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We currently have two HP Procurve 2312s connected using two 100-FX-SC transceivers. I am looking to upgrade to new managed Cisco Catalyst switches that use 1000Base-SX transceivers, will the same cabling I have now work or what will I need to upgrade to make it work?

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What kind of cabling is it? Multimode, singlemode, diameters? – Chris S♦ Mar 10 '10 at 0:55
I'm not sure how would I check? – Byron Wilcox Mar 10 '10 at 0:56
It should say a number on the cable. For instance 62.5/125 and 50/125 are very common multi-mode fibers. If it's 50/125 it should also say OM1, OM2, or OM3. 2 and 3 will support 1 Gbps (3 supports 10Gbps). Otherwise it might say 8/125 or 10/125 for single-mode fibers. – Chris S♦ Mar 10 '10 at 1:00
it is 62.5/125 other information on the tag was a tripplite part#N304-003 and SC-ST 0.9M – Byron Wilcox Mar 10 '10 at 1:16
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it is 62.5/125 other information on the tag was a tripplite part#N304-003 and SC-ST 0.9M

That will support Gigabit Ethernet over that distance. However you need to check that the physical interface on the new switch transceiver matches your current transceiver (which is SC) and I suspect they won't match.

You can use this chart to help identify connectors, if you know the model of the Cisco switch. It's likely that it is using a SFP module.

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Cisco Catalyst 2960-8TC and Cisco Catalyst 3560-12PC – Byron Wilcox Mar 10 '10 at 20:04
well the distance from one office to the other is about 400 ft, that is only the wire from the switch to the wall. – Byron Wilcox Mar 11 '10 at 18:53
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so i would just need to get new connectors put on?

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I'm not familiar with the switch models you posted in your other comment. However, if you look up the specs and find they are not using the same connector, then you have at least three options: + Buy new cables (which will be cheap if they are short cables) + Have the existing cables re-terminated (I recommend this is done by a qualified cabler) + Buy a converter/adapter to match – William Mar 10 '10 at 22:57
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So there's a few things.

  1. Distance, by your comment it's 400ft (~130M), this should be ok with any SX transceiver
  2. Patch cables, also by your comments I think you'll need to purchase new ones, probably LC-ST. Here's an example
  3. Installation cable, the cable used on the main run, if it's 50/125 (OM2) no problem, if it's 62.5/125 (OM1) then it might work, but isn't strictly to spec
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I've seen gig run over really long runs of multimode, on the order of almost a kilometer. What the spec says and what you can do if you need to and don't have the money to pull new fiber are two different things. considering that 2 sfp modules would cost less than $100 on ebay, it's worth just plugging it in and seeing if it works. (and this was 62.5, not 50 micron cable) – chris Jun 18 '10 at 3:49
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