Testing Solutions for MPO/MTP Cabling

As data center network gradually migrates to high-speed 40G and 100G Ethernet, many IT managers prefer to deploy MPO/MTP based fiber cabling for its easy handling (MPO fiber cable are pre-terminated in the factory) and high density performance, but since the structure of MPO/MTP is more complicated than standard fiber optic cabling, it is critical to have proper maintenance procedures to keep the network working in good condition. For MPO/MTP cabling, testing is one of the most important process in routine maintenance. This post will introduce how to properly testing MPO/MTP cabling.

Necessity of MPO/MTP Cabling Testing

Pre-terminated MPO/MTP cabling is only guaranteed good as it exists in the manufacture’s factory, but after transported, stored, and later bent and pulled during installation in the data center, all its performance becomes uncertain, so proper testing after installation is the only way to guarantee performance in a live application. Besides, the use of MPO cables for trunking 10G connections in the data center has steadily risen over the past 10 years, and now data center are gradually upgrade to 40G and 100G, which means each time you migrate, you need to verify the links to ensure the performance delivery the organization requires.

Solutions for MPO/MTP Cabling Testing

As long as testing is necessary, how can we operate the proper MTP cabling testing? Generally, testing a parallel cable plant with MPO connectors is once called impossible in an industry meeting. The problem is that few test sets have adapters for these multifiber array connectors, so you need to find ways to adapt typical single fiber test equipment to testing them. In doing so, you must compromise the typical insertion loss test by adding adapter cables from the MPO connector to LC or SC type connectors more commonly used on test equipment.

Solution 1: Using a typical single fiber optic test source and power meter. In this case, you have to add MPO LC breakout cable to both MPO ends of the cable plant and then test the cable plant including the breakouts. In making the measurement this way, your loss will be higher than the actual cable plant by the loss of the connectors on the breakouts when connected to the launch and receive reference cables as shown below. This will add approximately 0.5-0.8dB +/-0.2dB to the actual loss of the cable plant under the test. You can compensate for this by using 3-cable reference (as shown in the table below) but will increase uncertainty.

Solution 2: Using a single output source to connect each fiber in the cable and a meter with a large area detector and MPO adapter. You manually change the source from the fiber to fiber, but the meter remains fixed as shown below. This method will not confirm the polarity of the connection unless your carefully note the fiber and the source are connected to each time.

Solution 3: Using a source with breakout and a meter with a large area detector or a breakout and a single fiber meter. You switch the source from fiber to fiber using the switch which has relatively low variability from fiber to fiber as shown below.

Solution 4: There are testers available with MPO interface designed to test these cables efficiently. Although these testers are expensive, White these testers are expensive, they are probably the best way to test these cables. The main procedures are shown below.

Conclusion

As more and more MPO/MTP based fiber optic cabling used in data centers, it is necessary to do routine testing after network upgrading or installation. This post has introduced four MPO/MTP testing solutions. Hope you can useful information from it.

High Density Fiber Patch Panel Solutions in FS.COM

With more and more data centers now supporting tens of thousands of fiber links, data center managers are demanding high-density solutions that properly manage high optical fiber counts and provide scalability to support more fiber optic cabling and future bandwidth requirements. The high density fiber patch panel is engineered to improve the capacity for patching and splicing in one central unit, which makes the most of available space to stack the most adapter panels to terminate anywhere.

Why Do We Need Fiber Patch Panel?

High density fiber patch panel is loaded with a panel enclosure and modular HD cassettes, which can connect a 40/100G fiber network via MTP fiber cable, then segment it into standard LC connections in order to interface with 10G devices. With HD fiber patch panel, users has no need to run long patch cords across, under the floor or in overhead conveyance, instead, they just need to run short jumpers from the SAN or network switch up to the fiber patch panel. Besides, the patch panel has multiple ports which could allow more cables running in the same time into a smaller space, greatly increasing density and saving space to the extreme. Furthermore, HD fiber patch panel with cassettes features factory-terminated connectors that can reduce installation time, especially for those who are new to cable deployment.

