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ABOUT THIS REPORT
Because of the number of storage interface types and related
technologies that are used for storage devices, we have
compiled this summary document providing some basic
information for each of the interfaces. This document will be
updated periodically. This document may become larger over
time. Contact us if you’d like to see additional information in
this document.

The interface types listed here are known as “block” interfaces,

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 Demartek
INTERFACE COMPARISON TABLE
Number Maximum Interface Transfer Rate Interface
Cable Type
of Devices Distance (m) Device (MB/sec) Attributes
10 (copper)
16M Copper 100, 200,
FC 10KM+ HBA 400, 800, Dual Port
(optical) Optical 1600, 3200
10 (copper) Copper CNA
FCoE 16M very long 1150, 4600 Dual Port
(optical) Optical 10GbE NIC
15 (copper) Copper 1000, 2000,
Infiniband HCA Full Duplex,
48M very long
Optical
4000, 7000,
Dual Port
(optical) 12,500
Ethernet Copper
iSCSI Many cable NIC, HBA 100, 1000, ///
distance Optical 4000
SAS
16K 10 Copper Onboard, 300, 600, Full Duplex,
(passive) HBA 1200 Dual Port
SAS Onboard, 300, 600, Full Duplex,
(active) 16K 20 Copper
HBA 1200 Dual Port
SAS
16K 100 Optical Onboard, 300, 600, Full Duplex,
(active) HBA 1200 Dual Port

SATA 1 1 Copper Onboard, 150, 300, Half Duplex,

HBA 600 Single Port
1000, 2000,
Thunderbolt 6 4 Copper Onboard ///
4000

Copper, Onboard, 0.15, 1.5,

USB 127 5 Adapter 48, 500, 1000 Single Port
Wireless card

TRANSFER RATE
Transfer rate, sometimes known as transfer speed, is the maximum
rate at which data can be transferred across the interface. This is
not to be confused with the transfer rate of individual devices that
may be connected to this interface. Some interfaces may not be
able to transfer data at the maximum possible transfer rate due to
processing overhead inherent with that interface or protocol used
on that interface. Some interface adapters provide hardware offload
functions to improve performance, manageability and/or reliability
of the data transmission across the respective interface. The transfer
rates listed are across a single port at half duplex (from point A to
point B, one direction at a time).
Bits vs. Bytes and Encoding Schemes
Transfer rates for storage interfaces and devices are generally listed
as MB/sec or MBps, which is generally calculated as Megabits per
second (Mbps) divided by 10. Many of these interfaces use “8b/10b”
encoding which maps 8 bit bytes into 10 bit symbols for transmis-
sion on the wire, with the extra bits used for command and control
purposes. When converting from bits to bytes on the interface,
dividing by ten (10) is
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exactly correct. 8b/10b encoding results in a 20 percent overhead
(10-8)/10 on the raw bit rate.
Beginning in 2010 newer encoding schemes emerged that improved
data transfer efficiency. The first of these encoding newer encoding
schemes is known as “64b/66b” and is used for 10GbE, 10GbFC (for
ISL’s) and 16GbFC and some of the higher data rates for IB. 64b/66b
encoding is not directly compatible with 8b/10b, but the technolo-
gies that implement it are built so that they can work with the older
encoding scheme. 16Gb Fibre Channel uses a line rate of 14.025
Gbps, but with the 64b/66b encoding scheme results in a doubling
of the throughput of 8Gb Fibre Channel, which uses a line rate
of 8.5 Gbps with the 8b/10b encoding scheme. 64b/66b encoding
results in a 3 percent overhead (66-64)/66 on the raw bit rate.
PCIe versions 1.x and 2.x use 8b/10b encoding. PCIe version 3 uses
128b/130b encoding, resulting in a 1.5 percent overhead on the raw
bit rate. Additional PCIe information is provided in the PCI Express
section below.
USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) uses 128b/132b encoding.

