What are pluggable optics?Transceiver modules that connect network components to convert high-speed electrical signals into optical signals and vice versa.
Pluggable optics are interchangeable transceiver modules that connect different network components, such as switches, routers, and servers, to convert high-speed electrical signals into optical signals and vice versa. Pluggable optics are the most common form of data center optics used today due to their flexibility, scalability, and compatibility with various networking devices and standards. Roughly the size of a Pez™ dispenser or pack of gum, they can be used to easily insert and remove a fiber optic cable from a socket. A benefit of pluggable optics is that you can tailor the specs of the transceiver inside the module to the data rate and other network architecture requirements. While optical interconnects use light to transmit data inside a compute architecture, pluggable optics make it easy to transmit data between systems. However, they have struggled to break the 1 Gbps/$ barrier.
