Great Importance Should Be Attached to Cable Management

In data center or field cabling, cables, both Ethernet cables and fibers, are nightmares, if they are not carefully organized. However, there are also many excellent well-organized cables which make us feel amazing. They look like the art works of a great master, and show the beauty of the cabling world thoroughly. This is the magic of cable management. It is extremely important in creating an aesthetically pleasing and clean environment, whether the setting is professional, industrial or in your home. Coordinating and managing cables helps maintain basic functionality, while also protecting equipment from blocked airflow due to messy and unorganized cables. Therefore, we should attach great importance to cable management.

Importance of Cable Management

Why do we have to take cable management seriously? The following part lists several reasons:

Ease of Cable Connection

A high quality cable management provides easy access not only to the cables themselves, but also to the devices that they are connected to. If the cables become tangled and interconnected, it will take a significantly longer amount of time to make sense of it, which can lead to decreased efficiency, even for a simple task. However, if your cables are well-organized, the connection between cables and devices will be seen clearly. So that the time can be greatly shortened.

Avoid the Risk of Fire

If cables are left unchecked for a long enough period of time, they can be tangled and are more likely to lead to sparks and even a fire. Furthermore people may walk near a bundle of cables, tripped and yanking a cable out of its socket which could also cause a fire or damage the equipment that the cable is connected to. But if you check cables regularly and manage your cables well, this situation can be avoided.

Easy Troubleshooting

Testing the data transfer cable is always one of the first steps in routine troubleshooting to make sure that the cables are still in good working condition. But if dozens (or in certain cases hundreds) of tangled cables are in disarray, such a simple task will become infinitely more complex and you have no idea how long it will take to finish the job. Thanks to cable management, you can easily swap out cables, quickly access the cables you need to maintain, troubleshoot hardware and perform other basic tasks.

Cable Management Solution

Cable management is really necessary and essential for data center cabling. Tangled cables sometimes can be stressful and time-consuming to untangle and keep straight. Fortunately, FS.COM provides easy and affordable solutions to help you with cable management.

Cable Ties

Cable tie is a classic and indispensable product in the world of cable management. It is the starting point and most commonly used one to organize cable mess. Cable tie is designed to secure wire bundles and harness components quickly without slipping. It comes to various types according to their color, length, width, and serration. Proper cable ties do not only provide long-life services, but also better cable management, especially in data center and server room.

Wire Loom

Wire loom, also known as corrugated tubing or convoluted loom, is an easy solution for organizing cables and managing cords into color-coded bundles that will help keep your electronic equipment in order and prevent equipment failure or fire hazards. The slit down the side of wire loom makes it easy to slip in any additional cables, without having to remove the bundles that are already inside. Wire loom is usually used in wide-range applications such as electrical wiring in trucks, cars, boats, as well as for use in home entertainment centers, video games, and so on.

Conclusion

Overall, cable management is crucial for maintaining organization, functionality, and a professional environment. After reading this passage, you should check your cables and manage them well right now. In addition, if you want to know more details about cable management solutions, please visit FS.COM or contact sales@fs.com.

Why We Choose Fiber Optic Cable Over Copper Cable?

When installing network cable, fiber optic cable or copper cable, which one do you prefer? Both of them have advantages and specific features. Copper cable has already existed in many places and it is economical in network devices connection. However, with the dramatic reduction of cost of optical deployment, fiber optic cable has become one of the most popular mediums for both new cabling installation and upgrades, including backbone, horizontal, and even desktop applications. There are several advantages which make it a more enticing cable infrastructure solution than its copper counterpart. This passage will present five reasons for the choice in fiber cable instead of copper cable from bandwidth, speed&distance, security, immunity&reliability, and cost.

