Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP), or mini-GBIC (gigabit interface converter) module is a compact, hot-swappable transceiver used for both telecommunication and data communication applications.
An SFP module works by converting electrical signals from network devices into optical signals for transmission over fiber optic cables and vice versa. It contains a transceiver, which includes a laser diode for transmitting data and a photodetector for receiving data.
It plugs into a network device's port, such as a switch, router, or media converter, across all network elements in Telecommunications or Servers for IT applications.
SFP inserted into a Switch
Fiber Optic Media Converter Card for Chassis
The specification that defines an SFP was developed by the MSA (Multi Source Agreement) group. The following companies participated in the MSA (Rev 1.0, May 12, 2001).
1. Agilent Technologies
2. Blaze Network Products
3. E2O Communications
4. ExceLight Communications
5. Finisar
6. Fujikura Technology America
7. Hitachi Cable
8. Infineon Technologies
9. IBM
10. Lucent Technologies
11. Molex
12. Optical Communication Products
13. Picolight
14. Stratus Lightware
15. Tyco Electronics