[188241] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: SFP Cost Variation
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Edward Dore)
Sat Mar 12 14:52:22 2016
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
From: Edward Dore <edward.dore@freethought-internet.co.uk>
In-Reply-To: <C26ABA0F2E16624EA737DB4674DC05AB167D3184@mail.baec.local>
Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2016 19:35:04 +0000
To: Nicholas Warren <nwarren@barryelectric.com>
Cc: NANOG list <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
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> On 9 Mar 2016, at 18:59, Nicholas Warren <nwarren@barryelectric.com> =
wrote:
>=20
> Quick question for the experts.
>=20
> Why when looking at SFPs, some sites list them as $800 when the same =
part
> number can be found on places like amazon for $30-$40. What is the
> difference in them? Why would I buy them from a place like CDW with =
what
> appears to be a 2,000% markup.
>=20
> =
https://www.cdw.com/shop/products/Brocade-SFP-mini-GBIC-transceiver-module=
-G
> igabit-Ethernet/1411743.aspx
>=20
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0076Q1CTY
>=20
> Thanks,
> Nich
The Amazon link almost certainly isn't the exact same part - it's more =
than likely a "compatible" module from a third party which has been =
coded to identify itself in the same way as the official part.
But yes, "official" optics are generally extremely expensive and third =
party ones are much, much cheaper (LightReading published an article =
many years ago reporting that at the time 25% of Cisco's profits were =
coming from the transceivers that they were selling as a huge markup!). =
You can get compatible transceivers for lots of popular vendors from the =
likes of Fiberstore, flexOptix and Solid Optics.
It's worth noting that the likes of Cisco, Juniper, Brocade etc. don't =
make the transceivers that they sell at these huge markups either - they =
just buy them from the likes of Finsar and code them with their own part =
numbers and guarantee them as compatible.
Depending on the vendor, product and software version, you may find that =
third party transceivers are disabled, have reduced functionality such =
as no DOM/DDM or generate warnings about being unsupported. This is why =
you can buy third party optics that are coded to identify themselves as =
legitimate parts.
Edward Dore
Freethought Internet
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