ENCODING SCHEME TABLE

Overhead Applications
8b/10b 20% 1GbE, FC (up to 8Gb), IB (SDR, DDR & QDR), PCIe (1.0 & 2.0) SAS, SATA, USB (up to 3.0)

64b/66b 3% 10GbE, 100GbE, FC (10Gb, 16Gb, 32Gb), FCoE, IB (FDR & EDR), Thunderbolt 2

128b/130b 1.5% PCIe 3.0, 24G SAS (likely)

128b/132b 3% USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps, see Roadmaps section)

 Demartek
TRANSFER RATE (cont.)
FIBRE CHANNEL SPEED TABLE
Throughput Line Rate Encoding Host Adapter req.
(MBps) (GBaud) (dual-port cards)
1GFC 100 1.0625 8b/10b PCI-X
2GFC 200 2.125 8b/10b PCI-X
PCI-X 2.0 or
4GFC 400 4.25 8b/10b PCIe 1.0 x4
PCIe 1.0 x8 or
8GFC 800 8.5 8b/10b PCIe 2.0 x4
PCI-X 2.0 x8 or
16GFC 1600 14.025 64b/66b PCIe 3.0 x4
32GFC 3200 28.05 64b/66b PCIe 3.0 x8

*Throughput rates are single direction. For bi-directional (full duplex) rates, double the data rates.

INFINIBAND SPEED TABLE

Host Adapter req.
1X data rate 4X data rate 12X data rate Encoding (dual-port cards)
SDR 2Gbps 8Gbps 24Gbps 8b/10b PCIe 1.0 x8
PCIe 1.0 x16 or
DDR 4Gbps 16Gbps 48Gbps 8b/10b PCIe 2.0 x8
QDR 8Gbps 32Gbps 96Gbps 8b/10b PCIe 2.0 x8
FDR-10
*
*
Mellanox only
10.31Gbps 41.25Gbps 123.75Gbps 64b/66b PCIe 3.0 x8
FDR 13.64Gbps 54.55Gbps 163.64Gbps 64b/66b PCIe 3.0 x8
EDR 25Gbps 100Gbps 300Gbps 64b/66b PCIe 3.0 x16
*Data rates are single direction. For bi-directional (full duplex) rates, double the data rates.

HISTORY
The computing and storage industry is one that is moving at a rate
that is often times is hard to keep up with. Every year, it seems,
a new technology is released that often outshines the previous
model many times over. Newer interface speeds are often available
in switches and adapters long before they are available in storage
devices and storage systems for public use.
Click interface above to view history
Demartek
We have created an interactive way to experience the rate of
change for many different technologies. To view a timeline history
and additional details of each type of interface, click on the inter-
face name on the top of the graphic.
The graphics below are intended to show the interface history, not revenue, units
shipped, or any other statistics.

ROADMAPS
These roadmaps include the estimated calendar years that higher
speeds may become available and are based on our industry
research, which are subject to change. Past history indicates that
several of these interfaces are on a three to five year development
cycle for the next improvement in speed. It is reasonable to expect
that pace to continue.
It should be noted that it typically takes several months after the
specification is complete before products are generally
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available in the marketplace. Widespread adoption of those new
products takes additional time, sometimes years.
Some of the standards groups are now working on “Energy Ef-
ficient” versions of these interfaces to indicate additions to their
standards to reduce power consumption. Roadmap slides are cour-
tesy of the respective industry organizations.
*Full details on the Interface Comparison webpage.

Ethernet FC FCoE Infiniband iSCSI NVMe SAS SATA SMB/NFS Thunderbolt USB
12 12 123

Click interface above to view roadmap

*All interface speeds listed are single direction. Some of these interfaces can also operate bi-directional or full-duplex mode. For bi-diractional, double the rates.

CONNECTOR COMPATIBILITY
Different connectors and connection technologies are used for the
various storage interfaces.
SAS and SATA connectors were designed to be as compatible with
each other as possible. On devices, the SATA connector has a gap
between the data portion of the connector and the power portion of
the connector, as shown in the illustration. The SAS device connec-
tor does not have a gap. This is because SAS devices need to carry
more information regarding dual-port, wide-port, etc. A SAS back-
plane connector can accept SAS or SATA devices.
Click the connector above to view capability
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Two different connectors are now available with the Express Bay
Connector Backplane. The SFF-8680 connector is the traditional
connector for devices that use the existing SAS and SATA interfaces.
The U.2 (SFF-8639) connector is used for newer technologies such as
NVMe, etc., that connect to the PCIe bus and do not use the tradi-
tional interfaces.
The SATA Express Connector Mating Matrix indicates which type
of SATA, SATA Express and SAS cables and receptacles can be used
together.

