Open networking possesses distinct interpretations in different fields. It gradually picked up steam when adopted in open network switching, attracting flocks of vendors to take a share from the giant and burgeoning market. What is open networking? This article facilitates us to have a close look at it.
What Is Open Networking?
Open networking appeals to breaking the tight linkage between the hardware and software. Previously, network switches are sold with hardware and software together. That is to say, if users buy a Juniper EX or MX series network switches, they also buy JUNOS; if customers buy a Cisco Catalyst network switch, they have to buy Cisco IOS. With the advent of open networking, things vary greatly alongside the separation of proprietary hardware from its software. Ethernet switch now lives in a disaggregated world where these elements can be chosen from the most appropriate supplier. Not only hardware and software, but also technical support and accessories are traded respectively.
How Does Open Networking Impact on Network Switch?
Open network switching hardware was first adopted by tech giants such as Google and Facebook, followed by a slew of enterprises. Besides, Cisco is jumping on the bandwagon of disaggregation in data center networks. It will allow data center customers to run its Nexus operating system (NX-OS) on third-party switches and to use other network operating system on its Nexus switches. Having been backed by several hyperscale companies, open networking drives the network switch to develop in a decentralized way.
How Can Network Users Benefit From Open Networking?
Flexibility
Open network vs. closed network, flexibility wins. As it is stated elsewhere, open means choices and options. You can configure the devices with equipment, software and architecture designs from different vendors. And you can turn down the affiliated OSes that may be feature-rich for you, and refer to those satisfying your rigid demand. Open networking entitles you to the architectural freedom to deploy the best topology and protocols for your environment. This has also fostered innovation dramatically with technologies and practices, allows enterprises to move faster to capture opportunity in the market.
Cost-saving
With open networking, you can save budget on dealing with what breaks down rather than throwing away the malfunctioned network switch. That is to say, if open source hardware fails, then you can change it; if software can no longer satisfy your needs, then replace it with other open source software. For example, some people have encountered the issue that the switch whines loudly. In this case, you can decide to make changes only on the hardware. Targeted troubleshooting also saves time and energy.
Unified Development
From the perspective of the vendor, they can jump out of the scenario where they work behind closed doors, and turn to seek common points while reserving difference from others. You want to survive in the market, you need to be open, inclusive and be compatible to the third parties gadgets. A closed system by definition prevents others from openly interfacing with your offer, thus stifling collaboration and increasing the time to market. FS.COM not only released the open networking switch, but also recently sought cooperation with Cumulus Networks to add the leading open source operating system—Cumulus Linux to the FS N-series 40G and 100Gbe switches. This progress brings high-end features like automation to customers.
Conclusion
Open networking represents the general trend. As vendors rush in swarms, customers can stay and wait to reap the benefits. Choose what suits your hardware needs from household names such as FS.COM. This freedom extends to every aspect of your purchase including cables and optics.
The network switch has now grown in the same way that the server was developed in the market. Proprietary switches are now challenged by the white box switches that bring open source software. There are many network operation systems that can be accessed through ONIE for bare metal switches. Among them, Cumulus Linux is the most popular one. How does it develop and why does it stand out from the rest?
Cumulus Linux Overview
Cumulus linux is a version of the open source operating system built to run on bare-metal switch hardware. Cumulus Linux is a software distribution that runs on top of industry standard networking hardware. Linux has a very full-featured networking stack and the mature linux operating system has already been in use for implementation of technologies from most networking vendors prior to incorporating it into their proprietary platforms. Sysadmins have access to and get familiar with a huge variety of tools for managing and operating linux platforms. It is said that 34% of the Fortune 50 have already adopted Cumulus linux. Then why Cumulus linux is popular among white box switches?
Analysis on White Box Switch Market
Over the years, consumers have bought proprietary network switches from well-known vendors who installed their operating system on the original hardware. Now with the advent of white box switches, customers have found a more flexible approach to create their own switches. They can get hardware directly from the ODM at a discounted rate compared to similar switches from traditional networking vendors, because there are no network operating system installed in it. Vendors like Cumulus Networks and Big Switch Networks offer operating systems that can run on a variety of hardware switching platforms. These platforms can be installed into multiple bare metal hardware that come from different suppliers.
