10/25G Dual Rate Transceiver - Solution to 10G-25G Upgrading PathDual rate transceivers, some also called multi rate transceivers, are a type of optical transceiver supporting dual opposite with commonly used single rate transceivers. As the name suggests, 10/25G dual rate transceivers support dual rate - 10Gbps and 25Gbps. From their appearance, the dual rate transceiver looks the same as 25G single rate transceiver - the form factor of them are all SFP28. However, the dual rate transceivers are compatible with either 10G SFP+ ports or 25G SFP28 ports, which makes it more flexible than the single rate transceivers. Furthermore, with breakout cable used, they are capable of interoperating with 40G/100G networks.25GBASE-SR transceiver as an example.

Challenges in Upgrading from 10G to 25G25Gbps has been considered as a cost-effective and less disruptive routine to upgrade 10Gbps to higher rate 100Gbps by many forward thinking enterprises and data centers. In recent years, we’ve seen the explosive growth of the 25Gbps market and the technology value of 25G network deployment. However, moving from 10G to 25G can bring extra challenges.As the foundation of the modern fiber network, optical transceivers make up a large part in network deployment. The commonly used transceiver modules deployed generally support single rate such as 10G SFP+ transceivers and 25G SFP28 transceivers. Since both ends of 10G-25G link require simultaneous upgradation, upgrading from 10G to 25G network requires having to replace the entire transceiver and cable infrastructure, which can result in large cost in capex, time and energy.3Coptics supports 10G/25G dual rate transceiver portfolio and network switches that support dual rate transceivers such as 24-Port Ethernet L3 Fully Managed Pro Switch(20 x 10Gb SFP+, with 4 x 25Gb SFP28 and 2 x 40Gb QSFP+) with 10G/25G SFP28 dual rate ports for multiple uses in 10G or 25G Ethernet networks.