Category: Fiber Transceivers

Optical transceivers, Active Optic Cables, data center switches, and cable management in data centers.

Which Transceivers and DAC work in Cisco Catalyst Series?

by http://www.fiber-mart.com

When it comes to networking equipment there is one name that is constantly improving and that everyone know about, Cisco Systems. Cisco is one of the main, if not the biggest, developer and manufacturer of networking equipment in the world. Cisco has been developing and manufacturing networking equipment for around 30 years, since the beginning of the Internet era. Since then they have become the leaders in the Computer Networking world, constantly pushing and motivating the other vendors to develop new technologies and constantly pushing the existent technologies to their limit.
One of their main fields are their Switches which are known in the world for their complexity, reliability and features. There are a couple of existing switch lines that Cisco offers: Nexus Switches, used mainly in the Datacenter Environment, Meraki Switches, used for Cloud Management, Cisco Blade Switches, used in the Virtualization Environment and the most used and famous Cisco Catalyst Switches used in day to day network operations.
Cisco Catalyst switches are classified in three separate types for different applications depending on their use. They can be used in the Access Layer, in the Core and Aggregation Layers and there are also compact switches. Each type of switches has various devices to offer. The largest group of Catalyst switches are the Access Layer Switches. There are twelve switches to choose from. However, we should always keep in mind that technology moves forward and new and modern switches are constantly replacing the old models. Although the old models like Cisco Catalyst 3750, 3560 and 2960-S/SF series can still do the job effortlessly, the new modern switch models have solid ground of new features that make them stand out of the crowd. The most used Access Layer modern switches are Cisco Catalyst 3650, 3850 and 4500 series.
Going deeper in the network infrastructure we will meet the Cisco Catalyst Core and Aggregation line of switches which are literally packed with features and possibilities to ensure more reliable and relaxed Network management. Under this type there are most commonly four Catalyst models to choose from, Cisco Catalyst 6800, 6500, 4900M and 4500X series.
Cisco Systems are known for their creativity and they decided to develop a line of switches that would be deployed in a tight space areas where the normal lines of switches won’t be able to be installed because of their size. In this case the only Cisco solution would be their Cisco Compact line of switches. There are four models that fall into this category starting from Cisco Catalyst 3560-C, 3560-CX, 2960-C and 2960-CX series. As mentioned before, some models are more modern than the others. In this case the new modern models are the CX series switches.
In the networking environment the rush for speed and reliability is constant. The latest trend in networking and by far the most advanced technology used is the Optical Networking. Cisco switches offer the bandwidth and reliability much needed for upgrading the existent Network Architecture. The benefits of the Optical Network Solutions are countless. It offers the speed and capacity of supporting not only the existing applications but also the future applications that would be developed.  It offers redundant network architecture capable of supporting even the most complex business operations. It offers reduced cost and complexity. Because the cost of Cisco Catalyst Switches is greater than other vendor’s switches, many IT managers and companies are trying to reduce the costs by searching for SFP alternatives to be installed in their Cisco switches. However Cisco Systems didn’t allow the use of 3rd party SFP modules in their switches until a solution was found. If a 3rd party transceiver is inserted in the switch’s GBIC port an error message will occur saying that a non-supported transceiver has been detected and the GBIC port will be disabled. This happens because when a 3rd party transceiver is inserted in the GBIC port, the switch reads a number of values from the new SFP and expects them to be familiar. All SFP modules in their EEPROM have a number of prerecorded values that contain the Vendor name, Vendor ID, Serial number, Security code and CRC. However when it detects that these values are not familiar it immediately disables the port as a precautionary measure. There are two undocumented commands existing that can be configured to allow for a 3rd party SFP to be installed: “service unsupported-transceiver” and after “no errdisable detect cause gbic-invalid”. These commands would allow the switch to ignore the error disable default behavior and not disable the port when a 3rd party SFP is detected.
