00:04:20,820 --> 00:04:23,400 but a single mode fiber can easily cover 122 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:24,990 that 30 mile distance. 123 00:04:24,990 --> 00:04:26,790 So I can go out and hire a company 124 00:04:26,790 --> 00:04:28,830 to run the fiber between both buildings 125 00:04:28,830 --> 00:04:31,500 by digging a trench all the way across the city. 126 00:04:31,500 --> 00:04:33,570 This would be considered a long haul circuit 127 00:04:33,570 --> 00:04:35,850 that is going to act as a metropolitan area network, 128 00:04:35,850 --> 00:04:39,000 known as a MAN, or a wide area network, known as a WAN, 129 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:40,350 in my case. 130 00:04:40,350 --> 00:04:42,510 Now, once that fiber cable reaches my building 131 00:04:42,510 --> 00:04:43,740 across town though, 132 00:04:43,740 --> 00:04:45,630 I need to connect it to my networks. 133 00:04:45,630 --> 00:04:47,400 Now on one end of the fiber connection, 134 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:48,750 I might place a media converter 135 00:04:48,750 --> 00:04:51,330 or transceiver to convert the light signal back 136 00:04:51,330 --> 00:04:52,620 into the electrical signal 137 00:04:52,620 --> 00:04:55,560 that my network equipment can understand and use. 138 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,210 So as you can see, 139 00:04:57,210 --> 00:04:59,910 a media converter or a transceiver is a device 140 00:04:59,910 --> 00:05:02,310 that converts media from one format to another, 141 00:05:02,310 --> 00:05:05,220 like going from fiber to copper, copper to fiber. 142 00:05:05,220 --> 00:05:07,860 But media converters and transceivers are also considered 143 00:05:07,860 --> 00:05:09,360 to be layer one devices 144 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,370 because all they do is take that signal, 145 00:05:11,370 --> 00:05:12,690 convert it to the new format, 146 00:05:12,690 --> 00:05:16,290 and then repeat it out the other side using that new format. 147 00:05:16,290 --> 00:05:17,190 These media converters 148 00:05:17,190 --> 00:05:19,620 and transceivers can be used to convert all sorts 149 00:05:19,620 --> 00:05:22,860 of different media types, like going from copper to fiber, 150 00:05:22,860 --> 00:05:25,260 fiber to copper, coaxial to fiber, 151 00:05:25,260 --> 00:05:27,480 copper to coaxial, copper to wireless, 152 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,060 or any other layer one to layer one conversion 153 00:05:30,060 --> 00:05:32,400 that you may need to do within your networks. 154 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:33,990 In fact, I've used media converters 155 00:05:33,990 --> 00:05:37,170 to take a coaxial cable signal that carries a video signal 156 00:05:37,170 --> 00:05:39,270 to a fiber optic cable so I could run it 157 00:05:39,270 --> 00:05:41,190 to a building across our business park 158 00:05:41,190 --> 00:05:42,960 that was about a half a mile away. 159 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:44,250 Then when it got there, 160 00:05:44,250 --> 00:05:46,830 we reconverted that fiber optic cable signal 161 00:05:46,830 --> 00:05:48,900 back into the coaxial cable signal 162 00:05:48,900 --> 00:05:50,730 that can be plugged directly into a TV 163 00:05:50,730 --> 00:05:53,250 inside of that building and it worked just fine 164 00:05:53,250 --> 00:05:55,590 because the media converter did all the translation 165 00:05:55,590 --> 00:05:57,210 from one signal to the other 166 00:05:57,210 --> 00:05:59,490 by taking that signal from the radio frequency 167 00:05:59,490 --> 00:06:01,110 that was sent by the coaxial cable, 168 00:06:01,110 --> 00:06:02,730 converting it into a light signal 169 00:06:02,730 --> 00:06:04,680 that could be sent over the fiber optic cable 170 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,350 and then translated back into the radio frequency signal 171 00:06:07,350 --> 00:06:09,150 that's needed by the receiving television 172 00:06:09,150 --> 00:06:11,220 using another coaxial cable. 173 00:06:11,220 --> 00:06:13,650 All right, now let's talk about some different form factors 174 00:06:13,650 --> 00:06:15,240 of transceivers that you may come across 175 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:16,710 when working as a network technician 176 00:06:16,710 --> 00:06:18,300 or network administrator. 177 00:06:18,300 --> 00:06:20,220 You're going to find that in most large networks, 178 00:06:20,220 --> 00:06:21,390 there's going to be many different types 179 00:06:21,390 --> 00:06:23,100 of transceivers being used. 180 00:06:23,100 --> 00:06:26,010 These come in different form factors like the SFP, 181 00:06:26,010 --> 00:06:29,970 the SFP plus, the QSFP, the QSFP plus, 182 00:06:29,970 --> 00:06:33,630 the QSFP28, and the QSFP56. 183 00:06:33,630 --> 00:06:35,820 Now first, we have the SFP. 184 00:06:35,820 --> 00:06:37,830 Now SFP is an older standard 185 00:06:37,830 --> 00:06:40,500 and it stands for the small form factor pluggable, 186 00:06:40,500 --> 00:06:43,500 and this is a compact, hot pluggable optical module 187 00:06:43,500 --> 00:06:45,450 that's used with fiber connections. 188 00:06:45,450 --> 00:06:48,570 Since it's hot pluggable, it can be pulled in or pulled out 189 00:06:48,570 --> 00:06:51,300 without turning off the associated router or switch. 