Patent ID: 8769173

Claim:
A system for detecting supported small form-factor pluggable (SFP) devices coupled to an adapter, comprising: a plurality of ports, each port configured to be coupled to a SFP device; a tracking device configured to store data representing a first list of supported SFP devices for the adapter; and a processor coupled to each of the plurality of ports and the tracking device, wherein the processor is configured to: scan each port at start-up, determine whether a SFP device coupled to any of the plurality of ports is on the first list of supported SFP devices for the adapter, if the SFP device is not on the first list of supported SFP devices for the adapter, identify the SFP device as a non-supported SFP device, if the SFP device is identified as a non-supported SFP device, disable the one of the plurality of ports that is coupled to the SFP device that is a non-supported SFP device, change the designation of the SFP device from an unknown designation to a non-supported designation, and notify the user that the SFP device is a non-supported SFP device and coupled to the one of the plurality of ports, if the SFP device is on the first list of supported SFP devices, determine if the SFP device and the adapter are both long-wave devices or both short-wave devices, if the SFP device and the adapter are not both long-wave devices or both short-wave devices, identify the SFP device as an incompatible SFP device, create a list including each port that is coupled to an incompatible SFP device, and provide the list to a user.