Cost-Effective HD Fiber Patch Panel in FS.COM

FS.COM has launched HD fiber patch panel for 40G and 100G network applications to faster deployment, higher performance and cleaner installations.

1U 96-Fiber MTP Breakout Panel for 40G Network

Loaded with 12 standard MTP connector adapters (8-fiber) elite to 48 duplex LC connector adapters in a 1U patch panel, this 40G MTP fiber patch panel can meet the high density cabling demands with up to 96 ports, supporting up to 48x10GbE as shown below. Available in single-mode and multimode versions, it can ensure a high-performance and reliable straight connection from 10G to 40G.

2U 160-Fiber MTP Breakout Panel for 100G Network

For 10G to 100G connection, FS.COM provides 2U 160-fiber MTP LC patch panel. It uses the same working theory as the above mentioned 96-fiber 40G breakout panel. The 100G breakout panel is designed to connect our 100GBase-SR10 ports with 24-fiber MTP fiber cable to the back of the panel, then breakout as 80x10GbE on the front with duplex LC fiber cable in a 2U rack. We can get more detailed information from the image below.

Conclusion

As the migration to 40G and 100G Ethernet is on the way, more and more breakout legs will be used in the transmission, which will cause congestion, clutter, and tangling, not only reducing efficiency, but also making cable management more difficult. With FS.COM HD 40G and 100G MTP fiber patch panel, we can easily upgrade to 40/100G in a simple, efficient, and well-maintained manner. You can customize the patch panel according to your unique requirement or order the recommended products directly in FS.COM.

Differences Between Breakout Cable and Breakout Patch Panel

10Gbps is no longer the satisfying data rate as more and more people increasingly need faster transmission speed, so the migration to 40G and beyond is inevitable. However, replacing all the 10G equipment in data center will cost more in material and labor. Is there any solution we can use to connect 40/100G equipment with the existing 10G equipment in a cost-effective path? The answer is definitely yes. Breakout cable and breakout patch panel are two main solutions. What are the differences between them, and which one is better for our application? Read this post, and you will find more information.

Why We Need Breakout Cable and Breakout Patch Panel?

Unlike 10G infrastructure using duplex fiber to achieve data transmission, the 40/100G network uses parallel fibers. For example, when we need to get connection between 10G and 40G device, we can use MTP LC breakout cable to achieve the total data rate up to 40Gbps in a 4 x 10Gbps parallel transmission mode. The breakout panel was based on the same working principle with breakout cables, which can provide a mature and highly scalable alternative to breakout cables since it allows users to seamlessly and conveniently integrate equipment with different speeds for today’s and even tomorrow’s connectivity needs.

Breakout Cable VS. Breakout Patch Panel

Differences in Structure

A breakout cable is with one MPO/MTP connector on end for interfacing QSFP+ style switch, and with the breakout legs with LC connectors on the other end for providing connectivity with SFP+ interfaced switch as shown below. Breakout cables used for different Ethernet networks are with different structure, for example, a 40G breakout cable has four individual 10G duplex cables totaling eight duplex strands, and a 100G breakout cable has ten individual 10G duplex cables, namely 20 fiber strands.

Breakout patch panel or MTP patch panel is integrated a range of modular, removable fiber assemblies in a rack-mount panels(the image below shows a 100G breakout patch panel). For 40G and 100G network, its design is different. A 40G breakout patch panel is designed with 12 standards MTP connectors (8-fiber) elite to 48 duplex LC connectors in a 1RU patch panel, and a 100G breakout patch panel is designed with 8 24-MTP (20 fibers used) elite to 80 duplex LC in 1RU panel, you can achieve 8 groups of 10G to 100G paths in a simple, efficient and well maintained manner.

Differences in Installation

When use breakout cable, we also need optical modules to achieve the connection. For example, in a 40G infrastructure, the MTP connector end of breakout cable should first plug into QSFP+ modules, then plugs the whole cable assembly into a 40G port of a switch, and the other four LC duplex ends of the 40G breakout cable should first plug into four SFP+ modules and then plugs the whole four cable assemblies into four 10G ports of server as shown below.