CABLES: FIBER OPTIC & COPPER
As interface speeds increase, expect increased usage of fiber optic
cables and connectors for most interfaces. At higher Gigabit speeds
(10Gb+), copper cables and interconnects generally have too much
amplitude loss except for short distances, such as within a rack or
to a nearby rack. This amplitude loss is sometimes called a poor
signal-to-noise ratio or simply “too noisy.”
Fiber-optic cables: Single-mode fiber vs. Multi-mode fiber
SINGLE-MODE FIBER (SMF)
Typically with an optical core of approximately 9
(microns), has lower modal dispersion than multi-mode fiber
and can support distances up to 80-100 kilometers or more,
depending on transmission speed, transceivers and the buffer
credits allocated in the switches.
MULTI-MODE FIBER (MMF)
Has an optical core of either 50 or 62.5 and supports
distances up to 600 meters, depending on transmission
speeds and transceivers.
Meter-for-meter, single-mode and multi-mode cables are similarly
priced. However, some of the other components used in single-
mode links are more expensive than their multi-mode equivalents.
When planning datacenter cabling requirements, be sure to consid-
er that a service life of 15 to 20 years can be expected for fiber optic
cabling, so the choices made today need to support legacy, current
and emerging data rates. Also note that deploying large amounts of
new cable in a datacenter can be labor-intensive, especially in exist-
ing environments.
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There are different designations for fiber optic cables depending on
the bandwidth supported.
Multi-mode: OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4, OM5
Single-mode: OS1 (indoor use), OS2 (outdoor use)
OM3 and OM4 are multi-mode cables that are “laser optimized”
(LOMMF) and support 10 Gigabit Ethernet and faster applications.
OM3 and OM4 cables are also the only multi-mode fibers included
in the IEEE 802.3ba 40G/100G Ethernet standard that was ratified
in June 2010. The 40G and 100G speeds are currently achieved by
bundling multiple channels together in parallel with special multi-
channel (or multi-lane) connector types. This standard defines an
expected operating range of up to 100m for OM3 and up to 150m
for OM4 for 40 Gigabit Ethernet and 100 Gigabit Ethernet, using
10Gbps per lane technology. See the Connector Types section below
for additional detail.
Newer multi-mode OM2, OM3 and OM4 (50 µm) and single-mode
OS1 (9 µm) fiber optic cables have been introduced that can handle
tight corners and turns. These are known as “bend optimized,”
“bend insensitive,” or have “enhanced bend performance.” These
fiber optic cables can have a very small turn or bend radius with
minimal signal loss or “bending loss.” The term “bend optimized”
multi-mode fiber (BOMMF) is sometimes used.
OM5 fiber-optic cable, known as wideband multi-mode fiber
(WBMMF), transmits four wavelengths (colors) simultaneously
using short wavelength division multiplexing (SWDM) to achieve
100Gbps (4 x 25Gbps) transmission on a single-lane connection.
OM5 carries at least four times more capacity than OM4 over the
same distance. When configured in four parallel lanes (four sets of
fiber), transmission speed can reach 400Gbps.
OS1 and OS2 single-mode fiber optics are used for long distances,
up to 10,000m (6.2 miles) with the standard transceivers and have
been known to work at much longer distances with special trans-
ceivers and switching infrastructure.

CABLES: FIBER OPTIC & COPPER (cont.)
Update: 24 April 2012:
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Engineer-
ing Committee TR-42 Telecommunications Cabling Systems has
approved the publication of TIA-942-A, the revised Telecommu-
nications Infrastructure Standard for Data Centers. A number of
changes were made to update the specification with respect to
higher transmission speeds, energy efficiency and harmonizing
with international standards. For backbone and horizontal cabling
and connectors, the following are some of the important updates:
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Addendum 1 for data center fabrics
16- and 32-fiber MPO-style connectors
Category 8 twisted pair cable, expected to support
25GBASE-T and 40GBASE-T applications.
A new OM5 fiber-optic cable type (wideband multimode fiber
or WBMMF) that supports short-wave wavelength division
multiplexing (see TIA-492-AAAE)

The TIA-942-B standard was published in July 2017.

