Network hardware vendors HP ProCurve and Allied Telesis have launched new optical transceivers designed to extend the range of gigabit and 10 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) optical fibre connections.

HP said, “Data centres have widely deployed multimode fibre, much of it ‘fibre distributed data interface (FDDI)-grade’ legacy fibre, which only supports 26 metres using existing 10 GbE SR technology.”

To address this HP ProCurve has introduced the X2-SC LRM optic transceiver which extends the range of 10 GbE connections on legacy multimode fibre to 200 metres, three times that normally achievable, and a distance that “makes this product ideal for campus environments, and interoperates with any IEEE-standard LRM product, providing 10-Gigabit connectivity in a multivendor environment”, said HP.

Network switch competitor has also announced the T-SPEX, an optical transceiver
in small form factor pluggable (SFP) format, which extends gigabit fibre connections from 220 metres to two kilometres.

Melvin Wray, Allied Telesis’ senior vice president of product marketing, said that in the past firms could get by on multi-mode cable infrastructure", with the rapidly increasing demand for high-speed Internet, this approach is no longer sufficient to meet the bandwidth requirements."

Both products are available now, HP’s X2-SC LRM module costing £1,190 + VAT, while the AT-SPEX cost £275 + VAT.