Author: Fiber-MART.COM

by http://www.fiber-mart.comA Fiber Optic Network wouldn’t exist without optical transceivers and patch-cords. They are essential to the functioning of the Fiber Optic Network Architecture. They come in various shape and sizes and knowing which and how to choose them can literally save the entire network of unwanted issues. 

The optical transceivers can vary from interface, transmission media and distance, data rate and brand. Luckily CBO BlueOptics© manufacture transceivers of any kind, capable for maximum performance and the most important they are compatible with every vendor’s equipment on the market. However buying the correct patch cords is a very hard job if you lack in experience and knowledge about Fiber Optics. Even if you feel you are experienced, getting a second opinion from another experienced colleague won’t be a bad idea. When buying patch cords there are many details to keep an eye on but most importantly the transmission media, the transceiver interface (connector), the data rates and distances capability. From the transmission’s perspective there are two types of transceivers existing, fiber based and copper based transceivers.

The Multi Source Agreement (MSA) has identified the most commonly used copper transceivers: 100BASE-T, 1000BASE-T and 10GBASE-T. These transceivers usually have a RJ45 connector so they require the Cat-5/6/7 RJ45 cables for connectivity. Fiber Optic based transceivers on the other hand are more complicated because they require patch cords for connectivity. There are two types of Fiber Optic Patch Cords: Single- mode and Multi- mode patch cords. Single- mode patch cables are classified as OS1 and OS2 while Multi- mode patch cables are classified as OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4. Knowing the various types of patch cables and their differences is essential to building a stable Networking environment. 

Before digging deeper in their differences let’s see how the whole Fiber Optics concept works.The Fiber Optic concept is based on converting electrical signals into optical light and sending them through a hair-thin glass or plastic fiber. The light is driven through the core of the fiber cable which is basically the center of the cable. This core is surrounded by an optical material which is called “cladding” which helps keep the optical light in the cable instead of breaking out of it. This is called “total internal reflection”. The CBO BlueOptics© core and the cladding are made of advanced and ultra-pure Corning glass for maximum performance. The whole cable is coated with protective covering and on top of the covering is coated with an outer coating also called “the jacket”. These layers of coating help protect the cable from the outside effects like bending, moisture and temperature. Single- mode Fibers are fibers with a small core which allow only one string of light to pass through it. With this solution the number of light reflections inside the cable decreases and thus the cable has the capability to drive the light signal further in distance. These cables are used for long distance, high bandwidth applications. There are two types of Single- mode Fibers, OS1 and OS2.

The main difference is that OS1 is used mainly for indoor Datacenter application and OS2 is used for outdoor use underground or over ground application. Multi- mode Fibers are fibers with larger core in diameter and because of it multiple strings of optical light can be driven down the cable. Thus the number of light reflections inside the cable increases and the light bounces in the cable limiting its distance capability. These cables are mainly used in the LAN network or access layers.  There are four types of Multi- mode Fibers, OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4 which can provide different distances: When it comes to their connectors, fiber optics connectors are unique to each other. Because the optical cable transmits light signals instead of electrical signals the connector itself must be extremely precise. Instead of metal pins aligning to each other on the both sides of the copper cables, the optical cables must align the microscopic, hair-thin fibers perfectly to each other for the connection to be successful. There are commonly two types of connector designs, simplex and duplex.