Copper Cabling - Cat 6 is the minimum requirement, Cat
6a is recommended for Ethernet. 10Gb Ethernet Fiber-Optic Cables

Fiber Optic Cabling - OM3 is the minimum requirement,

10GBASE-SR
OM4 is recommended.
Currently the most common type of fiber optic 10GbE cable is
Fiber Optic Connectors - LC is the standard for one or the 10GBASE-SR cable that supports an SFP+ connector with
an optical transceiver rated for 10Gb transmission speed.
two fiber optic SFP and SFP+ connectors.
These are also known as “short reach” fiber optic cables.

10GBASE-LR
These are the “long reach” fiber optic cables that support
Update: June 2017: single-mode fiber optic cables and connectors.

The TIA approved for publication the TIA-942-B data center cabling
standard at its June 2017 meeting. This standard includes several
updates from Revision-A including: Indoor vs. Outdoor Cabling

Indoor fiber-optic cables are suitable for indoor building applica-

tions. Outdoor cables, also known as outside plant or OSP, are suit-
able for outdoor applications and are water (liquid and frozen) and
UV resistant. These cables provide the protections of outdoor cables
with a fire-retardant jacket that allows deployment of these cables
inside the building entrance beyond the OSP maximum distance,
which can reduce the number of transition splices and connections.
 Demartek
CABLES: FIBER OPTIC & COPPER (cont.)
FIBER OPTIC CABLE CHARACTERISTICS
Cable Jacket
Mode Core Diameter Wavelength Modal Bandwidth Color
OM1 multi-mode 62.5 µm 850nm/1300nm 200 MHz Orange
OM2 multi-mode 50 µm 850nm/1300nm 500 MHz Orange
OM3 multi-mode 50 µm 850nm/1300nm 2000 MHz Aqua
OM4 multi-mode 50 µm 850nm/1300nm 4700 MHz Aqua
OM5 wideband
mode
multi- 50 µm 850nm - 953nm 4700 - 2470
MHz Lime Green
OS1 single-mode 9 µm 1310nm/1550nm /// Yellow

FIBER OPTIC CABLE BY DISTANCE & SPEED

(single lane)

OM1 OM2 OM3 OM4 1 OM1 cable is not recommended for 16GFC, but
is expected to operate up to 15m
1 Gbps 300m 500m 860m ///
2 Gbps 150m 300m 500m ///
Distances supported in actual configurations
4 Gbps 70m 150m 380m 400m are generally less than the distance supported
by the raw fiber optic cable. The distances
8 Gbps 21m 50m 150m 190m shown here are for 850 nm wavelength multi-
mode cables. The 1300 nm wavelength multi-
10 Gbps 33m 82m Up to 300m Up to 400m
mode cables can support longer distances.
16 Gbps 15m 35m 100m 125m OM5 distances will be added to the table later
1

