View source for Gigabit interface converter

{{Short description|Standard for transceivers}}
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{{primary sources|date=October 2011}}

[[Image:GBIC.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[1000BASE-SX]] GBIC]]
'''Gigabit interface converter''' ('''GBIC''') is a standard for [[transceiver]]s. First defined in 1995, it was used with [[Gigabit Ethernet]] and [[Fibre Channel]]. By standardizing on a [[hot swap]]pable electrical interface, a single gigabit port can support a wide range of physical media, from copper to long-wave [[single-mode optical fiber]], at lengths of hundreds of kilometers.<ref name="spec" />

The [[Small Form-factor Pluggable]] (SFP) transceiver, also known as mini-GBIC, succeeds GBIC.<ref>{{cite web |title= INF-8074i Specification for SFP (Small Formfactor Pluggable Transceiver) revision 1.0  |publisher= Small Form Factor Committee |date= May 12, 2001 |url= http://ftp.seagate.com/sff/INF-8074.PDF |access-date= June 21, 2011 }}</ref> Announced in 2001, it obsoleted GBIC.

==Appeal==
{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2024}}
Flexibility is the benefit of [[:Category:Hot-swappable transceiver|hot-swappable transceivers]] like the GBIC standard as opposed to fixed physical interface configurations. Where optical technologies are mixed, an administrator can just-in-time purchase GBICs of the specific type for each link. This flexibility lowers fixed costs. However, if one port type such as copper predominates, a switch with built-in ports is cheaper and space efficient.

==Standards==
The GBIC standard is openly defined by the [[Small Form Factor Committee]] in document number 8053i.<ref name="spec">{{cite web |title= SFF-8053 Specification for GBIC (Gigabit Interface Converter) revision 5.5  |publisher= [[Storage Networking Industry Association]] |date= September 27, 2000 |url= https://members.snia.org/document/dl/26895 |access-date= February 5, 2021 }}</ref> The first publication was in November 1995. A few corrections and additions were made through September 2000. Robert Snively of [[Brocade Communications]] was the technical editor. The original contributors were [[AMP Incorporated]], [[Compaq |Compaq Computers]], [[Sun Microsystems]], and Vixel Corporation.<ref name="spec"/>

== References==
{{Commons category|Gigabit Interface Converter}}
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[[Category:Hot-swappable transceiver]]