The white box switch which enables people to purchase hardware and software independently is gaining popularity. It excels traditional switches in cost and the flexibility. Cumulus linux gives programmers and developers the ability to customize the platform to their needs.
Why Cumulus Linux Is Popular Among White Box Switches?
Built for automation, scalability and flexibility, Cumulus Linux is the world’s most flexible open network operating system for bare metal switches which allow you to build a data center network that ideally suits your business needs.
Cumulus Linux Provides Economical Scalability.
Since Cumulus Linux is Linux, all applications available with a Linux operating system are also available with Cumulus Linux. With off the rack hardware and a standardized linux stack, people can increase efficiency in operation by reducing production time. Both CapEx and OpEx can be lowered.
Cumulus Linux Is Built for the Automation Age.
Cumulus linux is a powerful, networking-focused linux based free operating system that offers a complete open architecture and is designed for easy automation. With automation, all of your configurations are stored in one place. No longer need to log into a dozen switches and start typing to make changes on multiple switches. Using automation, you can accomplish the change in one centralized repository and push them out to your switches with the flip of a switch.
Cumulus Linux Provides Choice and Flexibility.
Cumulus Linux currently runs on 50+ hardware platforms from 9 different vendors, and boasts two different types of silicon. It greatly increases the choices of hardware and avoids any potential hardware lock in or supply chain issues. Build your network based on your needs and you budget, and pivot easily as the industry changes.
Conclusion
Providing economical scalability and choice flexibility, Cumulus Linux, the leading network operating system, greatly boosts the adoption of white box switch. Unless you try Cumulus Linux, you can never taste its charming.
Lots of customers have found the letters “CM”, “CMR” and CMP” in the product description when purchasing copper cables like Cat5e cable and Cat6 cable. These terms are the most common cable jacket ratings specified by the National Electric Code (NEC). CM rated cables that are designed for general use won’t be covered in this article. Let’s see the difference between CMR vs. CMP in their applications.
Introduction of CMR vs. CMP
CMR cable stands for “Communications Multipurpose Cable, Riser”. It is also referred to as “riser-rated cable” and designed to prevent fires from spreading between floors through risers or vertical shafts, that is to say, it can self-extinguish when ignited. As for flame-resistance, it does better than the CM cable, so CMR cable can be used where CM cable would be required. Consequently, CMR cable is more expensive than CM cable.
CMP cable stands for “Communications Multipurpose Cable, Plenum”, which is the so-called plenum cable. It is constructed to limit the amount of smoke emitted in case of a fire and prevent flame from spreading to more than five feet. In some places where air travels throughout a building via plenum spaces, it is critical that Ethernet cable is made of the material that doesn’t give off toxic fumes if burned. CMP cable is the one suitable for installation into air plenum spaces.
When it comes to the difference between CMR vs. CMP, as the flammability requirements for CMP cables are stricter than CMR cables, plenum cables can always replace riser cables, but not the reverse. Plenum rated cable is always twice as expensive as riser cable.
CMR vs. CMP: When to Use Them in Your House?
Even though we have read lots of materials telling what is CMR vs. CMP, the knowledge about when to use these cables truly matters for the mass people. Only being applied to the practice, can the theory be tasted. Let’s see the following illustration. In the picture, the CMP plenum cables run horizontally in the structured ceiling and the dropped ceiling or under a raised floor where is typically considered plenum. This is largely due to the fact that this place is full of fast-moving air as it facilitates air circulation for heating and conditioning systems. The presence of fresh air can bring dander of rapid flame spreading or dangerous gases distribution, thus causing damage to the furniture and threatening people’s lives. Therefore, CMP must be used in air ducts or vents. Typically, it is the prime choice for cabling construction in train station, airport and other public people-intensive places where we must prevent hazards to human health and safety from wiring.