However it’s worth mentioning that the fiber-mart.com Blueoptics© transceivers are developed and manufactured to work seamlessly with the Cisco Catalyst switches and no extra configuration is needed for them to work.
Tranceivers
fiber-mart.com offers a wide variety of high quality, latest technology Blueoptics© Fiber Optics transceivers capable for wide range of applications. Blueoptics© transceivers are developed and manufactured with the goal to bring the maximum performance and reliability to the customer. They are manufactured by the latest standards with components by the leading manufacturers for optical components. They feature a 5-year warranty and a lifetime support. What’s unique about these transceivers is the fact that they can be developed and manufactured unique for the many different networking vendors out there. They are specifically designed to offer the maximum performance in various network solutions like server and storage solutions and switching and virtualization solutions.
Blueoptics© transceivers are divided in different categories depending on the type of network architecture they are needed for, however there are most commonly used transceivers in each category.
Blueoptics© transceivers are compatible with over a hundred vendor’s equipment but most importantly they are compatible with the widely popular Cisco Catalyst switches.
For 10GB Ethernet network architecture the most commonly used transceivers are known as SFP+ and SFP. These widely used transceivers can support data rates up to 16 GB/s (SFP+). In comparison to older Xenpak and XFP modules, SFP+ introduces the direct attach solution for connecting two separate SFP+ ports into dedicated transceivers.
For 40GB Ethernet network architecture the most commonly used transceivers are the QSFP transceivers. This transceivers help the migration from 10GB to 40GB network be done seamlessly and on the same fiber infrastructure. They meet the latest demands in speeds and performance.
For 100GB Ethernet network architecture the most commonly used transceivers are the CFP transceivers. These transceivers are mainly used in the core network of Service Providers and Datacenters.
Direct Attach Cables (DAC)
Other than transceivers fiber-mart.com BlueLAN© offers Direct Attach Cables (DAC) and Active Optical Cables (AOC). Direct Attach Cables are used when connecting separate switches in a stack of switches which can be active or passive. Because the passive DAC have no active components inside them, they offer only a direct electrical connection between the both ends. The AOC are considered to be active because they have active optical components within them. Thus it guarantees improved signal quality and provides longer cable distance. On the other hand DAC are manufactured as fixed assembly and they are purchased at an exact length.
Even though many would think that the end of the copper cables is near, the story with the Direct Attach Copper Cables is different. They are still commonly used in the networking world providing some advantages and some disadvantages. They provide enough data rate for today’s applications, up to 10 GB/s in each channel. They are compatible with the fiber optic cables and they can be swapped with ease. They are less expensive than the optical transceivers because they cost less to manufacture and have no optical components. The biggest negative characteristic of the copper DAC is its weight. Commonly these cables are big and bulky making them difficult to work with. Other negative aspect is the fact that because it’s a copper cable it’s easily effected by the electromagnetic interference. This can eventually cause a complete system failure.
AOC is an alternative to optical transceivers and eliminates the separate interface between the transceiver module and optical cable. Like the DAC it offers a couple of advantages and disadvantages. It needs no equipment upgrade and offers greater bandwidth than DAC, up to 40GB/s with QSFP. Because of its manufacturing process its lightweight compared to Direct Attach Cables. AOC are not capable of transmitting electric current and it’s not subjected to electromagnetic interference. The main negative aspect is the higher price than the DAC.