190 00:06:51,300 --> 00:06:54,000 Now this SFP is considered to be a transceiver 191 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,930 and it supports up to 4.25 gigabits per second of speed. 192 00:06:57,930 --> 00:07:00,390 Second, we have the SFP plus. 193 00:07:00,390 --> 00:07:02,280 Now the SFP plus is going to stand 194 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:04,650 for the small form factor pluggable plus, 195 00:07:04,650 --> 00:07:06,870 which you can probably guess it's just a faster version 196 00:07:06,870 --> 00:07:08,760 of an SFP module. 197 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,120 SFP plus supports up to 16 gigabits per second. 198 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,600 So it's about four times faster than a regular SFP is. 199 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:17,730 Third, we have a QSFP. 200 00:07:17,730 --> 00:07:21,480 Now the QSFP stands for the quad small form factor pluggable 201 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,240 and it's a compact and hot pluggable optical module 202 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:26,790 just like the SFP and SFP plus. 203 00:07:26,790 --> 00:07:28,110 But the big difference here is 204 00:07:28,110 --> 00:07:31,020 that the QSFP goes even faster by supporting 205 00:07:31,020 --> 00:07:33,180 around 40 gigabits per second of data, 206 00:07:33,180 --> 00:07:36,120 which is about 10 times faster than the standard SFP 207 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:37,680 and about two and a half times faster 208 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:39,960 than the SFP plus module. 209 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,840 Fourth we have a QSFP plus. 210 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:44,790 Now the QSFP plus stands 211 00:07:44,790 --> 00:07:47,280 for the quad small form factor pluggable plus. 212 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,310 And as you might have guessed, this is similar to the QSFP, 213 00:07:50,310 --> 00:07:52,530 but it is slightly faster by reaching speeds 214 00:07:52,530 --> 00:07:55,590 of about 41.2 gigabits per second. 215 00:07:55,590 --> 00:07:58,260 Fifth we have the QSFP28. 216 00:07:58,260 --> 00:08:00,180 Now the QSFP28 stands 217 00:08:00,180 --> 00:08:02,970 for the quad small form factor pluggable 28. 218 00:08:02,970 --> 00:08:03,960 And as you might have guessed, 219 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:07,260 this is similar to the other QSFP models we discussed, 220 00:08:07,260 --> 00:08:10,890 but this one operates at about 100 gigabits per second. 221 00:08:10,890 --> 00:08:14,520 Sixth and finally, we have the QSFP56. 222 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:16,560 Now the QSFP56 stands 223 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,320 for the quad small form factor pluggable 56, 224 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:22,800 and it operates at speeds of up to 200 gigabits per second. 225 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,620 Now for the exam, you do not have to memorize the speeds 226 00:08:25,620 --> 00:08:26,760 of the different transceivers, 227 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:28,470 but instead, I want you to remember 228 00:08:28,470 --> 00:08:32,460 that QSFP modules are faster than SFP modules 229 00:08:32,460 --> 00:08:34,260 and that all of these are just different types 230 00:08:34,260 --> 00:08:35,820 of transceivers that are going to be installed 231 00:08:35,820 --> 00:08:39,000 inside of a router, a switch, or other networking device 232 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:40,020 that can convert the light 233 00:08:40,020 --> 00:08:41,909 that travels over a fiber optic cable 234 00:08:41,909 --> 00:08:44,490 back into an electrical impulse that represents a one 235 00:08:44,490 --> 00:08:46,710 or zero that our copper network switches 236 00:08:46,710 --> 00:08:49,560 and cables can then understand and utilize. 237 00:08:49,560 --> 00:08:52,410 So remember, if you ever need to change the physical format 238 00:08:52,410 --> 00:08:54,810 of your network signals to cover a longer distance, 239 00:08:54,810 --> 00:08:57,090 you can can use a transceiver or media converter 240 00:08:57,090 --> 00:08:58,530 to change the electrical impulses 241 00:08:58,530 --> 00:09:01,140 from your copper base network into light base signals 242 00:09:01,140 --> 00:09:03,420 that can be sent over a fiber optic cable. 243 00:09:03,420 --> 00:09:05,700 And then when it reaches the other side, 244 00:09:05,700 --> 00:09:07,320 you're going to be able to use another transceiver 245 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:09,120 or media converter to change it back 246 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:10,710 into an electrical impulse again 247 00:09:10,710 --> 00:09:13,560 so your copper media can utilize it once more. 248 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:16,380 Also, if you need to convert from one protocol to another, 249 00:09:16,380 --> 00:09:18,450 like moving from ethernet to fiber channel 250 00:09:18,450 --> 00:09:20,400 or from fiber channel back to ethernet, 251 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:22,653 you can do that too using a transceiver.