CMR riser cable runs between floors in non-plenum areas as the red line indicates. They are usually run vertically from the basement to the upper floor, so long as the cable does not need to run through an air duct.
CMP, CMR and the like are the NEC’s ratings for the cable jacket. Different types of copper cables like Cat5, Cat5e and Cat6 cables all have CM, CMR, CMP versions. They have the same exact copper inside. The difference is the outer casing or “jacket” that surrounds a cable’s internal wiring and insulation.
Conclusion
This article covers what is riser cable and plenum cable, when to use plenum cable and riser cable. Choosing the right CMR vs. CMP cable is really important. It not only helps prevent dangers but also avoid unnecessary interference by local authorities if you fail to meet the fire codes. If there are any problem or puzzle during cables selecting or application, FS excellent tech team and sales team would like to offer help.
As switch stacking, the premium feature of few network switches, evolves as a core competence of Ethernet switches in the market, vendors strives to release varies stackable switches and produce switch stacking tutorials for customers. This post will take FS S3900-48T4S 48-port stackable switch as an example to explore how to stack switches together..
Introduction to FS S3900 48T4S 48-port Stackable Switch
Port density and Scalability
S3900 48T4S 48-port gigabit switch comes with 48 downlink RJ45 ports that are triple speed copper ports connecting with end-devices and four 10Gbps SFP+ uplink ports that connect toward the core of the network. With 176Gbps switching capacity. This network switch delivers wire-speed switching performance on all Gigabit ports which support auto-negotiation for port speed and duplex mode. The 4 built-in 10G SFP+ ports provide uplink flexibility, allowing the insertion of fiber or copper, Gigabit or 10G transceivers. These 10Gbps SFP+ port can work as both uplinks and stacking links to servers or service provider, corporate, or campus networks, reducing bottlenecks and increasing the performance of the access network.
Reliability and Energy Efficiency
The dual power supply can ensure the effectiveness of mission-critical network. If one power supply fails for some reason, the other one will take over seamlessly to sustain the normal running of network. Moreover, the design of the S3900 48-port stackable switches incorporates high energy efficiency in order to reduce the impact on the environment. The fan is smart controlled by the traffic. When the switch runs busy, the fan inevitably generates much noise which, however, won’t cause distress. The Green Ethernet power-saving features can be translated into that, on an inactive link, the port moves into inactive mode and saves power while keeping the administrative status of the port up.
How to Stack 48-Port Gigabit Switch?
The S3900 48T4S 48-port network switch can allow up to six switch being stacked together, in which it excels S3800 series switches. Use DAC, AOC or transceiver modules plus fiber optic cable can simply join the switches together. Only the rightmost two SFP+ ports on the switch can be used to stack, and should be cross linked, as shown in the following picture.
How to Manage Switch Stacks Effectively?
Managing switch stacks is also not an easy work because there is a set of network switches in one stack unit. As for the S3900-48T4S stackable switch, an industry-standard command-line interface (CLI), accessed through the console port or Telnet*, provides a familiar web user interface and command set for users to manage the switch. Moreover, just one command and a reboot* can realize switch stacking, more convenient than common switch stacking. An embedded user-friendly web interface helps users to quickly check and manage the 48-port managed switch.
*Note 1: in stacking process, you need to pull and plug the console cable into each 48-port managed stackable switch repeatedly. By contrast, keep telnet cable connected with one switch is enough.
*Note 2: the one being restarted firstly is the stack master.
Conclusion
The S3900 48T4S 48-port stackable switch, born in this era where high speed network is badly needed, is an ideal Gigabit access switch for SMB, enterprise, and campus networks to boost productivity. And it is ideal for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Multiple System Operators (MSOs) to provide home users with triple-play services with up to Gigabit bandwidth.
Recently, many people have jumped on the bandwagon to use the 24-port Gigabit managed switch with advanced administrative controls. In particular, 24-port switch with PoE technology provides people with great convenience. However, the more power it sustains, the noisier it is. Have you been hassled by the endless noise or interrupted in your work? It is time to put an end to work frustration with fanless 24-port Gigabit switch.