What mistakes can be made during install a fiber optic?

by http://www.fiber-mart.com

It is time to look at the capillaries of your tree architecture where most of the important components are attached in the forms of leaves. As the trunk of the tree has a bigger diameter and a sustainable function for the whole tree, in the same way the backbone fiber has the largest bandwidth of the network ensured by the layout of the singlemode fiber cables connecting two branch locations.
Distance coverage
The manufacturing price per kilometer of optical fibre cables has dropped over the last years and the properties have improved but the installation work remains at a high cost per kilometer driven by the construction autorisations needed and effective cost of labour for installation whether the cable is buried directly, put in conduit, strung aerially or whatever. In this case the use of singlemode fibres forming contained in a cable from a well-known manufacturer, it will come with clear specifications regarding the number of fibers, the type of fibres, the type of protection cover for the whole cable such as loose tube cables: These cables are composed of several fibers together inside a small plastic tube, which are in turn wound around a central strength member and jacketed, providing a small, high fiber count cable. This type of cable is ideal for outside plant trunking applications, as it can be made with the loose tubes filled with gel to prevent harm to the fibers from water. It can be used in conduits, strung overhead or buried directly into the ground. Since the fibers have only a thin buffer coating, they must be carefully handled and protected to prevent damage.
What mistake can be made in choosing to have own fibre cable buried to the next branch? Well, it may be cheaper to rent a huge bandwidth than to construct it and own it. Local carriers may have good offers for variable bandwidth running over their own infrastructure laid on different topological paths and ensuring a high Service Level Agreement (SLA) for their bandwidth offer.
Data Center Cabling
Data Center environment is the first candidate for upgrading an existing build out or for constructing from ground zero the whole infrastructure. In both cases distribution switches, SAN disks, high computing servers, interconnected routers may benefit from Gigabit interfaces and may be upgraded based on multimode distribution fibre connections.   Distribution cables: They contain several double-buffered fibers bundled under the same jacket with Kevlar or fiberglass rod reinforcement. These cables are small in size, and used for short, dry conduit runs, riser and plenum applications. The fibers are double buffered and can be directly terminated, but because their fibers are not individually reinforced, these cables need to be broken out with a “breakout box” or terminated inside a patch panel or junction box.
What are the common mistakes in case of the datacenter fiber cabling? Well, the planner should take care about not mixing singlemode with multimode patch fibers because the link won’t work. A very important aspect may be respected in terms of terminal connectors of the fibers and connectors of the transponders or transceivers.  Angle Polished Connectors (APC) or Ultra Polished Connectors (UPC), and they are not interchangeable. An APC ferrule end-face is polished at an 8° angle, while the UPC is polished at a 0° angle. If the angles are different, some of the light will fail to propagate, becoming connector or splice loss.
Another aspect of data center patching is the use of a single fiber where transmission (Tx) is made on lamda 1 and reception (Rx) is made on the lamda 2. This is the case of Single Strand Fiber – SSF and transceivers should match the same lamdas pairs at the end of the fiber. For example:
BO15C3149620D – The BlueOptics BO15C3149620D Bidi SFP transceivers have a receiving function (receiver) and a transmission function (transmitter) for the transfer of optical signals with a single laser (BOSA) for the transmission of optical signals via single-mode fiber, regarding the respective gigabit protocol, such as the GB Ethernet 802.3z standard.
BlueOptics BO15C3149620D Bidi SFP modules are suitable for the use in switches, routers, storage systems and other hardware in the third optical window at 1490nm and 1310nm.
Mechanical Stress
Bending Radius
Fiber is stronger than steel when you pull it straight, but it breaks easily when bent too tightly. If you put a kink in the cable, you will harm the fibers, maybe immediately, maybe not for a few years, but you will harm them and the cable must be removed and thrown away.
Twisting the cable
Putting a twist in the cable can stress the fibers too.
Copper based Ethernet equipment and cabling can continue to function reliably in other areas until it is deemed feasible in the upgrade timeline to reassess that department.

What mistakes can be made during install a fiber optic?