Duplex consists of two connectors per end and as the name suggests, simplex consists of one connector per end. The fiber optic connector is commonly made of three components: ferrule, a thin structure that holds the glass fiber, connector body, plastic or metal structure that holds the ferrule and a coupling mechanism, a part of the connector that holds the connector in place when it’s connected to a device. BlueLAN© patch cords use a zirconia ceramic ferrule for ultra-quality transmission. The most common connectors are: – Straight Tip Connector (STP) – This is one of the first fiber optics connectors to hit the market. These connectors consist of a 2.5mm ferrule inside of a plastic or metal body. These connectors have a twist on/off type of coupling mechanism. – Subscriber Connector (SC) – These connector also consist of a 2.5mm ferrule for holding the glass fiber. They use a push on/pull off type of coupling mechanism. Their body is square shaped, most commonly made of plastic. This connector have been developed in Japan by one of its leading telecommunication companies NTT. – Lucent Connector (LC) – The Lucent Connector has been developed by Lucent Technologies. Their body resembles the one of the Subscriber Connectors because of its square shape. It has a ferrule of 1.25 mm and they are held together with a clip for duplex configuration. – MPO/MTP Connectors – These connectors are a special type of connectors designed to end multiple fiber strands into a single ferrule. They can commonly support up to 12 optical fiber strands. They have a push on/pull off coupling mechanism. Because of the high number of strands ending into a single ferrule, this type of connector is mainly used for cross-connect and breakout applications.

All CBO BlueOptics© MPO/MTP patch cables and connectors fulfill or exceed the latest requirements defined in Telecordia GR-326 and GR-1435. CBO BlueOptics© have the option of up to 72 cores in a single fiber core for even the most complex and bandwidth demanding Datacenter installations. For the installation of these cables the use of MPO/MTP cassette is a must. CBO BlueOptics© offers a wide range of cassettes available with SC and LC ports. – RJ-45 Connectors – These are the standard RJ45 connectors that consist of 8 wire conductors in 8 different positions. They are widely used for Ethernet solutions. CBO manufactures type 5e, 6 and 6a RJ45 connectors. BlueLAN© RJ45 patch cords come with full copper wires and gold coating on the metal contacts to ensure maximum quality connection. 

CBO BlueOptics© also develops and manufactures a mix type of cables which have LC-SC and LC-ST connectors.  All CBO BlueOptics© feature a Low Smoke Zero Halogen sheathing. When buying optical patch cords mainly we should turn our attention to these factors: – Choosing the correct transmission media for our installation – Choosing the cable that will provide the best transmission data rate for that installation – Choosing SMF or MMF depending on the distance of the installation – Choosing the correct optical connector depending on the transceivers usedFollowing these steps together with the valuable experience will guarantee a hole in one.

by http://www.fiber-mart.comIn the modern and ultra-high tech Datacenters of today, more bandwidth is needed and used to support the latest demands in the Networking world especially the server-virtualization environment where multiple virtual machines are being combined on a single physical host server. To be able to accommodate the growing number of operating systems and applications and at the same time providing scalability and reliability, virtualization requires noticeable increased data transmission rates between the servers and the switches in the Datacenter.

At the same time the networking devices, and the pure Internet day to day use, have dramatically increased the data that has to be transmitted throughout the Datacenter including the Storage Area Network (SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS) environment. According to some researches done in the past couple of years, the amount of data transmission in the world is growing astoundingly, more than 20% in only 5 years. Accordingly the leading IT managers are looking for ways to reduce the cost of implementing the newest technology and at the same time provide the stable Network of tomorrow. With these thoughts in mind the leading manufacturers started developing the new technology that would be able to meet these requirements and this is the Direct Attach Cables or DACs.

This is a high density and low power consumption technology that would allow to create an in-rack 10GB/s solutions between servers and switches. Today these Direct Attach Cables are used to transmit the huge data transmissions in Datacenters mainly between switches, servers and storage devices. Because of the way they are designed, using the same ports as the Optical transceivers use, they have become hugely popular with Datacenters. Direct Attach Cables are cables that have an Optical Transceiver type of ending connectors. They use the same ports as the Optical transceivers and they provide Ethernet, fiber channel and Infiniband solutions. These cables are mainly divided in three separate types that are most commonly used. 