this year.
25 Gbps /// 20m 70m 100m
32 Gbps /// 20m 70m 100m

CABLES: FIBER OPTIC & COPPER (cont.)
Copper Cables: Active Copper vs. Passive Copper
Copper cables are available in passive and active designs. Passive
copper cables consume no power and have shorter reach. Active
copper cables include components that boost the signal, reduce
the noise and work with smaller-gauge cables, improving signal
distance, cable flexibility and airflow. These active copper cables
consume some power and are more expensive than passive cop-
per cables. From a distance perspective, active copper cables reach
longer than passive copper but shorter than fiber-optic cables. The
copper cables, both passive and active, typically include a connector
or transceiver mounted directly on the cable.
Passive copper cables are very common in datacenters and are fre-
quently used in configurations with top-of-rack (“TOR”) switches
because even at the higher speeds, passive copper cables can usu-
ally reach the full height of a rack. Many newer datacenters are de-
signed in such a way to keep cable lengths short to take advantage
of lower-cost passive copper cables rather than use more expensive
active copper cables.
The newer speeds of some interfaces are expected to increase the
use of active copper cables over time.
Copper Cables: Distances
Passive copper cables, depending on the rated speed, typically are
in the single-digit meters in terms of distance. Active copper cables
can typically reach into the low double-digits of meters. As the data
rates increase, the distance decreases. With single-lane data rates of
25 Gbps and 32 Gbps, copper cables have a relatively short reach.
Research is being conducted to determine the feasibility of cop-
per cables at 100 Gbps per lane. One example of this was shown at
DesignCon 2016. An incubation startup company demonstrated a
100 Gbps serial data communication over a 1.5 meter twinaxial cop-
per cable.
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Copper: 10GBASE-T and 1000BASE-T
1000BASE-T cabling is commonly used for 1Gb Ethernet traffic in
general, and 1Gb iSCSI for storage connections. This is the familiar
four pair copper cable with the RJ45 connectors. Cables used for
1000BASE-T are known as Cat5e (Category 5 enhanced) or Cat6
(Category 6) cables.
10BASE-T cabling supports 10Gb Ethernet traffic, including 10Gb
iSCSI storage traffic. The cables and connectors are similar to,
but not the same as the cables used for 1000BASE-T. 10GBASE-T
cables are Cat6a (Category 6 augmented), also known as Class EA
cables. These support the higher frequencies required for 10Gb
transmission up to 100 meters (330 feet). Cables must be certified
for 10GBASE-T compliance, and is typically deployed in Europe.
Cat6 cables may work in 10GBASE-T deployments up to 55m, but
should be tested first. 10GBASE-T cabling is not expected to be de-
ployed for FCoE applications in the near future. Some newer 10GbE
switches support 10GBASE-T (RJ45) connectors.
10GBASE-CR - Currently, the most common type of copper 10GbE
cable is the 10GBASE-CR cable that uses an attached SFP+ connec-
tor, also known as a Direct Attach Copper (DAC). This fits into the
same for factor connector and housing as the fiber-optic cables with
SFP+ connectors. Many 10GbE switches accept cables with SFP+
connectors, which support both copper and fiber-optic cables. These
cables are available in 1m, 3m, 5m, 7m, 8.5m, and longer distances.
The most commonly deployed distances are 3m and 5m.
10GBASE-CX4 - These cables are older and not very common. This
type of cable and connector is similar to cables used for InfiniBand
technology.
Continue reading for information on connector types.

CONNECTOR TYPES
Several types of connectors are available with cables used for stor-
age interfaces. This is not an exhaustive list but is intended to show
the more common types. Each of the connector types includes the
number of lanes (or channels) and the rated speed.
As of early 2011, the fastest generally available connector speeds
supported were 10Gbps per lane. Significantly higher speeds and the QSFP-style (see diagrams below). SFP stands for “small
are currently achieved by bundling multiple lanes in parallel, such
as 4x10 (40Gbps), 10x10 (100Gbps), 12x10 (120Gbps), etc. Most of
the current implementations of 40GbE and 100GbE use multiple
lanes of 10GbE and are considered “channel bonded” solutions.
14Gbps per lane connectors appeared in the last half of 2011. These
connectors support 16Gb Fibre Channel (single-lane) and 56Gb
(FDR) InfiniBand (multi-lane).
25Gbps per lane cconnectors began to appear in volume in 2016.
The underlying technology (“25G/28G”) used for 25 Gbps con-
nectors for Ethernet is essentially the same as the technology used
for 32Gb Fibre Channel. The Ethernet implementation provides
25 Gbps per lane and the Fibre Channel implementation provides
32 Gbps per lane. This same technology is bundled into four-lane
(“quad”) configurations to achieve 100GbE and 128GFC. Other vari-
ations of bundling multiple lanes of 25 Gbps may be possible, such
as 10x25 (250 Gbps), 12x25 (300 Gbps) or 16x25 (400 Gbps).
SFP QSFP CONNECTOR/INTERFACE
SFP SFP+ SFP28
ETHERNET 1GbE 10GbE
FC 1/2/4GFC 8/16GFC
INFINIBAND /// ///
*QSFP28 is known as QSFP100 for some 100Gb (4 x 25) Ethernet applications
Demartek
With the announcement of 25 Gbps Ethernet, some in the industry
believe that single-lane 25 Gbps Ethernet infrastructure (cables,
connectors and adapters) will gain faster market acceptance than
multi-lane 40 Gbps Ethernet infrastructure.
Two of the popular fiber-optic cable connectors are the SFP-style
form-factor pluggable” and QSFP is “quad small form-factor plug-
gable.” As the data rates for various interfaces have increased, the
internal technology in these connectors has changed, and the names
have changed slightly. The table below indicates the name of the
technology and the interfaces that use it. See the Roadmaps section
for additional details on particular interfaces.
QSFP-DD: The Quad Small Form Factor Double Density specifi-
cation was released in March 2017. This specification is for a new
module and cage/connector system similar to, and backward com-
patible with, the existing QSFP (and QSFP28), but with an addition-
al row of contacts for an eight-lane electrical interface. A number of
major industry companies are promoters and contributors to this
specification. There is a Frequently Asked Questions section on the
main page of the QSFP-DD website.
Development of on-board optical connections is underway via the
Consortium for On-Board Optics (COBO).
QSFP+ QSFP28*
25GbE 40GbE 100GbE
32GFC /// 128GFC
/// QDR/FDR EDR
 Demartek
CONNECTOR TABLE
MAX. SPEED
PER LANE MAX. SPEED
TYPE LANES (Gbps) TOTAL (Gbps) CABLE TYPE USAGE