Bandwidth

Copper cable has very limited bandwidth that is perfect for a voice signal, while fiber cable provides more bandwidth than copper cable and has standardized performance more than 10 Gbps (experimentally car reach to 100 Gbps). More bandwidth means fiber cable can carry more information with greater fidelity than copper cable. For example, cat6a cable is classified by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) to handle a bandwidth up to 600 MHz over 100 meters, which theoretically could carry around 18,000 calls at the same time. By the way, the signal losses over 100 meters in fiber are negligible, but copper has very high losses at high frequencies.

Speed and Distance

Fiber optic transmission versus copper transmission can be boiled down to the speed of photons versus the speed of electrons. Since the fiber optic signal is made of light, which will cause little signal loss during transmission, data can move at higher speeds and greater distances. In addition, fiber does not have the 100-meter (328-ft.) distance limitation of unshielded twisted pair copper (without a booster), so distances can range from 550 meters (928.2-ft.) for 10Gbps multimode to 40 km for single-mode cables.

Security

The data transmitted over the fiber are always safe. Eavesdropping on a LAN using copper cables only requires a sensitive antenna to pick up the energy radiated from the cable. Since fiber optic doesn’t transmit electricity, it won’t radiate energy and cannot be tapped by an antenna, while the copper using electricity is easy to be tapped which will cause the entire system to fail. The optical fiber does not produce EMI, so it cannot catch on fire. Besides, you will not have to worry about replacing fiber cables as frequently as copper cables. Because the fiber core is made of glass, the optical fiber won’t break as easily.

Immunity and Reliability

 

There are a number of factors that can cause outages when an organization is reliant on copper cable-based network, such as temperature fluctuations, severe weather conditions, and moisture. However, fiber cable is completely immune to these environmental factors that makes it extremely reliable in data transmission. What’s more, it is also impervious to electrometric interference (EMI) and radio-frequency interference (RFI), crosstalk, impedance problems and so on. You can apply fiber cable next to industrial equipment without worry.

Cost

A few years ago, the overall price of fiber cables was 100% to 200% higher than copper cables. With the maturity of production technology, the cost for fiber cables, components, and hardware has steadily decreased. Fiber cable is certainly more expensive compared to copper cable when you are looking at it on a short term basis, but cheaper in the long term. Since fiber cable costs less to maintain and needs less networking hardware compared to its copper counterpart.

Summary

With its wide bandwidth, high speed, long distance, great security and reliability, as well as low cost, fiber cable has already replaced the copper cable in many aspects of networking. As fiber optic connectivity improves, fiber construction will become more convenient.

Fiber Media Converter Solution

In today’s networking systems, LANs are becoming larger and more complicated, and people are looking for equipment that is cost-effective, flexible and easy to manage. Therefore, a fiber media converter which can connect two dissimilar media types such as twisted pair cable with fiber optic cabling effectively and seamlessly, is designed to satisfy the demand.

What Is Fiber Media Converter?

Fiber media converter, also known as Ethernet media converter is a small device with two media-dependent interfaces and a power supply, simply receives data signals from one media, converts and transmits them to another media. It is a key component in optical networking, since its long distance operation, high bandwidth capacity and reliability make the most desired channel for data communications. Besides, fiber media converter can also extend the productive life of the existing cabling as well as the active equipment.

Working Principle of Fiber Media Converter

Fiber media converter works on the physical layer of the network. It receives signals from one media and converts them to another while remaining invisible to data traffic and other net devices. It does not interfere with upper-level protocol information which lets them support quality of service.

Media converters change the format of an Ethernet-based signal on cat5 into a format compatible with fiber optics. At the other end of the cable run, a second media converter is used to change the data back to its original format.

Types of Fiber Media Converter

Fiber media converters support many different data transmission protocols including Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, T1/E1/J1, DS3/E3, as well as multiple cabling types such as coax, twisted pair, multimode and single-mode fiber optics. According to different criteria, fiber media converter can be classified into different types.