What’s the Magic with Fanless 24-Port Gigabit Switch?
A Gigabit Ethernet switch without fan doesn’t mean that it does not have cooling system. Instead, it adopts a passive cooling system which achieves high level of natural convection and heat dissipation by a heat spreader or a heat sink to maximize the radiation and convection heat transfer modes. The passive cooling makes your switch dumb but not numb, as it still works efficiently. In a word, fanless switch is the most suitable in silent and energy-saving environments. Here introduce three distinctive fanless 24-port Gigabit switches.
Fanless 24-Port Gigabit Switch Recommendation
FS 2800-24T4S Fanless 24-Port Gigabit Switch
S2800-24T4F 1000Base-T switch features 24-port 100/1000Base-T ports and 4 combo RJ45 SFP ports that enable user to mix fiber and copper cabling on a single switch. This 24-port Gigabit fanless switch is designed to meet the demand of cost-effective Gigabit access or aggregation for enterprise networks and operators. It adopts high performance processor to provide full speed forwarding and line-dormant capacity to offer customs multitudinous service features. In addition, S2800-24T4F supports multiple configuration modes to make it easy for network management and maintenance. This switch comes with a four-year limited warranty, including any quality problems during the free maintenance.
HP ProCurve 1800-24G Fanless 24-Port Gigabit Switch
The ProCurve Switch 1800-24G is a 22-port 10/100/1000 switch with 2 dual-personality ports for RJ-45 10/100/1000BASE-T or mini-GBIC fiber Gigabit connectivity. This fanless switch is managed via an intuitive Web interface, ideal for deployment in open offices or homes that require silent operation. It can be mounted on a desk, shelf, wall or in a rack cabinet. However, the demerit of this 24-port gigabit switch is that it doesn’t possesses stacking port.
FS 3900-24T4S Fanless 24-Port Gigabit Switch
FS newly-released S3900-24T4S 10/100/1000BASE-T 24 port Gigabit switch comes with 4 10GE SFP+ uplinks ports. Since its debut, it has gained a lot of attention by its multifunction. As an advanced layer 2 Plus (layer 3 Lite) Gigabit managed switch, it supports stacking with 10G uplinks. In addition, the S3900 24-port gigabit stackable switch offered by FS boats an user-friendly web interface which makes it a snap to configure ports. An industry-standard command-line interface (CLI), accessed through the console port or Telnet, helps simplify the setup and operation of the network. The S3900-24T4S 24-port managed switch is almost an omnipotent switch for choice under many circumstances.
Conclusion
Kill the noise, and attend to your work. Fanless 24-port Gigabit switch ensures noiseless operation and increases the reliability and energy efficiency of the system. Listening to the voice of customers to understand customer issues, FS, a network solution provider, strives to provide innovative and professional solutions for you.
The entire network today has expanded and there emerge faster Ethernet switch like gigabit Ethernet switch and even 10gb switch which provide us with higher information switching speed. However fast they can forward the data packets, they still undergo complicated procedures. Now there is a way to simplify the data forwarding while maintaining the high forwarding speed. That is the MPLS network.
What Is MPLS Network?
MPLS stands for Multi-Protocol Label Switching. It is a system for fast packet switching and routing that provides the ability to target, route, forward, and exchange network traffic. In most cases, MPLS is regarded operating at Layer 2.5 as it enables data packets to be forwarded at layer 2 rather than layer 3. MPLS is a packet-labeling technique that can map IP addresses to simple fixed-length labels for different packet forwarding and packet switching techniques. MPLS can provide applications including VPNs (Virtual Private Networks), traffic engineering (TE) and Quality of Service (QoS). So we know that MPLS is a packet-labeling technique that prioritizes data, but how does it actually work?
How Does the MPLS Network Work?
In MPLS network, packets are directed through the network based on an assigned label. People tag some packets with certain markings. We can compare the packet to the shipping crate that ships something between two locations. If at every stop, the shipping company needs to open the box to figure out what it is and where it’s going to, it will cost a lot of time and energy. Now if we put the label outside indicating where the packet goes from and to, then whatever shipping company see it will know how to deal with it without opening it.