by http://www.fiber-mart.com

It is time to look at the capillaries of your tree architecture where most of the important components are attached in the forms of leaves. As the trunk of the tree has a bigger diameter and a sustainable function for the whole tree, in the same way the backbone fiber has the largest bandwidth of the network ensured by the layout of the singlemode fiber cables connecting two branch locations.
Distance coverage
The manufacturing price per kilometer of optical fibre cables has dropped over the last years and the properties have improved but the installation work remains at a high cost per kilometer driven by the construction autorisations needed and effective cost of labour for installation whether the cable is buried directly, put in conduit, strung aerially or whatever. In this case the use of singlemode fibres forming contained in a cable from a well-known manufacturer, it will come with clear specifications regarding the number of fibers, the type of fibres, the type of protection cover for the whole cable such as loose tube cables: These cables are composed of several fibers together inside a small plastic tube, which are in turn wound around a central strength member and jacketed, providing a small, high fiber count cable. This type of cable is ideal for outside plant trunking applications, as it can be made with the loose tubes filled with gel to prevent harm to the fibers from water. It can be used in conduits, strung overhead or buried directly into the ground. Since the fibers have only a thin buffer coating, they must be carefully handled and protected to prevent damage.
What mistake can be made in choosing to have own fibre cable buried to the next branch? Well, it may be cheaper to rent a huge bandwidth than to construct it and own it. Local carriers may have good offers for variable bandwidth running over their own infrastructure laid on different topological paths and ensuring a high Service Level Agreement (SLA) for their bandwidth offer.
Data Center Cabling
Data Center environment is the first candidate for upgrading an existing build out or for constructing from ground zero the whole infrastructure. In both cases distribution switches, SAN disks, high computing servers, interconnected routers may benefit from Gigabit interfaces and may be upgraded based on multimode distribution fibre connections.   Distribution cables: They contain several double-buffered fibers bundled under the same jacket with Kevlar or fiberglass rod reinforcement. These cables are small in size, and used for short, dry conduit runs, riser and plenum applications. The fibers are double buffered and can be directly terminated, but because their fibers are not individually reinforced, these cables need to be broken out with a “breakout box” or terminated inside a patch panel or junction box.
What are the common mistakes in case of the datacenter fiber cabling? Well, the planner should take care about not mixing singlemode with multimode patch fibers because the link won’t work. A very important aspect may be respected in terms of terminal connectors of the fibers and connectors of the transponders or transceivers.  Angle Polished Connectors (APC) or Ultra Polished Connectors (UPC), and they are not interchangeable. An APC ferrule end-face is polished at an 8° angle, while the UPC is polished at a 0° angle. If the angles are different, some of the light will fail to propagate, becoming connector or splice loss.
Another aspect of data center patching is the use of a single fiber where transmission (Tx) is made on lamda 1 and reception (Rx) is made on the lamda 2. This is the case of Single Strand Fiber – SSF and transceivers should match the same lamdas pairs at the end of the fiber. For example:
BO15C3149620D – The BlueOptics BO15C3149620D Bidi SFP transceivers have a receiving function (receiver) and a transmission function (transmitter) for the transfer of optical signals with a single laser (BOSA) for the transmission of optical signals via single-mode fiber, regarding the respective gigabit protocol, such as the GB Ethernet 802.3z standard.
BlueOptics BO15C3149620D Bidi SFP modules are suitable for the use in switches, routers, storage systems and other hardware in the third optical window at 1490nm and 1310nm.
Mechanical Stress
Bending Radius
Fiber is stronger than steel when you pull it straight, but it breaks easily when bent too tightly. If you put a kink in the cable, you will harm the fibers, maybe immediately, maybe not for a few years, but you will harm them and the cable must be removed and thrown away.
Twisting the cable
Putting a twist in the cable can stress the fibers too.
Copper based Ethernet equipment and cabling can continue to function reliably in other areas until it is deemed feasible in the upgrade timeline to reassess that department.