When use breakout patch panel, the breakout fiber panels and cassettes are the key. With an easy plug-n-play step, you can easily complete the whole connection between two standard ports, which eliminates the complicated cable management segment. You can get the detailed installation step from the image below.

Differences in Pros and Cons

Breakout cable offers a quick and easy migrating way for users to connect slower speed equipment with higher-speed equipment. However, it increases the costs, delays projects and even presents a nightmare scenario for the upgrade and maintenance, because of cable congestion. On the contrary, breakout patch panel provides flexibility and scalability for network upgrading, allowing users to connect diverse network cabling standard seamlessly, without the costly, labor-intensive hassle of replacing channels end-to-end. The biggest challenge of breakout patch panel is how to select the right one to meet your current needs, as well as adapting to and growing with your future needs, because it involves the cost, network standard, and the whole network plan concerns.

Conclusion

Breakout cable and breakout patch panel are both good solutions for the 10G to 40G migration. Breakout cable is easy to handle, but breakout patch panel could provide more advantages, especially for cable management and network upgrade. Taking future using into consideration, you’d better choose breakout patch panel. Do ensure you choose the right one according to your needs.

FS.COM 40G QSFP+ Cabling Solutions for Cisco Nexus 9508 Switch

Cisco, as one of the most famous worldwide leader in IT and networking field, has introduced various equipment to the telecommunication market, like switch. Cisco Nexus 9508, as one of the first member of Cisco Nexus 9000 Series platform, is designed for a rage of environments, such as physical and virtual computing, Big Data application and high-performance computing to deliver industry-leading and high-density 40G and future 100G Ethernet. This post aims to introduce Cisco Nexus 9508 switch and some cost-effective 40G cabling solutions for it.

Cisco Nexus 9508 Switch Overview

Cisco Nexus 9508 is a modular, 8-slot, 13-rack-unit (13RU), layer 2 and 3 non-blocking Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) capable switch. With more than 30 terabits per second of backplane bandwidth, the switch supports 1, 10, 40, and future 100 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces through a comprehensive selection of modular line cards, providing sufficient capacity for both access and aggregation-layer deployment. But in fact, there are only three line cards for initial offering: 36-port 40G QSFP+ line card, 48-port 1 and 10G SFP+ with 4-port 40G QSFP+ line card, and 48-port 1 and 10GBase-T plus 4-port 40G QSFP+ line card as shown below.

FS.COM, as a professional manufacturer and supplier of fiber optic cabling products, offers a series of 40G QSFP+ cabling solutions for Cisco Nexus 9508 switch, that we will mainly introduce four solutions here.

40G QSFP+ Direct Connection Cabling

40G to 40G Direct Connection

40GBase-SR4 QSFP+ with duplex patch cable and QSFP+ direct attach cable (DAC) can be both applied to connect two or more switches which are in the same rack or in the adjacent. However, it is known that QSFP+ DAC is a cable assembly which is permanently terminated with QSFP+ modules at both ends. These QSFP+ modules are without expensive optical lasers which makes the cable much cheaper than 40GBase-SR4 QSFP+ and patch cable for 40G to 40G direct connection. Besides, it is more easy to deal with QSFP+ DAC cables. You just need to plug the QSFP+ connector into the switch port, and it works as shown below.

10G to 40G Direct Connection

Besides 40G to 40G direct connection, sometimes, for 10G to 40G migration, we also need to direct-connect Cisco Nexus 9508 switch to SFP+ interfaced 10G switch. In this scenario, both QSFP+ MTP breakout cable and QSFP+ to 4×SFP+ DAC can be used, but for the same reason as we have mentioned above. QSFP+ to 4×SFP+ DAC is more commonly used for its low cost. The following picture shows the 10G to 40G direct connection with QSFP+ to 4×SFP+ DAC.

40G QSFP+ Interconnection Cabling

40G to 40G Interconnection

When the distance between Cisco Nexus 9508 switch and other switches is long, we have to interconnect the two devices. 40GBase-SR4 or 40GBase-CSR4 QSFP+ modules and MTP or MPO able assemblies are often deployed. The following image shows 40G 40GBase-SR4/CSR4 modules and MPO trunk able for the interconnection between Cisco Nexus 9508 switch and other switches.

