Glossary
Technology evolves at a rapid-fire pace. That’s why we’ve built an easy-to-use glossary to help you better understand the terms, technologies and trends that impact your business.OSFP
What is OSFP?
OSFP, or Octal Small Form Factor Pluggable, is a high-speed pluggable transceiver form factor designed for data center and networking applications. Its electrical interface supports eight high-speed lanes, making it suitable for 400G, 800G and 1.6T Ethernet applications.
The OSFP Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) defines the mechanical, electrical and thermal specifications that help ensure compatibility between OSFP modules and host equipment. Different OSFP designs, including integrated-heatsink and riding-heatsink variants, support a range of cooling and system-density requirements.
Why is OSFP important?
As Ethernet speeds increase, pluggable modules must handle higher data rates while meeting demanding power and thermal requirements. OSFP provides the lane capacity and thermal flexibility needed for high-speed optical modules, including emerging 1.6T designs.
Testing OSFP modules and interfaces helps engineers validate electrical performance, signal integrity, interoperability and transceiver behavior across high-speed links.
Learn more
- Video: BA-1600-OSFP: dual-port 1.6T testing for cables and transceivers
- EXFO glossary: 1.6T Ethernet