What is a fiber attenuator and when do i need it

by http://www.fiber-mart.com

A fiber attenuator also called optical attenuator, is a device used to minimize the level of an optical power signal in an optical fiber network for various purpose. Optical attenuators are regularly used in fiber optic communications, to test power level limits and for the time being adding an adjusted amount of signal loss, they are also used to install it forever to accurately match transmitter and receiver sensitivity levels. If a received signal power level is too high, a temporary solution is to wrap the cable around a pencil or a similar object until the required level of attenuation is reached. Severe bends stress optic fibers and can cause losses of light travelled inside these. Though, such solutions are unpredictable, as the stressed fiber be likely to to break over time.
The power lessening is completed by such means as absorption, scattering, diffusion, deflection, reflection, diffraction, and dispersion, etc. Optical attenuators typically work by absorbing the light, like sunglasses absorb extra light energy. They usually have a working wavelength range in which they absorb all the light energy. An optical attenuator should not scatter or reflect the light in an air gap, as that could cause undesirable back reflection in the fiber. A different type of attenuator exploits a length of an optical fiber with high-loss, that type of attenuator functions upon its input optical signal power level in such a way that its output signal power level is less than the input level.
Optical attenuators can take different arrangements and are normally classified as fixed or variable attenuators.
Fixed Attenuators
Fixed optical attenuators used in fiber optic network may use a diversity of rules for their operation. Desired attenuators use material among misaligned splices, or doped-fibers, or total power as both of these are dependable and low-priced. In-line type of attenuators are combined into patch cables. The alternate build-out style attenuator is a small male-female adapter that can be added onto other cables.
Non-preferred attenuators frequently use gap loss or reflective principles. Such devices can be sensitive to: wavelength, modal distribution, impurity, temperature, vibration, may cause back reflections, may cause signal dispersion etc.
Loopback attenuators
Loopback fiber optic attenuator is intended for testing, engineering and the burn-in phase of boards or other equipment. Offered in LC/UPC, LC/APC, SC/UPC, SC/APC, MTRJ and MPO for single mode application.
Built-in variable attenuators
Built-in variable optical attenuators, might be electrically controlled or manually controlled, depending upon type. An electrically controlled attenuator can deliver adaptive power optimization. As compared to an automatic, a manually controlled attenuator is useful for one time set up of a system, and is almost alike to a fixed attenuator, and may be stated to as a variable attenuator.
Variable optical test attenuators
Variable optical test attenuators commonly use an adjustable neutral density filter. Regardless of comparatively high price, this type has the benefits of being constant, wavelength insensitive, mode insensitive, and proposing a large dynamic range. Other systems such as LCD, variable air gap etc. have been tried over the years, but with partial accomplishment. These types of attenuators may be manually or motor controlled. Motor control attenuators give regular users a different productivity advantage, since commonly used test sequences can be run automatically.
Attenuator tuning is a main concern. The user naturally would like a total port to port correction. Also, calibration should frequently be at different wavelengths and power levels, as the device is not all the time linear. Nevertheless, a number of tools do not in fact offer these basic features, apparently in an effort to decrease cost. The most precise variable attenuator devices have thousands of tuning points, resulting in excellent overall accuracy in use.

What is a Fiber Optic Attenuator and what is it used for?

