by VIKAS DAYAL • August 02, 2020
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Data Center, Custom Fiber Optic Cables, Fiber Optic Cables
Most businesses have adapted to the necessity of upgrading and adapting network equipment as new innovations become standardized and broadly available. As businesses grow and change, so do their network needs. Speed, capacity, and the ability to serve a growing remote workforce without network interruption all play into decisions about what type of network equipment to deploy. When fiber optic cable first appeared, it seemed like an expensive, highly exclusive kind of innovation that should be left to the huge telecoms and cloud services. Now, however, businesses of all types and sizes should consider the business benefits of fiber internet connectivity.
Fiber optic cable is much faster than the fastest copper. It can attain speeds up to 100 Gbps. Pulses of light travel through fiber optic cables at speed of about 70% the speed of light. Businesses that require fast access to data and the ability to both download and upload lots of data quickly benefit from fiber optic cable.
Fiber optic cables can carry signals much farther than copper, with far less degradation in the signal strength. While copper cables can carry signals up to 328 feet without signal amplification, fiber option cables can send signals as far as 25 miles, depending on the wavelength the cable uses, and whether the cable is single or multi-mode. Organizations with multiple buildings spread across a campus, like research centers, hospitals, and some manufacturing facilities, benefit from fiber optic cabling to carry signals between buildings.
“Latency” describes the delays that can happen when internet signals travel over cables. Fiber optic cable is less prone to latency issues than cables, which contributes to its speed and capacity. Lower latency means that large files travel with less interruption, streaming happens with little or no “buffering,” and remote collaboration is smoother, with fewer frozen faces on video chats.
Copper cables are subject to electromagnetic interference, which can degrade and interrupt the signal. The pulses of light that bounce off the walls of the glass fiber as they travel along the cable are impervious to electrical interference and bounce blithely on despite the presence of MRI machines in hospitals or microwaves in the break room.
Bad actors can “tap” copper cables and breach your network security. Fiber optic cables can’t be tapped by physical intrusion. If they are cut, the signal disappears. Security breaches are extremely costly, and businesses that experience data breaches are subject to stiff fines and possible lawsuits.
Fiber optic cables are not susceptible to electromagnetic interference because they use light to transmit data, not electricity. If your business, on one close to you, uses heavy equipment, this is a major benefit of fiber internet connectivity. A network supported by fiber optic cable experiences less downtime.
Fiber optic cable endures extreme environments better than copper cable, which is why it is typically used for undersea cabling. Fiber has greater pull tension than cable, so it isn’t as fragile as you might expect. Fiber optic cables will last longer, not just because they are more durable but because they have the capacity to handle increasing speeds and bandwidth for years to come without replacement. New iterations of copper cables come out every 2-5 years, on average.
It used to be all about download speeds; now, with so many businesses using apps based in the cloud, and cloud storage, upload speed is a major concern. Speed that is nearly the same for uploads and downloads is called “symmetric speed,” and fiber provides better symmetric speeds than copper. Everything from customer relationship data to inventory management systems to the necessary apps or “software as a service” (SaaS) to create and communicate now live largely in the cloud. Even if your business has advanced to the point where edge computing is a better choice for you, or you have decided to “repatriate” your data to your premises for security, cost, control, performance or privacy compliance, fiber optic cables make running your private cloud as fast as it can be.
Slow connections mean lost productivity. Estimates are that employees lose an average of one week of productivity a year to slow internet speeds. Multiply that by 52 employees, and your company would have lost an entire year of output and opportunity.
Companies that conduct a lot of video conferencing, use HD video or other bandwidth-heavy applications like computer-assisted design, and who conduct large scale simulations or massive calculations benefit from fiber optic cable’s greater capacity and speed. In short, you can do more, and faster, with fiber optic cables. A great benefit of fiber optic is its ability to carry voice, data, and HD video signals simultaneously at greater speeds and with greater reliability than copper.
The cost of fiber optic and services over fiber continue to decline. Even if the cables seem expensive initially, they reduce the cost of owning them over time because of their durability. They are approximately four times thinner than cat6 Ethernet copper cables, even with the sheathing necessary to protect the glass fibers inside. Fiber optics save on energy costs and are safer in the long run because they don’t use electricity. Installation has gotten easier, and while it is possible to create little shards of glass during installation, professionals know how to protect themselves. Once everything is in place, the potential for injury plummets. Splicing and terminations have improved as more businesses adopt fiber optic cabling for their networks.
Network administrators and data center designers can mix multi-mode and single-mode fiber optic cables to get the most out of the benefits of fiber internet connectivity. Multi-mode fiber has greater bandwidth, but can’t achieve the distances that single mode can accommodate. Telecom companies that distribute internet signals over fiber optic cable therefore use single-mode cables to travel long distances. Within a data center or a workplace, however, multi-mode fiber optic cables offer greater bandwidth and speed locally. Fiber optic patch cables are available to connect devices on racks and within telecom rooms.
With every upgrade and addition of new equipment, network administrators should check necessary accessories like the power cable, grounding equipment, switches, and connectors to ensure smooth installation and minimum downtime.
Optical fiber is rising in both telecommunication and data communication due to its unsurpassed advantages: faster speed with less attenuation, less impervious to electromagnetic interference (EMI), smaller size and greater information carrying capacity. The unceasing bandwidth needs, on the other hand, are also yielding significant growth in optical fiber demands. Let’s take a review of common fiber optic cable types, explore the advantages and disadvantage of optical fiber, and learn tips on selecting fiber optic cable.
Optical fiber uses light pulses instead of electrical pulses to transmit information, thus delivers hundreds of times higher bandwidth than traditional electrical systems. Fiber optic cable can be protected by sheathing and armor to make it resistant to harsh environmental conditions. Hence it is widely adopted in commercial business, governments, military and many other industries for voice, video and data transmission.