MINI SAS SAS 4 6 24 Copper 3Gb, 6Gb SAS

MINI SAS HD SAS 4, 8 12 48, 96 Copper 6Gb, 12Gb SAS

10GbE, SDR & DDR

COPPER CX4 CX4 4 5 20 Copper InfiniBand

SMALL FORM- Copper, 1GbE, 1GFC, 2GFC,

FACTOR PLUGGABLE
SFP 1 4 4 Optical 4GFC

SMALL FORM-FACTOR Copper, 10GbE, 8GFC,

PLUGGABLE ENHANCED
SFP+ 1 16 16 Optical 16GFC, 10Gb FCoE

SMALL FORM-FACTOR Copper, 25GbE, 32GFC

PLUGGABLE 28
SFP28 1 32 32 Optical
QUAD SMALL FORM- Copper,
QSFP 4 5 20 Optical
Various
FACTOR PLUGGABLE
QUAD SMALL FORM- Copper, 40GbE, DDR, QDR & FDR
FACTOR PLUGGABLE QSFP+ 4 16 64 Optical
InfiniBand,
64GFC
ENHANCED
Copper, 100GbE, EDR,
QUAD SMALL FORM-
FACTOR PLUGGABLE 28
QSFP28 4 32 128 Optical
InfiniBand,
128GFC

10, 12 10 100, 120 Copper 100GbE,

CXP CXP 120Gb other

CFP CFP 10 10 100 Optical 100GbE


CONNECTOR DIAGRAMS
These diagrams help visualize how the cables and connectors
work together for various interfaces. In some cases the copper and
fiber-optic cables use similar connectors so that the receptacle can
be the same for either type of cable. In the diagrams, the fiber-optic
cables are either orange or yellow, and copper cables are gray. The
receptacles can be mounted in or on motherboards, adapter cards,
switches, etc.
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Notice that the fiber-optic cables do not have a transceiver
(“optics”) attached to the cable. The transceivers for fiber-optic
cables are available separately. When deploying switches and host
bus adapters (HBAs), the transceivers are not always included in
the base unit, but must be ordered separately when using fiber-
optic cables. The copper cables generally have the equivalent of the
transceiver permanently attached to the cable.

Mini SAS Mini SAS HD Copper CX4 SFP/SFP+ QSFP/QSFP+

SFP28 QSFP28

Click the connector above to view diagrams

 Demartek
CONNECTOR TYPES (cont.)
Mini SFP Mini SAS and Mini SAS HD

In the second half of 2010, a new variant of the SFP/SFP+ connector
was introduced to accommodate the Fibre Channel backbone with
64-port blades and the planned increased density Ethernet core
switches. This new connector, known as mSFP, mini-SFP or mini-
LC SFP, narrows the optical centerline of a conventional SFP/SFP+
connector from 6.25 mm to 5.25 mm. Although this connector looks
very much like a standard SFP style connector, it is narrower and is
required for the higher-density devices. The photo provided here
shows the difference between mini-SFP and the standard size.
The Mini SAS connector is the familiar 4-lane connector available
on most SAS cables today. The Mini SAS HD connector provides
twice the density as the Mini SAS connector, and is available in
4-lane and 8-lane configurations. The Mini SAS HD connector is the
same connector for passive copper, active copper and optical SAS
cables. The diagrams below compare these two types of SAS
connectors.

