cheaper 40gb optics/uplinks? I'm pricing out a decent size 10gb network (6-8 ToR switchs) and the uplink costs are a major factor. I figure each ToR switch needs 4x40gb uplinks and you have a cost for the uplink optics that is approximately the cost of the ToR switch itself, not to mention the server cabling. That is with 1st part optics (Juniper in my case). Anybody have any practical experience with either: 1. Cheaper 3rd party 40gb optics, or 2. Using the copper ones? I'm interested in experience with 3rd party optics. How is the longevity and quality? How much pushback do you get from your switch vendors? Anything to look for or avoid? We use copper sfp+ cables wherever practical to save costs, I presume the qsfp+ ones would be similar. Anything else I'd need to be aware of?

FluxLight also has a fairly wide selection of SFP, SFP+ and QSFP optical transceivers. We have used them for about 5 years now and have only encountered one bad module. We contacted FluxLight and they cross-shipped a new module for free. I highly recommend them. Their modules also identify properly in various vendor chassis, so HP and Cisco equipment should see the module without it complaining or shutting down the interface.