The basic component of MPLS network is label switching router (LSR). An ingress router with MPLS will label data packets (mail packages) on entry to the network (post office), so routers (mail workers) know exactly where the data is going to without having to open the package again and again. The transit router in the MPLS domain transmits the packet to the egress LER according to the label along the label switching path (LSP) consisting of a series of LSRs. Finally, the egress router that resides at the exit is responsible for stripping the label from the packet and forward it to the destination. In a word, transit router switch the data packet according to the attached label, while egress and ingress routers work for the transformation between MPLS and IP technology.
Advantages of MPLS Network
Here, some people may say “MPLS is indeed a good thing, but why should I bother to change to it as my current network runs well?”. This part will tell the advantage of using MPLS network.
First, regarding its cost, it is a cost-effective solution. Multiprotocol Layer Switching (MPLS) is an extremely scalable mechanism for high performance telecommunication networks. It allows for inter-connectivity growth of your network with minimal addition of hardware. An MPLS network uses communications via a cloud based network with each node connecting to the network providers MPLS cloud, which allows for adding new remote connections without the requirements of adding hardware at your primary site.
Second, let’s see its performance. It provides alternative network paths to improve up-time and reduce network congestion. It also allows for multiple traffic types to traverse the network, thus improving bandwidth utilization. It can also improve end user experience by allowing multiple classes of services to different types of traffic such as VOIP.
Third, one of the most notable benefits of MPLS is that it is applicable to any network layer protocol. It supports transport over Internet Protocol (IP), Ethernet, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) and frame relay; any of these protocols can be used to create an LSP.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, MPLS was originally put forward to improve forwarding speed. It decreases the forwarding overhead on the core routers. To make full use of it, you can go to the website www.fs.com and consult our experts. FS not only provides top-notch Ethernet switch but also first-class solutions.
The Internet switch, since its birth, has been growing rapidly not only in function but also in performance. Experts have researched and developed generations of Internet switches, while the majority of people may be new to the devices, not taking fully advantage of them. This paper aims to help you get further understanding of Internet switch definition, benefits and working principle.
What Is an Internet Switch？
An Internet switch is another name of network switch. It is a critical component in many business networks, for the fact that they connect various PCs, printers, assess points, phones, lights, servers and other hardware. With an Internet switch, users can send and receive information and approach shared resources in a smooth, highly secure, and transparent manner. It addresses the low speed which was previously the shortcoming of hub, to sustain an efficient and high-speed information exchanging among hosts.
Why Use an Internet Switch?
Add More Ports to Your Router
In household use, many families view router as a must and Internet switch as an alternative. The fact is that the ports left for use is few when the router is connected and working. Given this, some will turn to an entry-level switch to add more Ethernet ports to the network. This kind of switch is usually the unmanaged switch that has no settings or special features itself. Your router continues to handle your Internet connection, letting your devices talk to one another and restricting what certain devices can do through parental controls or other settings—the switch is effectively invisible.
Add Ethernet All over Your House
Though the Wi-Fi is prevalent and convenient, you still need wired Ethernet if you want to play online games, stream 4K video or transfer large files over your network frequently. That can be guaranteed by a gigabit Ethernet switch to give you high speed and smooth network accessing.
Use Wires to Improve Wi-Fi
It is known to all that Wi-Fi can be freely accessed by anyone who has the password. However, as the users increase, the network may lag and be congested. Here you can install an Internet switch to improve your Wi-Fi performance by reducing the number of devices competing for wireless bandwidth. Faster switches like 10gbe switch, 40gbe switch and 100gbe switch will be recommended here.
How Does an Internet Switch Work?
As the name suggests, an Internet switch is a device to switch information in the local area network. But how? It is the intriguing part of the Internet switch. Well, a network switch determines where to send each incoming message by looking at the physical device address (also known as the Media Access Control address or MAC address). Inside the switch there is a table that match each MAC address to the port from which the MAC address has been received. If a frame is to be forwarded to a MAC address that is unknown to the switch infrastructure, it is flooded to all ports in the switching domain. Broadcast and multicast frames are also flooded. Otherwise, it goes to the specific port.