Stand-Alone VS Modular Chassis-Based Media Converters

According to the platform type, fiber media converters can be divided into stand-alone and modular chassis-based converters. Stand-alone fiber media converters are designed to be used in where a single or limited number of converters need to be quickly implemented. They are available for converting and extending single twisted pair network interfaces over fiber optic cabling especially where space is limited, while modular chassis-based fiber media converters are used in high-density applications that multiple points of copper or fiber integration are essential.

Managed VS Unmanaged Media Converters

According to the network to points, media converters can be divided into managed and unmanaged fiber media converters. The managed fiber media converter has the function of networking monitoring, fault detection and remote management. It helps the network administrator to easily monitor and manage the network. An unmanaged media converter simply allows devices to communicate and does not provide the same level of monitoring, fault detection and configuration as equivalent managed media converter. It is a great option for newbies if you want a plug and play fiber network cable installation.

Fiber Media Converters in FS.COM

FS.COM provides various types of fiber media converters which support many different data communication protocols with high quality and great price.

Fiber to RJ45 Converter

10/100Base-T to 100Base-FX Single Fiber 1310 nm 20 km 1SC+XRJ45 Media Converter

It is used in couples to transmit and receive signal through single fiber over long distance via splitting wavelengths 1310/1550 nm. If you need to keep the costs of fiber cable down, this kind of converter could be the solution.

10/100/1000Base-T to 1000Base-FX Dual Fiber 1310 nm 20 km 2SC+4RJ45 Media converter

With four RJ45 ports and two SC fiber ports, this 10/100/1000Mbps auto-negotiation media converter has extremely low power consumption and low heat. It could achieve reliable and stable performance over 1310nm wavelength up to 20 km.

SFP Ethernet Converter

10/100/1000Base-TX to 1000Base-FX SFP Mini Gigabit Media Converter

With compact size, this media converter is used for 10/100/1000Base-TX UTP to 1000Base-FX fiber media converter. It provides cost-effective connectivity from Ethernet switches to diagnostic equipment, desktop and laptop computers.

Besides the fiber media converters listed above, FS.COM supplies 10/100Base Ethernet fiber media converters, 1000Base Gigabit fiber media converter, SFP fiber media converter, options in single-mode dual fiber, multimode dual fiber and single-mode single fiber. We also supply media converter chassis and so on. If you have any requirement, please visit FS.COM or contact sales@fs.com.

Twisted Pair Cable Overview

Twisted pair is the ordinary copper wire which connects home and many business computers to the telephone company. It is made by putting two separate insulated wires together in a twisted pattern and running them parallel to each other which helps to reduce crosstalk or electromagnetic induction between pairs of wires. Since some telephone sets or desktop locations require multiple connections, twisted pair is sometimes installed in two or more pairs, all within a single cable.

Twisted pair cable is good for transferring balanced differential signals. The practice of transmitting signals differentially dates back to the early days of telegraph and radio. The advantages of improved signal-to-noise ratio, crosstalk, and ground bounce that balanced signal transmission bring are particularly valuable in wide bandwidth and high fidelity systems.

How Does Twisted Pair Cable Work？

Twisted pair cable is widely used for telecommunications and most modern Ethernet networks. But do you know how a twisted pair cable works?

When electrical current flows through a wire, it creates a small, circular magnetic field around the wire. Noise is generated within signal lines through magnetic fields. Therefore the noise in data outlines is the consequence of the magnetic field. Within the straight cable connection, all sound current is moving in the same direction, exactly like within a regular transformer coils. Once the cable is actually twisted, their magnetic fields are opposite to each other. Thus, the two magnetic fields cancel each other and any outside magnetic fields. Due to this, the noise current in a twisted cable is lower than in an ordinary cable.

Types of Twisted Pair Cable

According to whether the cable has a shielding layer, there are two common types of twisted pair cables—shielded twisted pair cable and unshielded twisted pair cable.

Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable

Shielded twisted pair (STP) cable combines the technique of shielding, cancellation and wire twisting. Each pair of wires is wrapped in a metallic foil. The four pairs of wires then are wrapped in an overall metallic braid of foil. STP cable is used to eliminate inductive and capacitive coupling. Twisting cancels out inductive coupling, while the shield eliminates capacitive coupling. This kind of cable is often applied between equipment, racks and buildings. Compared to unshielded twisted pair cable, STP will cause more attenuation. However, because in the case of balanced transmission, the complementing signals will effectively cancel out any shield currents, so the losses are negligible. Besides, although STP prevents interference better than UTP, it is more expensive and difficult to install.

Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

Unshielded twisted pair cable is the most commonly used cable for Ethernet connections. It consists of color-coded copper wires, but does not include any foil or braiding as insulator to protect against interference. In addition, the wires in each pair are twisted around each other. UTP cables are smaller than STP cables, which makes them easier to install, particularly in bulk or in narrow spaces. They are also cheaper than STP cables, and do not require as much maintenance, since they do not rely on outer shield. Furthermore, UTP cables can also transmit data as fast as STP cables. However, UTP cables are more prone to cause electrical noise and interference than other types of networking media. Thus, UTP cables are best used for domestic and office Ethernet connections, and in any area where there is not a high degree of electromagnetic interference.

Applications of Twisted Pair Cable

The most commonly used twisted pair cable impedance is 100 ohms. And it is widely deployed for data communications and telecommunication applications in structured cabling system. As its transmission distance&speed and bandwidth are limited, twisted pair cables are often used in telephone lines to carry voice and data channels, and local area network such as 10Base-T and 100Base-T, and so on.

Conclusion

To sum up, twisted pair cable has great potential in the field of short distance transmission in the future. It can meet necessary conditions of high efficiency, energy saving, environmental protection and many other trends in today’s society. FS.COM has been devoted to the research of twisted pair transmission technology such as Cat 7 twisted pair cable, hoping to create the highest quality products and satisfy every consumer.

Things You Should Know About PoE Network

With the development of networking, local power is not always accessible for wireless access points, IP phones, and other network devices that may be deployed in ceilings, lobbies, stairwell, and other obscure areas. Adding power outlets near these devices may be extremely difficult and costly. But why not provide these devices network connection and power in the same cable? In response to this need, IEEE developed IEEE802.3af to standardize a system which is called power over Ethernet (PoE) to supply low voltage power to networked devices via communication lines. In the following paragraphs, more information about PoE network will be discussed.

Basic Concepts of PoE Network

Power over Ethernet (PoE), also called as active Ethernet, is a technology for wired Ethernet LANs (local area networks) allowing the electrical current necessary for the operation of each device to be carried by data cables rather than by power cords. There are three basic components in PoE system—PSE, PD and the cable itself. PSE which stands for power sourcing equipment like PoE switch is designed to deliver power to the cable, while PD (powered device) receives power from the cable. And the cable will help transmit the electrical power and data signal. In general, there are two methods of PoE. One is mid-span, and the other is end-span.

Working Principle of PoE 

The electrical current must go into the data cable at the power-supply end (PSE end), and come out at the device end (PD end), which can keep the current separated from the data signal so that neither of them interferes with the other. The current enters the cable by means of a component called an injector. If the device at the other end of the cable is PoE compatible, then the device will function properly without modification; otherwise a component called a picker or tap must be installed to remove the current from the cable.

Advantages of PoE

Why is PoE more and more widely used in many devices? Some of the advantages with PoE over other technologies may be:

• 1. Time and cost saving: It is the primary advantage. By reducing the time and expense of having electrical power cabling installed, network cables do not require a qualified electrician to fit them, and can be located wherever they are needed most.
• 2. Great flexibility: Without being tethered to an electrical outlet, devices such as IP cameras and wireless access points can be located regardless of area restriction. Besides, they can be repositioned easily if required.
• 3. Safety: PoE network is designed so safe and intelligent that it can protect network equipment from overload, under-powering, or incorrect installation.
• 4. Reliability: PoE power comes from a central and universally compatible source instead of a collection of distributed wall adapters. In addition, with the backing-up of an uninterruptible power supply, the PoE network can be operated more stably.
• 5. Scalability: Due to the electrical power available on PoE network, the installation and distribution of network connections can be simple and effective.

