10GbE Cables In Network Cabling

There are two basic cable types available for 10GbE applications: copper and fiber-optic cables. As interface speeds increase, expect increased usage of fiber optic cables and connectors for most interfaces. At higher Gigabit speeds (10Gb+), copper cables and interconnects generally have too much amplitude loss except for short distances, such as within a rack or to a nearby rack. This amplitude loss is sometimes called a poor signal-to-noise ratio or simply “too noisy”

Fiber-optic cables

There are two general types of fiber optic cables available: single-mode fiber and multi-mode fiber.

* Single-mode fiber (SMF)—typically with an optical core of approximately 9 μm (microns), has lower modal dispersion than multi-mode fiber and can support distances of at least 10 Km and as high as 80-100 Km (Kilometers) or more, depending on transmission speed, transceivers and the buffer credits allocated in the switches.

* Multi-mode fiber (MMF)—with optical core of either 50 μm or 62.5 μm, supports distances up to 600 meters, depending on transmission speeds and transceivers. Meter-for-meter, single-mode and multi-mode cables are similarly priced. However, some of the other components used in single-mode links are more expensive than their multi-mode equivalents.

Meter-for-meter, single-mode and multi-mode cables are similarly priced. However, some of the other components used in single-mode links are more expensive than their multi-mode equivalents.

When planning data center cabling requirements, be sure to consider that a service life of 15 to 20 years can be expected for fiber optic cabling, so the choices made today need to support legacy, current and emerging data rates. Also note that deploying large amounts of new cable in a data center can be labor- intensive, especially in existing environments.

There are different designations for fiber-optic cables depending on the bandwidth supported.

* Multi-mode: OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4
* Single-mode: OS1

OM3 and OM4 are newer multi-mode cables that are “laser optimized” (LOMMF) and support 10GbE applications. OM3 and OM4 fiber optic cable are also the only multi-mode fibers included in the IEEE 802.3ba 40G/100G Ethernet standard that was ratified in June 2010. The 40G and 100G speeds are currently achieved by bundling multiple channels together in parallel with special multichannel (or multi-lane) connector types. This standard defines an expected operating range of up to 100m for OM3 and up to 150m for OM4 for 40GbE and 100GbE. These are estimates of distance only and supported distances may differ when 40GbE and 100GbE products become available in the coming years. See the Connector Types section below for additional detail.

Newer multi-mode OM2, OM3 and OM4 (50 μm) and singlemode OS1 (9 μm) fiber-optic cables have been introduced that can handle tight corners and turns. These are known as “bend optimized,” “bend insensitive,” or have “enhanced bend performance.” These fiber-optic cables can have a very small turn or bend radius with minimal signal loss or “bending loss.” The term “bend optimized” multi-mode fiber (BOMMF) is sometimes used. OS1 single-mode fiber optics are used for long distances, up to 10,000m (6.2 miles) with the standard transceivers and have been known to work at much longer distances with special transceivers and switching infrastructure. Each of the multi-mode and single-mode fiber optic cable types includes two wavelengths. The higher wavelengths are used for longer-distance connections.

Indoor vs. outdoor cabling

Indoor Cable is  suitable for indoor building applications. Outdoor cables, also known as outside plant or OSP,are suitable for outdoor applications and are water (liquid and frozen) and ultra-violet resistant. Indoor/outdoor cables provide the protections of outdoor cables with a fire-retardant jacket that allows deployment of these cables inside the building entrance beyond the OSP maximum distance, which can reduce the number of transition splices and connections needed.

Fiberstore offers an extensive line of off the shelf bulk fiber optic cable to address your fiber installation needs. We stock 62.5/125, 50/125, and 9/125 bulk fiber optic cable in simplex, duplex (zip cord), breakout, and distribution styles.

10Gigabit OM3 and OM4 Fiber Optic Cables

With network speed requirements continuing to increase, especially in high-demand industry sectors such as data centres and service providers, there has been a need for faster and more stable optical fiber infrastructure to support it. OM3 was the first standard to emerge, codifying laser optimization of multimode fiber. This technology was the first to allow designs of laser transmission systems utilizing multimode optical fiber without the use of mode conditioning patch cord. It allowed for 10 gigabyte transmissions. OM4 has stepped in due to the need of supporting longer range applications.

OM4 fiber cable plays a pivotal role in allowing the development of future-proof network solutions for high-demand applications. When coupled with fiber technologies such as the MTP connector, the capacity of OM4 to provide a large bandwidth overhead becomes a great advantage. With it being a newer standard it has also been designed with newer transmission standards in mind, such as the steady influx of 40G Ethernet and the eventual 100G Ethernet rollouts. Where OM3 will be able to support these technologies, OM4 will provide longer distance support for each development and therefore allow a considerably greater level of flexibility at a later stage when upgrade programs commence.