Conclusion
Having read this article, you are expected to have a generally understanding of the Internet switch. Internet switch steps into people’s life, bringing great benefits and convenience. Undoubtedly, it is a breakthrough in network technology. If you determines to get it, give full play to its role to better serve you applications.
With the development of technology, no matter how far you are away from families, you can communicate with them at any time in any places. The same is true to the optic communication, regardless of the physical locations of two hosts or the different VLANs they belong to, they can exchange with each other by inter VLAN routing. Then what is inter VLAN routing and how to configure inter VLAN routing on layer 3 switches?
What Is Inter VLAN Routing?
In figure 1, three computers connected to a gigabit Ethernet switch form a LAN (local area network) within a limited area. However, they cannot communicate with hosts in another LAN, because there is no connection between these Ethernet switches. Then there comes the VLAN which provides us with logical separation or segmentation of our networks to facilitate communication among hosts in different LANs. However, each VLAN is a unique broadcast domain, so computers on separate VLANs are unable to communicate with each other by default. There is a way to solve the problem, and that’s what we are going to shed light on—inter VLAN routing.
Fig. 1 LAN and VLAN in Networking
The process of forwarding network traffic from one VLAN to another VLAN using routing is known as inter-VLAN routing. One of the ways to carry out inter-VLAN routing is by connecting a router to the switch infrastructure. When using a router to facilitate inter-VLAN routing, the router interfaces can be connected to separate VLANs. Devices on those VLANs communicate with each other via the router. Apart from that, a more convenient way is introduced—configure inter VLAN routing on layer 3 switches. Layer 3 switching is more scalable than a router which only provides a limited number of available ports.
How to Configure Inter VLAN Routing on Layer 3 Switches?
To enable a layer 3 switch to perform routing functions, the switch must have IP routing enabled. 10gb Ethernet switch and 40gb Ethernet switch are recommended for working as layer 3 switch.
Fig.2 Inter VLAN Routing on Layer 3 Switches
In figure 2, layer 3 switch is configured with IP address 10.0.0.1. VLAN10 and VLAN20, with IP address 10.10.10.10 and IP address 10.20.20.20 respectively are configured on layer 2 switches. These two IP addresses will be the default gateway addresses for hosts belonging to VLAN10 and VLAN20 on the layer 2 switches respectively. Also, all interfaces connecting the three switches must be configured as trunk ports to allow VLAN10 and VLAN20 tagged frames to pass between switches. Traffic between VLAN10 and VLAN20 will be routed by the layer 3 switch after configuring inter VLAN routing. These steps can be achieved by VLAN configuration command below.
Create VLANs 10 and 20 in the switch database
Assign port Fe0/1 in VLAN 10 and port Fe0/2 in VLAN 20
Create trunk port Fe0/24
Enable layer 3 routing and create VLANs 10 and 20 in the switch database
Create trunk ports Fe0/47 Fe0/46
Configure Switch VLAN Interfaces (SVI) to acts as a virtual layer 3 interface on the layer 3 switch
Conclusion
VLAN is created to enable the communication among hosts in different LANs. Inter VLAN routing is developed to realize the exchange among hosts in different VLANs. Inter VLAN routing on layer 3 switch without a router is also approachable with the development of technology. For more configuration about network switches, please refer to our website www.fs.com.
With the development of technology, no matter how far you are away from families, you can communicate with them at any time in any places. The same is true to the optic communication, regardless of the physical locations of two hosts or the different VLANs they belong to, they can exchange with each other by inter VLAN routing. Then what is inter VLAN routing and how to configure inter VLAN routing on layer 3 switches?
What Is Inter VLAN Routing?