by http://www.fiber-mart.com

The Fiber Optic Networks are the fastest networks today. They provide high bandwidth, long distance, reliable network solution. The two main components of a stable Fiber Optic Network are optical transceivers and optical cables. The whole solution is based on an electrical signal converted into optical light and then being transmitted by the optical transceiver down an optical cable. This light travels down the cable through one or multiple optical fiber strands. Depending on the type of transceivers and cables, the bandwidth and distance of the connection may vary.
The ability of the optical transceivers to transmit the optical light down the cable depends on their optical power. One major characteristic of the optical power of transceivers is the optical data link bit error rate. Having too much, or too little power can result in high data link bit error rates causing an intermittent connection. When having too little power the noise inside the cable is starting to become a problem because it interferes with the optical light. Having too much power will cause the receiver amplifier to saturate beyond the limit. This is mainly happening in Single-mode systems with laser transmitters. This is known as optical fiber attenuation. Optical fiber attenuation refers to the loss of optical energy of the optical light which happens while the optical light travels through the cable.
Generally only Single-mode systems, and short distance particular, have the need for attenuators. Multi-mode attenuators don’t have the need for attenuators because their transmitters, even VCSELS, don’t have enough power to saturate receivers.
In the past when people ran into these kinds of problems their solution was to wrap the cable around a round object like a pen, until the power is evened out and the desired attenuation is met. However, as the fiber optic cable is subjected to various stress including banding, today we can easily avoid these problems with the help of the Fiber Optic Attenuator. The Fiber Optic Attenuator is a device that is used to lower down the optical power so the receiver doesn’t get saturated. In today’s attenuators the reducing of power is mostly done by absorbing the extra optical light. Today’s attenuators are ultra-precise in reducing the power to a fixed or adjustable amount. They are also used for testing of the dynamic range of photo sensors and detectors.
Fiber Optic Attenuators exist in various shapes and sizes, however the most known and used are:
Fixed Power Attenuators- These attenuators are a compact size attenuators designed to reduce the power to a certain amount. As the signal approaches the communication device the power of the signal is reduced. Because of the way they function they are reducing the signal reflection effect and provide a more accurate transmission of the data. These attenuators are available with either multi-mode or single-mode fibers. They are mainly used for single-mode solutions in the LAN, CATV and Service Providers.
Variable Power Attenuators- These attenuators are slightly bigger than the fixed attenuators. They are mainly used for testing or equalizing the power between two signals. Unlike the fixed attenuators, these attenuators can offer a wider range of adjustable power values. Their main function consists of directly blocking the optical light and as a consequence they are insensitive to polarization. They are also available for multi-mode and single-mode fibers.
All BlueOptics© Attenuators are developed for ultra-sensitive power adjustments. They are available with different connectors: LC-APC (SFA21BAXX), LC-PC (SFA21BKXX for Single-mode and, SFA21EKXX for Multi-mode) SC-PC (SFA22BKXX), SC-APC (SFA22BAXX) and ST-PC (SFA23BKXX). All BlueOptics© Attenuators have a ceramic ferrule guaranteeing the best attenuation values and working in temperatures between -40°C and +75°C. All BlueOptics© Attenuators are manufactured by the leading manufacturers for connectors like Amphenol, Diamond and Nissin Kasei. All BlueOptics© Attenuators are tested after their manufacturing process with a highly precise interferometer and Optical-Time-Domain-Reflectometry to ensure only the highest quality attenuators are offered on the market. All BlueOptics© Attenuators are standardized and they all meet the IEC-61034, IEC-754-1, IEC 60332-1, IEC 60332-3, IEC/EN 60950 and RoHS standards. They offer a lifetime of 1500 mating cycles, 25 years warranty and a lifetime support.

BlueLAN QSFP28 Direct Attach Cable

by http://www.fiber-mart.com

Through close collaboration with the company fiber-mart.com is always able to offer the latest and most innovative products on the market of networking technology. Through the ever-increasing demand for bandwidth existing solutions already reach their limits. Operators of high-speed network systems are therefore dependent on a rapid development and rapid availability of more powerful products.
As an interface for switches, routers, storage systems and servers gbic-shop.de now provides BlueLAN QSFP28 Direct Attach Cables according to the IEEE 802.3ba-100-Gb/s specifications, compliant with SFF-8665, for all applications that require a very high data transfer speed. They support the 100-Gb/s Ethernet protocol and the InfiniBand Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) protocol on up to 3 meter length (based on copper).
This passive direct attach twinax copper cable variant has eight differential copper pairs and has four data transmission channels at speeds of up to 28Gbps per channel (at 100G Ethernet this corresponds to 4x25Gbps). This 100G copper cable solution provides a unique construction with individually packaged two-axis pairs, which leads to a low insertion loss and low crosstalk.
BlueLAN QSFP28 Direct Attach Cables are suitable for the use in data centers, networks and telecommunication installations, which require high speed and reliable transmissions. This next generation which requires the same connection interface as known QSFP+ form factors, are also backwards compatible with 40G QSFP+ ports. QSFP28 cables therefore also support 10G and 40G applications without signal integrity loss.
After the proliferation of 40G applications and network solutions, this 100G Direct Attach cable variant is the latest innovation and will come to use in more and more data centers in the near future.fiber-mart.com already offers cost-efficient BlueLAN QSFP28 Direct Attach Cables as compatible version for large manufacturers such as Cisco.
All cables have an excellent quality and are manufactured according to the most modern production technologies, taking all generally accepted industry standards into account to achieve an integrated high-performance power.
Sure you get your competitive advantages for your Next Generation Network and optimize your CAPEX costs with this 100G solution.