Cisco 800 Gigabit DP08QSDD-ZRA-A2 Transceiver

Modern network operators and enterprise data centers face relentless traffic growth driven by cloud computing, AI workloads, and distributed edge architectures. To keep pace while managing operational costs, infrastructure teams are rapidly moving away from traditional, fragmented optical transport models toward unified architectures. Cisco's coherent pluggable optics represent a major milestone in this transition, driving the adoption of Routed Optical Networking by integrating DWDM transponder capabilities straight into high-density routing and switching platforms.

By consolidating optical transmission directly into standard router ports, organizations can eliminate dedicated transponder shelves, simplify fiber management, and significantly lower power requirements. This architectural shift bridges the long-standing gap between optical transport and IP networking, enabling businesses to scale their data center interconnect and metro aggregation backbones with greater speed, lower latency, and better total cost of ownership.

Product overview

Cisco delivers a comprehensive portfolio of 800G coherent pluggable transceivers engineered across industry-standard QSFP-DD and OSFP form factors. This portfolio includes the QSFP-DD-800G-ZR-S, designed for standard OIF 800ZR point-to-point data center interconnect spans up to 120 kilometers, and the QSFP-DD-800G-ER-S, tailored for extended reach across amplified point-to-point links. For complex metro, regional, and ROADM-based architectures, Cisco provides the QSFP-DD-800G-ZR-P-S, an extended performance ZR+ variant offering multi-rate support from 400G up to 800G with higher transmit power.

To support diverse hardware platforms, Cisco mirrors these advanced capabilities in OSFP form factors. The lineup features the OSFP-800G-ZR-S for standard 800ZR DCI use cases, the OSFP-800G-ER-S for extended reach requirements, and the OSFP-800G-ZR-P-S for high-performance metro and regional transport. Together, these modules provide operators with complete flexibility to deploy 800G DWDM connectivity directly over existing line systems, ensuring consistent software integration and full operational alignment across both form factors.

Features and benefits

• High-density 800G throughput maximizes router faceplate capacity while drastically cutting power consumption per transmitted bit.
• Direct router-pluggable DWDM integration eliminates standalone optical transponders, lowering hardware CapEx and ongoing facility OpEx.
• Multi-rate flexibility allows seamless operation across 400G, 600G, and 800G modes to optimize spectral efficiency and reach.
• Full compliance with OIF 800ZR and OpenZR+ standards ensures broad multivendor interoperability across open line systems.
• Advanced onboard digital signal processing and real-time telemetry provide actionable performance insights and proactive fault monitoring.
• Native support for Routed Optical Networking simplifies end-to-end network management through unified IP and optical automation.