Direct Attach Passive Copper Cables– Because these cables are passive and they lack in an active circuitry component they can provide 10GB/s speeds up to 7 meters. Direct Attach Active Copper Cables- With the help of the active circuitry component these cables can reach up to 15 meters providing 10GB/s or 40GB/s solution. Other than the active circuitry component this cables are designed in the same way as the Direct Attach Passive Copper Cables. Active Optical Cables- These cables incorporate active optical and electrical components which can reach up to 150 meters on Multi-mode fibers. These cables can also be used as active direct attach breakout cables satisfying the various needs of Datacenters. These cables are most commonly used for a short reach direct connection applications. They are used in the Equipment Distribution Areas where the racks are the home of the end servers and where the cabling is terminated at patch panels. For interconnection between racks these cables are used to connect servers to switches, switches to switches or storages to switches.

They use an electrical to optical conversion on the cable’s ends which provides higher speed and low latency without sacrificing compatibility with the most standard optical transceivers. With the fast growing 10GB/s Ethernet solutions these cables are mainly used in the SFP Form-factor for interconnection between switches and storages in the same rack. However in the near future the 25GB/s Direct Attach Cables will start substituting the 10GB/s Direct Attach Cables making room for more bandwidth for spine switches. These 40GB/s Direct Attach Cables are already available on the market. fiber-mart.com offers different variants of, cost-effective, Twinax Direct Attach Cables, active or passive, with various connectors capable of providing the very latest in high speed network demands, QSFP, QSFP28, SFP, SFP+, QSFP Breakout and IB4X. All cables have a 5 year warranty and a lifetime support.

by http://www.fiber-mart.comCurrently the data, voice, and video networks are becoming more complex and demanding more bandwidth and faster transfer rates far greater distances. To achieve these demands network executives are relying more about fiber optics. However, the actuality that many providers, enterprise corporations, and government entities are facing is the point that when their existing fiber infrastructure is overwhelmed, placing more fiber is not in fact an inexpensive or viable option. Hence, what now one should do! 

Many entities are opting Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology in order to increase the capacity of their available infrastructure. WDM carry multiple optical signals of different wavelength onto a single fiber by multiplexing. By using WDM technology network executives can achieve a multiplication effect inside their existing fiber capacity. WDM is a protocol and bit rate independent. WDM based networks can transmit data in IP, SONET/SDH, ATM, MPLS, Ethernet and support bit rates from 100 Mbps to 40 Gbps. Consequently, WDM based networks can hold several varieties of traffic at different data rates over an optical channel.

This makes a less costly method to rapid response to customers’ bandwidth needs and protocol changes. To regulate bandwidth and increase the capacity of existing fiber optic infrastructure, WDW based networks, by simultaneously multiplexing and transmitting various signals at different wavelengths within the same fiber. As division and distributing business services tend to be more extensive, WDM optical technologies are becoming an appreciated tool for cable operators. Using just two different wavelength, WDM technology can increase the service capacity by twice with in the same amount of fibers. For quite some time, there have also been some limited methods using more complex WDM systems that may carry four or still more optical signals on same fiber. Lately, cable equipment makers have released revolutions using WDM that transmit multiple broadcast optical signals on the single fiber, making node division more cost effective and operationally friendly. WDM significantly increase the capacity of system.

You will find variations which can be popular: Coarse WDM (CWDM) and Dense WDM (DWDM). Each signal is at a different wavelength and each variation had different capabilities, cost, and operative friendliness, used in different WDM Multiplexer (or de-multiplexer) devices. Multiplexer merges several data signals into one signal for transporting on the single fiber while de-multiplexer separate the signals equally. CWDM technologies have only been produced for HFC (Hybrid fiber-coaxial) networks within the return-path up to recently. About return-path, almost eight transmitters at different CWDM wavelength can be multiplexed on to a single fiber using a CWDM Mux. This could be beneficial when return-path has lot more bandwidth contention related to the forward-path, so 24×7 node segmentation may be sufficient. 