10G to 40G Interconnection

Besides for 40G to 40G interconnection, when the distance between Cisco Nexus 9508 switch and 10G switch, we also can use MTP to LC breakout cable with 40GBase-SR4/CSR4 and 10GBase-SR to logically configure the 40G switch as 4×10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces for the interconnection between Cisco Nexus 9508 switch and the 10G switch as the following image shows.

Conclusion

Cisco Nexus 9508 switch is designed to provide consistent connectivity, security, and visibility across a range of bare-metal, virtualized, and cloud computing environments. To ensure it can offer high performance, FS.COM offers practical and cost-effective 40G QSFP+ cabling solutions for Cisco Nexus 9508 switch as we have mentioned above. All of the fiber optics and patch cables have fully tested and can work well. For any requirement, kindly visit FS.COM.

Things You Should Know About MPO/MTP Connector Cleaning

As a common throughout the high-density network today, MPO/MTP connectors provide IT managers power to add, drop, move and change the network. In order to make them work smoothly, routine inspection and cleaning are very important for these connectors, since every single issue with connector cleanliness and contamination could result in network failure. But many people could be puzzled by how to correctly clean these small but critical components in their networking applications. Just read this post and you will learn some knowledge about MPO/MTP cleaning.

Why Should We Pay More Attention on MPO/MTP Connector?

MPO/MTP connector is the most common multi-fiber connector type, containing one or two rows of fibers (12-fiber MPO/MTP and 24-fiber MPO/MTP) in a single connector, which is widely used in today’s high-density 40G or 100G Ethernet networks. Unlike single-fiber connectors, which has a small ferrule, a MPO or MTP connector has a larger contact area, making it more prone to be contaminated. Besides, the alignment of MPO/MTP fibers is achieved by the connection of a male connector which has outer pins and female connector which has alignment holes(note:male connector has pins and female connector has no pins). We can see these differences from the image below. Additionally, due to the presence of alignment pins, the cleaning of the extreme sides of the MPO/MTP connector end-face is often neglected by users, so when cleaning a MPO/MTP connector, every corner on the connector must be clean for it to function properly.

Which Cleaning Method Should We Use?

Generally, dry cleaning and wet cleaning are two methods used during fiber optic cleaning procedures. Dry cleaning is a type of cleaning method which does not require any solvent, while wet cleaning requires the use of solvent such as isopropyl alcohol.

Dry cleaning is an efficient and preferred method to remove dusts and finger grease due to the possibilities of residue when using alcohol based products. However, dry cleaning method is not always the sufficient to completely remove all the contaminants. If you still inspect that the MPO/MTP connector is contaminated after first dry cleaning, you need to combine dry and wet cleaning method. If you still find contamination on the connector after using the second wet and dry cleaning, you should redo the second cleaning again until the connector is completely cleaned.

Note: 1. Do be careful when cleaning the connector, if the connector is damaged permanently, you need to replace a new one. 2. Always do inspection after every cleaning.

Which Cleaning Tool Should We Choose?

Fiber Optic Cassette Cleaner: Cassette cleaner is an ideal choice for those who need to clean the accessible connector with a wide range of connector styles. It can be reused by replacing the cleaning reel/cartridge, which could save the general cost. But keep in mind that don’t reverse cleaning direction to avoid bringing back the wiped contaminants while using cassette cleaner. The following shows cleaning connectors terminated on the MPO trunk cable.

One-Click MPO/MTP Cleaner: One-click MPO/MTP cleaner is a good choice for those who need to clean both connector and adapter in their system. It is an easy-to-use cleaning tool, which comes with a barrel on the end for cleaning both connectors and adapter. With this type of cleaner, you just need to a simple “one-click”, the cleaning is done.

Besides the cleaner we have mentioned above, there are other accessories available, such as lint-free wipe, optical grade dust remove, lint-free swab, etc. More details can get from the following picture.

Conclusion

Fiber optic connector cleaning is a necessary step to keep the cabling connection working smoothly. Due to more complicated structure and design, we should pay more attention on the MPO/MTP connector cleaning. This post have introduced two methods and several useful tools during the cleaning process. All the tools can be purchased in FS.COM.