OM3 vs OM4

OM4 is capable of handling 10G Ethernet up to a distance of 400-550m (depending on module capability) where OM3 can only manage up to 300m. The benefit of this is that a single multimode cable run can be used for longer distances than before, removing the need to use more expensive single mode fibre and modules for such mid-sized runs as 500m. OM4 can tolerate a higher level of loss at distances between 200-300m as it is designed to operate at longer distances than OM3. It may be a more flexible option for network managers to install OM4 in these instances, even though OM3 can often manage, as the OM4 option will allow for greater loss due to lower quality terminations, splices or increased bends.

While OM3 fiber will still be future proof in most applications, allowing speeds of 10GB/s up to 100GB/s, OM4 fiber offers users longer long distances and more wiggle room in optical budgets.

OM3 and OM4 fiber cables are typically used in data center structured cabling environments running high speeds of 10G or even 40 or 100 Gigabit Ethernet, SAN (Storage Area Networking), Fiber Channel, FCOE (Fiber Channel Over Ethernet) with such manufacturers as Cisco, Brocade, EMC and others. Typical applications could be virtualization or internal cloud core data center applications.

10G multi-fiber cable assemblies are a necessity for any data center looking for high speed networking throughput. FiberStore provides the cable choice of OM4 OM3 10G fiber cables with standard and multi-fiber assemblies. FiberStore offers a full line of OM3 and OM4 product line. While FiberStore still able to supply the OM3 cable and OM4 fiber patch cables. Our line of multimode duplex fiber cables will be sure to enhance your data transmissions over at a longer distance and at higher data rates than you’ve previously experienced.

High Density Fiber Patch Cables For Using In Data Center

Datacenter fiber optical transmission system requirements on the bandwidth show a high growth trend, while the use of a new generation of fiber optic and fiber optical modules can continue to explore the potential of optical network bandwidth. Since multi-mode fiber has a lower overall cost of active and passive, multimode fiber applications have an absolute advantage in the data center. The launch of OM4, a new category EIA/TIA492AAAD multimode fiber standard, provides a better transmission way for multi-mode fiber widely used in the future. Multimode fiber from OM1 to OM2, from OM3 cable, use VCSEL laser optimization technique to OM4 cable, the bandwidth is progressively enhanced, promoted by large growth requirements of online media and application in the cloud computing environment, this module is the ideal communication solution for data center, server farms, network switches, telecom switching centers and many other needs high-speed data transmission embedded applications, the system applications include data aggregation, backplane communications, proprietary protocol data transmission, and other high-density / high-bandwidth applications.

In the 40G/100G state port devices such as QSFP will be directly connected to the MTP/MPO connector, regardless if the fiber channel is connected by several fiber optic cables, or what type of connection the fiber is connected. 40G/100G of equipment and equipment ultimately channel connection need to form a special model so that the equipment transmitting end and the receiving end of the channel correspond to each other.

MPO / MTP high-density fiber pre-connection systems are currently mainly used in three areas: high-density data center environment applications, fiber-to-building applications, and inside connection applications between optical splitter, 40G, 100G QSFP SFP+, and other fiber optical transceiver devices. There are a series of high-density parallel optical connectivity products adaptable to modern data center fiber transmission, which are  OM3/OM4 MPO bundle, MPO Loopback, and QSFP Jumper.

MPO/MTP Fiber Cable is offered for various networking and device needs applications like 100 Gigabit modules. It uses a high-density multi-fiber connector system built around precision-molded MT ferrule. MPO/MTP fiber cable is available in UPC and APC finishes and supports both multimode and single-mode applications. Work with both VCSEL laser and LED sources, 10G OM3 OM4 MPO/MTP Cable provides 10-gigabit data transfer speeds in high bandwidth applications and is 5 times faster than standard 50um fiber cable. Multimode MPO/MTP Cable is the cable of choice for most common local fiber systems as the devices for multimode are far cheaper. Single-mode MPO/MTP Cable is primarily used for applications involving extensive distances. The MPO/MTP Trunk cable is designed for Data Center Applications. The single-mode and multimode MPO/MTP cables are round cables with an outer diameter of 3.0 mm or 4.5 mm. The connector the cable is terminated on is the so-called MPO/MTP connector.

Server virtualization and cloud computing development and the trend of network integration, bring greater demand for faster and more efficient data center networks. Currently, the 10G switch consists of 48 10G channels per line card, mainly limited by the SFP+ module form factor. To meet the higher bandwidth requirements, customers can use the higher-density QSFP+ ports developed by QSFP+ Jumper, and by increasing the per-channel rate and increasing port density to achieve customers’ high bandwidth requirements.