Applications of PoE

PoE has many applications, but the key areas are:

• VoIP phones—It is the original PoE application. Using PoE means phones have a single connection to a wall socket, and can be remotely powered down, just like with the older analog system.
• IP camera—Nowadays, PoE is ubiquitous on networked surveillance cameras, where it enables fast deployment and easy repositioning.
• Wireless—Wifi, Bluetooth APs and RFID (radio frequency identification devices) readers are commonly PoE-compatible, to allow remote location away from AC outlets, and relocation following site surveys.

Summary

Like all technologies, the advent of PoE has greatly enhanced the effectiveness of network. There is no doubt that PoE will become increasingly important in the future. The above statements only briefly explain PoE from basic concept, working principle, advantage and application. There is still more knowledge about it we should learn.

How to Clean Fiber Optic Connector

Cleaning fiber optic connectors is necessary to keep the quality connections between all fiber equipment. It is one of the most important preventative maintenance procedures to avoid premature failure of the system. It is known that fiber optic connector terminates the end of an optical fiber and mechanically couples and aligns the cores of fibers so light can pass. Experts studies have shown that one micrometer dust particle can block up to one percent of the light and cause a 0.05dB loss on a single-mode fiber cable. Although a 9-micrometer speck is too small to notice without a microscope, it can block a fiber core. Thus keeping the fiber end face and ferrule absolutely clean is very essential. The following article will provide some detailed information about the tips and procedures for cleaning fiber optic connector. 

Tips Before the Fiber Optic Connector Cleaning

Before the fiber optic connector cleaning, there are some tips which should be kept in mind.

• Disconnect the fiber optic cables from both ends and then turn off any laser source.
• Do not allow the end of the fiber optic cable to make contact with any surface including your fingers.
• Never to bend the fiber cable, which will in turn cause internal breaks along the fiber and cause poor performance or instability.
• Always inspect your connectors or adapters before you begin the cleaning process.
• Store unused protective caps in a reasonable container to prevent any transfer of dust to the fiber.

Fiber Optic Connector Cleaning Process

Step 1—Use a fiber microscope to inspect the fiber end, if it is contaminated as images shown below, it should be cleaned with the dry cleaning method.

Tips: Dry cleaning is a type of cleaning method which does not require the use of any solvent. First, use a reel-based cassette cleaner with medium pressure, then wipe the connector end face with a dry cleaning cloth (single swipe per exposure) in one direction. For angled physical contact (APC) polished connectors, ensure that the entire end face surface mates with the cleaning cloth. Finally, inspect the connector end face for contamination again after cleaning. Dry cleaning method will generally remove airborne contamination and should be attempted first.

Step 2—Inspect the connector.

Step 3—If the connector is dirty, repeat the dry cleaning method and inspect the connector again.

Step 4—Clean the connector with a wet cleaning technique if it’s still dirty.

Tips: Wet cleaning is another type of cleaning method which requires the use of a solvent such as isopropyl alcohol. First, lightly moisten a portion of a lint free wipe with fiber optic cleaning solution (or > 91 percent isopropyl alcohol), then wipe the end face against the wet area, and onto a dry area to clean potential residue from the end face. Wet cleaning is more aggressive than dry cleaning, and will remove airborne contamination as well as light oil residue.

Step 5—Inspect the connector again.

Step 6—If there is still contamination on the connector, repeat these steps until the connector is clean.

Step 7—After cleaning, immediately install a protective cover over the end of the cable to avoid re-contamination or insert the fiber for immediate use.

Note: Do not use a cleaning process that will leave a residue on the end face. Alcohol and wet cleaning procedures are the most common procedures that will leave residue on the surface of the devices.