DWDM technologies delivers much flexibility for node breakdown, yes it is more expensive and more operationally challenging ac compared to CWDM. The method to fragment the nodes using DWDM within the forward-path is known as broadcast/narrowcast DWDM overlay. It utilize two fibers within the downstream: one fiber having an optical signal with all the broadcast content, and other fiber with multiple optical signals on DWDM wavelengths, each containing unique narrowcast content to obtain a segment.

On the node, the narrowcast DWDM wavelengths are separated onto their unique fibers. The narrowcast content will then be overlaid with the broadcast content at the node in a choice of the RF domain or perhaps the optical domain.

by http://www.fiber-mart.comFiber optic transceivers are modular, pluggable and interchangeable optoelectronic devices. You can find a transceiver at the heart of any fiber optic communication system.

Everything from a local university to a large corporation utilizes data centers and transceivers. These devices convert an electrical signal to optical signal on one end and back again on the other. Tomorrow’s data centers, local area networks and digital communication systems will require faster data transmission rates. This “need for speed” stems from an increasing dependence on online communications. We use transmitters for almost everything we do online. Online shopping, educational programs and social media are just a few ways we have increased the need for faster transmitters. 

Transceivers also provide an essential path for upgrading a fiber optic link to the next generation of data transmission speeds. Because transceivers are interchangeable, the ability to upgrade the transceiver without upgrading the entire data center is a remarkably low-cost solution. Transceivers are currently capable of transferring data at speeds from 10 to 40 to 100 Gigabits per second. However, many experts expect transfer speed to continue increase over the next few decades.   Did you know? • Fiber optic transceivers have built-in intelligence! The built-in memory chips can be “programed” to work with specific switch gears, routers and transmission equipment.

This programmability enables data centers to use transceivers from a variety of providers! 

• Transceivers can use different schemes. For example; the PAM4 scheme is able to increase the modulation of the light containing the encoded data. You can also increase the transmission throughput by adding more fibers (parallel optical transmission) or adding more wavelengths on a single fiber (WDM). 

• Transceivers come in different formats and in a variety of shapes and sizes (form factors). This enables the transceiver to fit into the switch equipment “slots”. In some cases it can be quite confusing to figure out what products you actually need to use. Luckily C2G has all the resources you need to make the correct selection!   

What about MSA or MMWA? It is a common misconception that transceivers are not interchangeable (Read more about transceiver warranties) . There are many different manufacturers that work under an MSA, or Multi –Source Agreement, which has been established in the industry by transceiver suppliers. It assures standardized and compatible mechanical and electrical interfaces. The US government also protects transmission equipment warranties with the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (MMWA). This legislation, passed in 1975, ensures that equipment manufactures cannot require the data center to use only their brand of transceivers to retain the warranty. This means that you are free to use whatever transceiver you would like. How do you select your transceiver then? The transceiver selection process can be tricky. There are a variety of options and specifications.

But we have a few suggestion for helping you find the perfect transceiver: To begin, determine the three major application requirements for your fiber switch gear and transmission equipment. This would include finding the transmission data rates you need now and will need in the future (migration). Next, detail the protocols and data formats required.

Finally discover the type of fiber optic cabling you plan to use or may already have installed (standard multimode, wide band multimode, single mode, cable constructions and fiber counts). Once you answer all of these questions you can select a transceiver that will be compatible with your data center or network. The next step is to consult your manufacturer’s specification sheets for important technical information such as optical power transmitted and required at the receiver, as well as insertion fiber losses, wavelengths of operation and polarity requirements for all components. Always make sure your transceiver’s requirements match up with your switch and your cable’s fiber and connector types. 

In some cases C2G can provide a “Universal Transceiver” that works with some or all of your network equipment. This universal option allows you to reduce the inventory of spare transmitters required. C2G’s transceiver offering spans a wide range of equipment from popular manufacturers such as Arista, Brocade, Cisco, Finisar, HP, Juniper, and more. All of C2G’s transceivers are competitively priced, TAA compliant and guaranteed to meet all OEM specifications.