Why Should You Use MTP Cassette in Your Network?

The increasing demand for bandwidth and fast speed have driven the advent of 40G and 100G application on the market. As the increasing created data needs amount of cables and devices to achieve the transmission, which could be a headache for IT manager to create a high-density data center. To handle these requirements, MTP technology offers an ideal condition for setting up high-performance data networks in data centers. This post tends to introduce an indispensable device used in MTP system—MTP cassette and to indicate why should you use it in your network.

What Is MTP Cassette?

MTP cassette is a modular module which is used to break out the 12-fiber MTP connectors terminated on trunk cables into simplex- or duplex-style connectors, then the simplex- and duplex-style jumpers can be used to patch into transceiver terminal equipment ports, patch panels or client ports. The MTP cassette is made of simplex or duplex port adapters across the front and one or two 12-fiber MTP connector adapters across the back. A factory-installed and tested optical fiber assembly inside the module connects the front adapters to the back MTP connector adapter. (Note: alignment pins are pre-installed in the MTP connector located inside the cassette.) Generally, according to the amount of 12-fiber MTP connector adapter used on the back of cassette, there is 12-fiber MTP cassette and 24-fiber cassette as shown below. (Note: a special type of 24-fiber MTP cassette only uses one 24-fiber connector adapter on the cassette back.)

What Can MTP Cassette Bring for Us?

Simplify the Installation: In order to satisfy the ever-increasing need for human beings, the technology will face refresh every 12 to 18 months. Plug-n-Play MTP cassette provides great adaptability for the changing data center environment. If the connector requirements change in the future, we just need to swap the cassette and leave the existing backbone infrastructure intact. Besides, 12-fiber MTP to LC and 24-fiber MTP to LC cassettes provide a quick and efficient way to deploy up to 12 LC or 24 LC fiber ports in a single module respectively. Since MTP to LC cassette with MTP or MPO trunk cable offers great flexibility for different applications, it is possible to add the exact fiber requirement with no excess fiber installed. With such quick and easy installation, the additional fiber links can be added at a time that suits the demands of your business. The image below shows equipment inter-connect (LC to LC) with MTP cassette and MTP trunk cable.

Minimize Space-Occupying: As more and more devices are used in data center, IT managers are turning to equipment which can provide high density. That’s why switch equipment manufacturers are focusing on increasing the fiber port density in their switches, which has driven the need to be able to increase the number of fibers per 1U in fiber management products. Normally, 1U MTP patch panel can accommodate up to three MTP cassettes, resulting in a maximum of 72 terminations in it, while 4U MTP patch panel can accommodate up to 12 MTP cassettes, give a high connectivity of 288 fiber termination per panel as shown below. This high-density design not only minimizes the space-occupying to the extreme, but also offers a flexible solution to the end user with the a full array of adapter types, enabling users to incorporate a multi functional panel which allows easy easy access during installation or re-work with no disturbance of the existing cable or fibers.

Easy Cable Management: As networking equipment becomes denser and port counts in the data center increase to hundreds and thousands of ports, managing cables connected to these devices becomes a difficult challenge. Traditionally, connecting cables directly to individual ports on low port-count equipment was considered manageable, but applying the same principles to high port-count equipment will make the task more tedious. With MTP cassette, any port from any device can be connected to any other port, which can make the cable management easier as we can see from the following image.

Conclusion

For high density application, MTP cassette is an dispensable component that you should apply. With the advantages that MTP cassette takes we have talked above, it is time to use MTP cassette in your network. FS.COM provides a series of MTP cassettes and MTP trunk cables for your practical application. If you have any need, just come to FS.COM.

Field Terminated VS. Pre-terminated Fiber Optic Cable

With more and more fibers, connectors and deployment strategies available in data centers, IT managers have become increasingly concerned with choosing the best termination method for their environment to ensure performance, rapid deployment, manageability, and reduced total cost of ownership, as well as scalability for future growth. Although manufacturers have come up with dozens of connector styles and ways to install them, there are really only two major termination solutions: field terminated and pre-terminated. When choosing fiber optic cable, besides considering fiber type, connector type or jacket type, we also have to consider whether the cable needs to be field terminated or pre-terminated. This post will introduce fiber optic cable with these two different termination methods and tell which one is better for your applications.