Summary

Fiber optic connector is an indispensable component of optical network. Therefore, the cleanliness of the connector becomes increasingly important. This passage has briefly introduced the procedures of fiber optic cleaning. If you need to clean your connectors, you can follow my suggestion. In addition, choosing a suitable cleaning tools is also important for fiber optic connector cleaning. FS.COM supplies all kinds of fiber optic cleaner, such as pen cleaner, cassette cleaner, and so on. All of these optic connector cleaners are designed to effectively and quickly clean connector end face, both the unmated patch cord and through the adapter. They are also provided with high quality and reasonable price. If you have any requirement of our products, please visit FS.COM or contact sales@fs.com.

Guide to Optical Switch

With the development of fiber optic communication technology and dense wavelength division multiplexing system, optical networking has become the trend of network communication. In optical networks, optical fiber is the fundamental medium of transmission, but switching, signaling, and processing functions are accomplished electronically. Hence, optical switches are naturally developed. Optical switch is a device used to open or close an optical circuit which enables signals in optical fibers or integrated optical circuit (IOCs) to be selectively switched from one circuit to another in telecommunication. In a network system, optical switch plays an important part in protecting the path. It is the key to all-optical switching devices and can be realized in all-optical layer routing, wavelength selection, optical cross-connect and self-healing protection function. This post intends to give a brief introduction to optical switch.

Optical Switching Technology

When it comes to optical switch, it is necessary to mention optical switching technology. As an important foundation for all-optical communication network technology, the development and application of optical switching technology will greatly influence the trend of future optical communication networks development. It is known that optical signals are multiplexed in three ways, including space division, time division and wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). Accordingly, there are three optical switching methods, space division switching, time division switching and wave division switching to complete the three multiplexed ways. Besides, there are also hybrid switching technologies used in large-scale communication network, such as time-space (TS) switching which enables broadcast operators to seamlessly switch channels within the same or different TS stream.

Types of Optical Switch

Different principles and technologies of optical switches are different in characteristic and available for different applications. And according to different specific standards, there are a number of optical switches., such as thermal optical switch, acousto-optic switch, waveguide optical switch and magneto-optic switch, etc. However, opto-mechanical optical switch and MEMS optical switch are the most widely used products in the market today.

Opto-mechanical Optical Switch

Opto-mechanical switch is the oldest type of optical switch and it is the most widely deployed switch. Due to its working principle, it is relatively slow with switching times in the 10-100ms range. Nevertheless, it can achieve excellent reliability, insertion loss, and crosstalk. Generally, opto-mechanical optical switches collimate the optical beam from each input and output fiber, then move these collimated beams around inside the device which allows distance between the input and output fiber without deleterious effects.

 MEMS Optical Switch

OptoMEMS (micro-electro-mechanical) optical switch is a micro-optical switch in free space which is made of semiconductor material. It has attracted wide attention in the world because of its versatility. MEMS optical switch is designed to have the advantage of opto-mechanical, but it is more compact and easier to expand. With the ability of combining the electrical, mechanical and optical integration as a whole, MEMS optical switch can transparently transmit different rates and different businesses services.

Application of Optical Switch

Optical switches are widely used in high speed networks where high switching speeds and large switches are required to handle the large amount of traffic. Optical switches can be used within optical cross-connects (OXCs) which contain a whole series of optical switch to forward data using switches. Furthermore, optical switches can also be utilized for switching protection. The switch can allow the signal to be rerouted to another fiber before a fiber failing to transmit the signal. And it takes an optical switch only milliseconds to detect the failure and inform network.

Conclusion

Optical switch plays a very important role in optical network, which is not only as the switching core of the key equipment in WDM network, but also as key components in optical networks. This passage provides a brief introduction to optical switch for you. FS.COM offers optical switch solutions and tutorials for your project, please visit FS.COM for more information.