CXP and CFP

The CXP (copper) and CFP (optical) connectors are expected to be

used initially for switch-to-switch connections. These are expected
for Ethernet and may also be used for InfiniBand. CFP connectors
currently support 10 lanes of 10 Gbps connections (10x10) that
consume approximately 35-40 watts. CFP2 is a single board, smaller
version of CFP that also supports 10x10 but uses less power than
CFP. During 2013, quite a bit of development activity is focused on
CFP2. A future CFP4 connector is in the planning stages that is
expected to use the 25/28G connectors and support 4x25. CFP4 is
expected to handle long range fiber optic distances.

PCI EXPRESS (PCIe)
PCI Express®, also known as PCIe®, stands for Peripheral Compo-
nent Interconnect Express and is the computer industry standard
for the I/O bus for computers introduced in the last few years. The
first version of the PCIe specification, 1.0a, was introduced in 2003.
Version 2.0 was introduced in 2007 and version 3.0 was introduced
in 2010. These versions are often identified by their generation
(“gen 1,” “gen 2,” etc.). It can take a year or two between the time
the specification is introduced and general availability of computer
systems and devices that use the new version of the PCIe specifica-
tion.
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Data rates for different versions of PCIe are shown in the table
below. PCIe data rates are expressed in Gigatransfers per second
(GT/s) and are a function of the number of lanes in the connection.
The number of lanes is expressed with an “x” before the number
of lanes, and is often spoken as “by 1,” “by 4,” etc. PCIe supports
full-duplex (traffic in both directions). The data rates shown below
are in each direction. Note the explanation of encoding schemes
previously described.

The PCIe specifications are developed and maintained by the PCI-

SGI® (PCI Special Interest Group). PCI Express and PCIe are a
registered trademarks of the PCI-SIG.

PCIe DATA RATES

Half-duplex speeds (approx.)