Field Terminated Fiber Optic Cable

Field terminated fiber optic cable, as its name suggests, is the optical fiber cable applying field termination method or terminated after installation. Field termination method is the original fiber optic connectorization method, which used to be popular on the majority of fiber optic cables years ago. When optical fiber is terminated in the field, the cable must be pulled between points and attached to patch panels at both ends of each run. Before it can be attached to the panel, technicians must attach connectors to each strand. Here shows the tools needed in field termination.

Advantages of Field Terminated Fiber Optic Cable

• Exact Length and Slack Storage Not Required: Because backbone cable is cut to length before adding connectors, it is not necessary to predetermined lengths, which can cut down on lead times. This also eliminates the need to implement slack storage.
• Easy Cable Pulling: When using field terminated fiber optic cable, bulk cable can be easily pulled from either end of the circuit.
• Maximum Flexibility in Meeting System Requirements: This is actually the biggest advantages when using field terminated fiber optic cable. You can just pull the fiber cables and terminate them later, so that you can do on-the-spot repairs wherever there’s a defective fiber link.

Disadvantages of Field Terminated Fiber Optic Cable

• Highest Labor Cost and Slowest Installation: Fiber optic cable with field termination method is high cost. There are many steps and tools needed to properly terminate the fibers. In addition to having the appropriate “bag of goods” to perform this procedure, it is also necessary for the technician to have proper training and skills. Besides, it takes longer to install field connectors, requiring additional time for installation.
• Termination Quality Issues: The yield of acceptable connections is directly related to the skill level and experience of the technician, and reliability is jeopardized as field terminated connectors can fail or perform below acceptable signal loss tolerances. This will result in the cost of redoing work that has failed, as well as the cost of additional connectors. Field terminated fiber optic cable may be inexpensive at time of purchase, but extraneous expenses encountered in the field can rapidly increase.

Pre-terminated Fiber Optic Cable

Fiber optic cable with pre-terminated method goes through the same procedure as field terminated fiber optic cable, but these steps are taken at the manufacturer’s facility or cable assembly house as shown below and delivered to the job site with the connectors already terminated, properly polished, and the entire cable assembly tested on either both or one end. Pre-terminated fiber optic cable has been a norm in telecommunication networks, since it provide more convenience, easier installation and higher performance than field terminated fiber optic cable. Fiber optic patch cable is the most commonly used pre-terminated fiber optic cabling in data center and for high-performance and high-density application, we turn to MPO or MTP cable assemblies.

Advantages of Pre-terminated Fiber Optic Cable

• Superior Performance: One of the main advantages for specifying pre-terminated fiber optic cable is that the controlled factory processes with pre-terminated results in superior performance. Consistent, high quality connector end face geometry results in lower insertion loss and better end-to-end attenuation in the system.
• Time & Cost Saving: Because cables arrive ready for immediate installation, there is no cable termination preparation, no connector scrap, no cumbersome tool kits or testers needed and no specialized testers. Customers have reported that pre-terminated fiber optic cables cut the costs at an average of 20% to 30%, mainly due to time and labor saving over field terminated practices.

Disadvantages of Pre-terminated Fiber Optic Cable

The biggest disadvantage of pre-terminated fiber optic cable is that the prepolished connectorized fibers can cost much more than epoxy-style field-polish connectors. And the cable length needs to be precisely measured. If pre-terminated cable is too short, you need to install a replacement; if it is too long, you have to deal with the installation issues associated with managing the extra cable length, which will also case additional expense.

Which One Should We Choose?

Actually, most people would like to choose pre-terminated fiber optic cable, since it can provide a easier way to install, but there still exist some people prefer to using field terminated cable. When trying to figure out which type of fiber optic termination solution is best suitable for your installation, factor in all costs including consumables, tools, labor, proper training should be considered, and if needed, re-work. Also keep in mind the time that you are allowed to terminate and install the fiber at the job-site.