What Is OSFP?_
OSFP (Octal Small Form-factor Pluggable) is a transceiver form factor designed for 400G and 800G connections with better thermal management than QSFP-DD due to its larger housing. OSFP supports more power per port, making it preferred for new 800G+ deployments. Organizations planning for 1.6T should favor OSFP architecture.
Technical Details
OSFP was designed from the ground up for high-power, high-speed applications. Its larger form factor (compared to QSFP-DD) provides approximately 60% more volume for thermal dissipation, supporting module power consumption up to 20W+ for current generations and scaling higher for future 1.6T modules. OSFP uses 8 electrical lanes and supports 400G (8x50G) and 800G (8x100G) configurations. The larger size means fewer ports per switch line card compared to QSFP-DD, but the thermal advantage is critical at 800G and above where module power consumption increases significantly. New switch platforms for 800G often use OSFP exclusively.
How Leviathan Systems Works with OSFP
Leviathan Systems evaluates OSFP vs. QSFP-DD as part of network design planning for GPU deployments, recommending OSFP for new builds targeting 800G and future 1.6T speeds.