GT/s Encoding x1 x2 x4 x8 x16

PCIe 1.x 2.5 8b/10b 250MBps 500MBps 1GBps 2GBps 4GBps

PCIe 2.x 5 8b/10b 500MBps 1GBps 2GBps 4GBps 8GBps

PCIe 3.x 8 128b/130b 1GBps 2GBps 4GBps 8GBps 16GBps

PCIe 4.x 16 128b/130b 2GBps 4GBps 8GBps 16GBps 32GBps

PCIe 5.x 32 128b/130b 4GBps 8GBps 16GBps 32GBps 64GBps


PCI EXPRESS (PCIe) (cont.)
PCIe 2.0 - Servers that have PCIe 2.0 x8 slots can support two ports
of 10GbE or two ports of 16GFC on one adapter.
PCIe 3.0 - On 6 March 2012, the major server vendors announced
their next generation servers that support PCIe 3.0, which, among
other things, doubles the I/O throughput rate from the previous
generation. These servers also provide up to 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes per
processor socket, which is also at least double from the previous
server generation. Workstation and desktop computer mother-
boards that support PCIe 3.0 first appeared in late 2011. PCIe 3.0
graphics cards appeared in late 2011. Other types of adapters sup-
porting PCIe 3.0 were announced in 2012 and 2013. The PCIe3.0
specification was completed in November 2010.
PCIe 3.1 - The PCIe 3.1 specification was released in October 2014.
It incorporates M-PCIe and consolidates numerous protocol exten-
sions and functionality for ease of access.
PCIe 4.0 - The PCIe 4.0 specification will maintain backward com-
patibility with previous generations of the PCIe architecture such as
PCIe 1.x, 2.x and 3.x. In June 2017, the PCIe 4.0, Revision 0.9 speci-
fication was announced as feature-complete and is going through
its final review. The final version of the PCIe 4.0 specification is
expected to be complete later in 2017. After the final PCIe 4.0 speci-
fication is complete, it may take up to a year or more for products
that support the PCIe 4.0 architecture to become generally available,
though some early products may be introduced in 2017.
PCIe 5.0 - In June 2017, PCI-SIG announced that 32 GT/s per lane
is the next progression in speed for the PCIe 5.0 architecture. Early
estimates are that the PCIe 5.0 specification may be completed by
calendar year 2019, and revision 0.3 is already available to PCI-SIG
member companies. In order to support the higher speeds, different
materials may be required for some PCIe 5.0 components.
Demartek
M.2 - M.2 is the next generation PCIe
connector that can be used for internally
mounted devices such as boot drives in a
variety of devices, from mobile to server.
Its multiple socket definitions support
WWAN, SSD and other applications.
M.2 can support PCIe protocol or SATA
protocol, but not both at the same time on
the same device. M.2 supports a variety
of board width and length options. M.2
is available in single-sided modules that
can be soldered down, or single-sided and
dual-sided modules used with a connec-
tor. M.2 PCIe is also available in a Ball
Grid Array (BGA) form factor.
Mini-PCIe - PCI Express cards are also available in a mini PCIe
form factor. This is a special form factor for PCIe that is approxi-
mately 30mm x 51mm or 30mm x 26.5mm, designed for laptop
and notebook computers, and equivalent to a single-lane (x1) PCIe
slot. A variety of devices including WiFi modules, WAN modules,
video/audio decoders, SSDs and other devices are available in this
form factor.
U.2 (formerly SFF-8639) - U.2 is the I/O backplane connector de-
signed for high-density SSD storage devices and is backward com-
patible with existing storage interfaces. SFF-8639 supports PCIe/
NVMe, SAS and SATA devices and enables hot plug and hot swap
of devices while the system is running.
M-PCIe™ - M-PCIe is the specification that maps PCIe over the
MIPI­­® Alliance M-PHY® technology used in low-power mobile
and handheld devices. M-PCIe is optimized for RFI/EMI require-
ments and supports M-PHY gears 1, 2 and 3 and will be extended
to support gear 4.

PCI EXPRESS (PCIe) (cont.)
I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV & MR-IOV) - In 2008, the PCI-SIG
announced the completion of its I/O Virtualization (IOV) suite of
specifications including single-root IOV (SR-IOV) and multi-root
IOV (MR-IOV).
SR-IOV
Enables a PCIe device to support multiple Virtual Functions
and is currently used with several 10GbE and faster NICs and
with various hypervisors.
Demartek
OCuLink - OCuLink is intended to be a low-cost, small cable form
factor for PCIe internal and external devices such as storage de-
vices or graphics adapters, offering bit rates starting at 8 Gbps, with
headroom to scale, and new independent cable clock integration.
OCuLink supports x1, x2 and x4 lanes of PCIe 3.0 connectivity.
OCuLink supports passive cables capable of reaching up to 2—3
meters and active copper and optical cables. Active copper cables
can reach up to 3—10 meters while active optical cables can reach
up to 300 meters in length. The OCuLink specification Revision 1.0
was published in October 2015 and is available to PCI-SIG members
via the online specification library.

MR-IOV
Enables multiple non-coherent Root Complexes (RCs) to
enhance resource utilization of PCI hardware and is primarily
the overlaying of multiple Virtual Hierarchies (VHs) over a
shared physical set of multi-root aware (MRA) and non-MRA
components.

PCIe External Cables - The concept of sharing PCIe devices or

providing access to PCIe devices that may be physically larger than
some smaller form-factor systems can accommodate has led to the
development of external connections to some PCIe devices. Cables
have been developed for extending the PCIe bus outside of the
chassis holding the PCIe slots. These cables are specified by indicat-
ing the number of PCIe lanes (x4, x8, etc.) supported. Cables are
typically available for x4, x8 and x16 lane configurations. Common
cable lengths are 1m and 3m. The photo below shows some PCIe ca-
bles and connectors. PCIe can also be carried over fiber-optic cables
for longer distances. In the future we will begin to see the shift from
PCIe cables and connectors to OCuLink cables and connectors, also
shown in the image below.