English 
Русский 
中文 
Español 
Deutsch 
Français Fibre Channel speeds
Fibre Channel rates are written with a GFC suffix (gigabaud Fibre Channel). Each generation roughly doubles throughput while keeping backward compatibility with a few prior generations.
Generations
| Rate | Line coding | Typical module |
|---|---|---|
| 4GFC | 8b/10b | SFP+ |
| 8GFC | 8b/10b | SFP+ |
| 16GFC | 64b/66b | SFP+ |
| 32GFC | 64b/66b | SFP28 |
| 64GFC | 64b/66b | SFP-DD / SFP56 |
| 128GFC | 4×32GFC | QSFP28 |
Backward compatibility
A port usually negotiates down to older generations — for example a 32GFC port interoperating with 16GFC and 8GFC equipment. This makes staged upgrades practical inside an existing SAN.
Media designation
FC optics are labelled by wave type and reach: SW for 850 nm multi-mode short reaches and LW for 1310 nm single-mode long reaches, similar in spirit to the Ethernet interface names.