Definition:

SFP transceivers are available with a variety of transmitter and receiver types, allowing users to select the appropriate transceiver for each link to provide the required optical reach over the available optical fiber type (e.g. multi-mode fiber or single-mode fiber). SFP modules are commonly available in several different categories. LX and SX transceivers are one of them. SX has 850 nm, for a maximum of 550 m at 1.25 Gbit/s (gigabit Ethernet) or 150m at 4.25 Gbit/s (Fibre Channel) 1 to 2.5 Gbit/s single-mode fibers, LC connector, with blue extraction lever and LX 1310 nm, for distances up to 10 km.

1000BASE SX vs LX:

1000BASE-SX is a fiber optic Gigabit Ethernet standard for operation over multi-mode fiber using a 770 to 860 nanometer, near infrared (NIR) light wavelength. The standard specifies a distance capability between 220 meters and 550 meters. In practice, with good quality fiber, optics, and terminations, 1000BASE-SX will usually work over significantly longer distances. This standard is highly popular for intra-building links in large office buildings, co-location facilities and carrier neutral internet exchanges. 1000BASE-SX SFP works at 850nm wavelength and used only for the purposed of the multimode optical fiber with an LC connector. 1000BASE-SX SFP traditional 50 microns of multimode optical fiber link is 550 meters high and 62.5 micron fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) multimode optical fiber is up to 220 meters. Take EX-SFP-1GE-SX as an example, its maximum distance is 550m with DOM support. The 1000Base-SX standard supports the multimode fiber distances.

Specified in IEEE 802.3 Clause 38, 1000BASE-LX is a type of standard for implementing Gigabit Ethernet networks. The "LX" in 1000BASE-LX stands for long wavelength, indicating that this version of Gigabit Ethernet is intended for use with long-wavelength transmissions (1270–1355 nm) over long cable runs of fiber optic cabling. 1000BASE-LX can run over both single mode fiber and multimode fiber with a distance of up to 5 km and 550 m, respectively. For link distances greater than 300 m, the use of a special launch conditioning patch cord may be required. 1000BASE-LX is intended mainly for connecting high-speed hubs, Ethernet switches, and routers together in different wiring closets or buildings using long cabling runs, and developed to support longer-length multimode building fiber backbones and single-mode campus backbones. E1MG-LX-OM is Brocade 1000BASE-LX SFP that operates over a wavelength of 1310nm for 10 km.

Conclusion:

Gigabit Ethernet solution over fiber that supports half- and full-duplex transmission at speeds of 1Gbps (1000mbps). The 1000Base-SX standard was developed to support lower cost multimode fiber runs in horizontal and shorter-length backbone applications. The 1000Base-SX standard supports the multimode fiber distances shown in table 1. The 1000Base-LX standard was developed to support longer-length multimode building fiber backbones and single mode campus backbones. The 1000Base-LX standard supports multimode lengths of 550m and single mode lengths of 3km.