SFP lifetime

[kevingrss]

Is there an expected lifetime for transceivers? I don't find anything on this in the specifications. Here's a previous answer claiming 1 million hours but no documentation for that.

How do I know when to start proactively replacing old SFPs? Is that even something I need to worry about?

[Leo Laohoo]

There are so many SFP manufacturers in the world and they all compete to sell OEM-branded to the big players.  The only way to compete is to set a very, very low price.  

SFP, in the wild, have a "life" between 1 hour to 10 years.  
We only replace when they go faulty or they start getting faulty.

[kevingrss]

I have some that are 8 years old so they'd be getting to the top end of your 10-year range. We've seen our first potentially age-related fault with a unit reporting -20 dBm transmit power. I'm trying to figure out whether to expect others to follow shortly.

[Leo Laohoo]

If you (start) getting "low power" log messages, then it is time to replace them.