Networking

One of the easiest ways to converter copper to fiber is using fiber media converter which is a simple device that are widely used in today’s network. Fiber media converters are usually used in pairs to achieve the conversion between two different types of media, or used to extend network. However, the function of fiber media converter is not limited to converter media types between fiber optic and copper. They are also able to converter media types between different fiber optic: single-mode and multimode, dual fiber and single fiber, wavelength conversion. The goal of this post is to introduce fiber to fiber converter. Why Is Fiber to Fiber Converter Needed? It is obvious that copper to fiber converters promote and bring down the price for deployment of FTTH. But what can fiber to fiber converters do? The above mentioned functions cannot fully explain the significant role that fiber to fiber media converters play in fiber optic network. Only in practical fiber optic cabling can th...

As we all know, the standard specifies MPO as a connector to the 40GBASE-SR4/CSR4 QSFP+ transceiver. To connect a QSFP+ to QSFP+, we usually use a MTP 12-fiber trunk cable. In the 40GBASE-SR transmission, there are eight fibers associated with the channel—four fibers for the TX signal and four fibers for the RX signal. Therefore only 8 of the 12 fibers are used, where the remaining four are not used, and can optionally be not present in the cable. So we can also choose a MTP 8-fiber trunk cable for connectivity. This article explains 40GBASE-SR4/CSR4 QSFP+ to 40GBASE-SR4/CSR4 QSFP+ cabling selections. How to Choose Right  MTP Trunk Cables? In addition to using a MTP 8-fiber trunk cable or MTP 12-fiber trunk cable, there are a number of other factors also needed to be considered when to choose a right MTP trunk cable for 40GBASE-SR4/CSR4 QSFP+ connectivity. Use single-mode or multimode MTP trunk cable? In the market, both single-mode and multiode M...

Bandwidth usage is soaring, driven by the proliferation of Internet-connected devices. At this time, active optical cable (AOC) has emerged. Besides, the market of AOCs keeps growing and has a broad prospect. What’s active optical cables? Why should we use it? In this article, some knowledge of active optical cables will be provided. Introduction to Active Optical Cable (AOC) Active optical cable (AOC) is used for short-range multi-lane data communication and interconnect applications. Usually, the wire transmission of optical communication should belong to passive part, but AOC is an exception. AOC consist of multimode optical fiber, fiber optic transceivers, control chip and modules. It uses electrical-to-optical conversion on the cable ends to improve speed and distance performance of the cable without sacrificing compatibility with standard electrical interfaces. Since people expect more information to be available at their fingertips, our communications systems will need ...

40G transmission is very common in the backbone network now. However, not all the devices and network are upgraded to 40G. To adapting the network between devices and network of different data rate. It is necessary to connection 40G devices to 10G devices for network interconnection. To solve this problem, fanout technology is be accepted and widely used in data center. Fanout products for interconnection is easy to understand. It’s kind of like the water pipeline in our building: water is transferred from the trunk pipeline in a building. Then trunk pipeline fans out into several pipelines that have smaller diameters to bring the water to every house. This post will introduce several Fanout products that are commonly used for 40G data center interconnection. 40G MPO Fanout Cables The first fanout component is 40G MPO fanout cable, also called breakout cable or harness cable. MPO fanout cable is a multi-fiber optical cable with one end terminated with a male/female MPO connector a...

With the deployment of 40G and 100G systems in the data center reliable and efficient fiber installations are critical to the high performance network. Dirt, dust and other contaminants are the enemies of high-speed data transmission over optical fiber. Hence, it is critical that all optical connections are free of contaminants to avoid having application performance issue. Ideally, a properly maintained and cleaned fiber optic cable will help reduce contaminant transfer to a removable or non-removable optical interface, lessening or removing the need to clean expensive and delicate gear. With one-click cleaner you can clean optical connectors even if they are installed in racks, boxes and other sub-rack terminations, allowing you to remove all dust and dirt that could affect the perfect data transmission of the optic network. How to use a one-click cleaner? Let’s read the article now. One-Click Cleaner Overview The one-click cleaner is an easy-to-use option for cleaning ...

The confinement system is the last but critical part of the entire cable management systems. Cable tie plays a very important role in this part. However, there are various types of cable ties in the market. Which one is better? Since nylon zip ties and hook-&-loop (Velcro®) ties are most common and controversial. This tutorial will compare these two types of cable ties in details. Overview of Cable Ties Cable ties are cheap and simple components used in cable confinement system. They are usually the last measure to ensure the cable managed in order. Cable ties are available in a variety of sizes and materials for use on different applications with different requirements. In addition, there are various of color options for cable ties. These color codes help users to manage the cabling and achieve easy troubleshooting. The most commonly used formats of cable ties are nylon zip ties and hook-&-loop (Velcro®) ties, as the Figure 1 & 2 shown: Figure 1. Drawin...

The singlemode QSFP+ and multimode QSFP+ here mean the QSFP+ transceivers which work at different types of optical fibers, ie singlemode QSFP+ will work with singlemode fiber, while multimode QSFP+ will work with multimode fiber. So, what’s the different between them? And what should we notice when using them? Which one should I choose? In this article, we will have a discussion around this topic. Singlemode QSFP+ vs. Multimode QSFP+ Singlemode QSFP+ Singlemode fiber (SMF) has much tighter tolerances for optics used. The core is smaller and the laser wavelength is narrower. This means that SMF has the capability for higher bandwidth and much longer distances in transmission. Singlemode QSFP+ (SMF QSFP+) works mainly in 1310nm wavelength and is mostly used in long distances transmission. There are many different types of Singlemode QSFP+, and different type can achieve different transmission distance, such as 500m, 1km, 2km, 10km and 40km. he color of compatible fiber optic patc...

High speed and wide bandwidth demands drive data centers to consolidate into more complex systems. The speed of data center now is increasing to 40G and eventually to 100G. How to achieve 40G connectivity? In fact, we need some new optical technologies and cabling infrastructure. In this post, I will introduce some commonly used components for 40G connectivity. 40G QSFP+ Pluggable Optical Modules As we know, fiber optic transceiver is an electronic device that receives an electrical signal, converts it into a light signal, and launches the signal into a fiber. It also receives the light signal, from another transceiver, and converts it into an electrical signal. It is the key component in fiber optic transmission. The basic interface of 40G pluggable optical modules are 40GBASE-LR4 and 40GBASE-SR4 in QSFP+ form factor. 1. 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ transceivers are used in data centers to interconnect two Ethernet switches with 8 fiber parallel multimode fiber OM3/O...

It is inevitable to plug fiber patch cables from the patch panels, switches or cassettes in today’s data center cabling. However, this simple movement becomes harder and harder nowadays. Why? Both the data rate of every optical fiber and the fiber counts being used are increased to support high data rate up to 40/100G or more. Thus, the cabling density increased largely with the deployment of 40/100G Ethernet network. Finger access to every patch cable that is loaded on the patch panel, switches or cassettes becomes difficult. Especially for these patch cables in the middle of the space. For fiber patch cords attached with connectors like LC, things become more complex. Because this type of connectors are usually locked in the port with a latch on the connector body. If you want to plug out a patch cord with LC connectors, you should firstly unlock the connector from the port by clicking the latch with is with small size (shown in the following picture). Usually an external...