Figure 1: Optical fiber structure
Generally, there are three types of fiber optic cables: the two glass optical fiber—single mode fiber optic cable and multimode optical fiber, as well as plastic optical fiber (POF).
The "mode" in fiber optic cable refers to the path in which light travels. Single mode fiber has a smaller core diameter of 9 microns (8.3 microns to be exact) and only allows a single wavelength and pathway for light to travel, which greatly decreases light reflections and lowers attenuation. Slightly more expensive than its multimode counterparts, single mode fiber optic cable is often used in network connections over long lengths.
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Figure 2: Single mode fiber
Multimode optical fiber has a larger core diameter than that of single mode fiber optic cable, which allows multiple pathways and several wavelengths of light to be transmitted. Multimode optical fiber is available in two sizes, 50 microns and 62.5 microns. It is commonly used for short distances, including patch cable applications such as fiber to the desktop or patch panel to equipment, data and audio/video applications in LANs. According to the fiber refractive index distribution, multimode fiber can be divided into two types: Step-Index Multimode Fiber vs Graded-Index Multimode Fiber.
Figure 3: Multimode fiber
POF is a large core step-index optical fiber with a typical diameter of 1 mm. The large size enables it to easily couple lots of light from sources and connectors that do not need to be high precision. So typical connector costs are 10-20% as much as for glass fibers and termination is simple. Being plastic, it is more durable and can be installed in minutes with minimal tools and training. For applications do not require high bandwidth over great distances, POF is more competitive, making it a viable option for desktop LAN connections and low speed short links.
Though optical fiber has speed and bandwidth advantages over copper cable, it also contains some drawbacks. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of optical fiber cable.
Greater bandwidth & faster speed—Optical fiber cable supports extremely high bandwidth and speed. The large amount of information that can be transmitted per unit of optical fiber cable is its most significant advantage.
Cheap—Long, continuous miles of optical fiber cable can be made cheaper than equivalent lengths of copper wire. With numerous vendors swarm to compete for the market share, optical cable price would sure to drop.
Thinner and light-weighted—Optical fiber is thinner, and can be drawn to smaller diameters than copper wire. They are of smaller size and light weight than a comparable copper wire cable, offering a better fit for places where space is a concern.
Higher carrying capacity—Because optical fibers are much thinner than copper wires, more fibers can be bundled into a given-diameter cable. This allows more phone lines to go over the same cable or more channels to come through the cable into your cable TV box.
Less signal degradation—The loss of signal in optical fiber is less than that in copper wire.
Light signals—Unlike electrical signals transmitted in copper wires, light signals from one fiber do not interfere with those of other fibers in the same fiber cable. This means clearer phone conversations or TV reception.
Long lifespan—Optical fibers usually have a longer life cycle for over 100 years.
Low power—Light emitting sources are limited to low power. Although high power emitters are available to improve power supply, it would add extra cost.
Fragility—Optical fiber is rather fragile and more vulnerable to damage compared to copper wires. You’d better not to twist or bend fiber optic cables too tightly.
Distance—The distance between the transmitter and receiver should keep short or repeaters are needed to boost the signal.
Optical fiber cable has gained much momentum in communication networks, and there emerges a dazzling array of vendors competing to manufacture and supply fiber optic cables. When selecting optical fiber, you’d better start with a reliable vendor and then consider the selection criteria. Here’s a guide to clarify some of the confusions about choosing fiber optic cable.
The major optical cable manufacturers should be granted ISO9001 quality system certification, ISO4001 international environment system certification, the ROHS, the relevant national and international institutions certification such as the Ministry of Information Industry, UL certification and etc.
As illustrated above, single mode fiber is often used for long distances while multimode optical fiber is commonly used for short range. Moreover, the system cost and installation cost change with different fiber modes. You can refer to Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber: What’s the Difference? and then decide which fiber mode you need.
The standard jacket type of optical cable is OFNR, which stands for “Optical Fiber Non-conductive Riser”. Besides, optical fibers are also available with OFNP, or plenum jackets, which are suitable for use in plenum environments such as drop-ceilings or raised floors. Another jacket option is LSZH. Short for “Low Smoke Zero Halogen”, it is made from special compounds which give off very little smoke and no toxic when put on fire. So always refer to the local fire code authority to clarify the installation requirement before choosing the jacket type.
Tight pack cables are also known as distribution style cables, features that all buffered fibers under a single jacket with strength members for Enclosure to Enclosure and Conduit under Grade installations. Breakout fiber cable or fan out cable is applicable for Device to Device applications with tough and durable advantages. Assembly or zip cord construction is often used for making optic patch cables and short breakout runs. While loose tube construction is a Telco standard used in the telecommunications industry.
The choice greatly depends on your application. The major difference between indoor and outdoor fiber cable is water blocking feature. Outdoor cables are designed to protect the fibers from years of exposure to moisture. However, nowadays there have been cables with both dry water-blocked outdoor feature and indoor designs. For example, in a campus environment, you can get cables with two jackets: an outer PE jacket that withstands moisture and an inner PVC jacket that is UL-rated for fire retardancy.
Both indoor and outdoor fiber cable have a vast option of fiber count ranging from 4-144 fibers. If your fiber demand exceeds this range, you can custom the fiber count for indoor or outdoor optical cable. Unless you are making fiber patch cords or hooking up a simple link with two fibers, it is highly recommended to get some spare fibers.
Optical fiber provides a fast, constant and stable Internet connection that allows a lot of data to be transmitted over incredible distances. As data demands become enormous, fiber optic cabling is the sure way to go for network flexibility and stability.
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