In figure 1, three computers connected to a gigabit Ethernet switch form a LAN (local area network) within a limited area. However, they cannot communicate with hosts in another LAN, because there is no connection between these Ethernet switches. Then there comes the VLAN which provides us with logical separation or segmentation of our networks to facilitate communication among hosts in different LANs. However, each VLAN is a unique broadcast domain, so computers on separate VLANs are unable to communicate with each other by default. There is a way to solve the problem, and that’s what we are going to shed light on—inter VLAN routing.
Fig. 1 LAN and VLAN in Networking
The process of forwarding network traffic from one VLAN to another VLAN using routing is known as inter-VLAN routing. One of the ways to carry out inter-VLAN routing is by connecting a router to the switch infrastructure. When using a router to facilitate inter-VLAN routing, the router interfaces can be connected to separate VLANs. Devices on those VLANs communicate with each other via the router. Apart from that, a more convenient way is introduced—configure inter VLAN routing on layer 3 switches. Layer 3 switching is more scalable than a router which only provides a limited number of available ports.
How to Configure Inter VLAN Routing on Layer 3 Switches?
To enable a layer 3 switch to perform routing functions, the switch must have IP routing enabled. 10gb Ethernet switch and 40gb Ethernet switch are recommended for working as layer 3 switch.
Fig.2 Inter VLAN Routing on Layer 3 Switches
In figure 2, layer 3 switch is configured with IP address 10.0.0.1. VLAN10 and VLAN20, with IP address 10.10.10.10 and IP address 10.20.20.20 respectively are configured on layer 2 switches. These two IP addresses will be the default gateway addresses for hosts belonging to VLAN10 and VLAN20 on the layer 2 switches respectively. Also, all interfaces connecting the three switches must be configured as trunk ports to allow VLAN10 and VLAN20 tagged frames to pass between switches. Traffic between VLAN10 and VLAN20 will be routed by the layer 3 switch after configuring inter VLAN routing. These steps can be achieved by VLAN configuration command below.
Create VLANs 10 and 20 in the switch database
Assign port Fe0/1 in VLAN 10 and port Fe0/2 in VLAN 20
Create trunk port Fe0/24
Enable layer 3 routing and create VLANs 10 and 20 in the switch database
Create trunk ports Fe0/47 Fe0/46
Configure Switch VLAN Interfaces (SVI) to acts as a virtual layer 3 interface on the layer 3 switch
Conclusion
VLAN is created to enable the communication among hosts in different LANs. Inter VLAN routing is developed to realize the exchange among hosts in different VLANs. Inter VLAN routing on layer 3 switch without a router is also approachable with the development of technology. For more configuration about network switches, please refer to our website www.fs.com.
With the development of technology, no matter how far you are away from families, you can communicate with them at any time in any places. The same is true to the optic communication, regardless of the physical locations of two hosts or the different VLANs they belong to, they can exchange with each other by inter VLAN routing. Then what is inter VLAN routing and how to configure inter VLAN routing on layer 3 switches?
What Is Inter VLAN Routing?
In figure 1, three computers connected to a gigabit Ethernet switch form a LAN (local area network) within a limited area. However, they cannot communicate with hosts in another LAN, because there is no connection between these Ethernet switches. Then there comes the VLAN which provides us with logical separation or segmentation of our networks to facilitate communication among hosts in different LANs. However, each VLAN is a unique broadcast domain, so computers on separate VLANs are unable to communicate with each other by default. There is a way to solve the problem, and that’s what we are going to shed light on—inter VLAN routing.
Fig. 1 LAN and VLAN in Networking
The process of forwarding network traffic from one VLAN to another VLAN using routing is known as inter-VLAN routing. One of the ways to carry out inter-VLAN routing is by connecting a router to the switch infrastructure. When using a router to facilitate inter-VLAN routing, the router interfaces can be connected to separate VLANs. Devices on those VLANs communicate with each other via the router. Apart from that, a more convenient way is introduced—configure inter VLAN routing on layer 3 switches. Layer 3 switching is more scalable than a router which only provides a limited number of available ports.
How to Configure Inter VLAN Routing on Layer 3 Switches?
To enable a layer 3 switch to perform routing functions, the switch must have IP routing enabled. 10gb Ethernet switch and 40gb Ethernet switch are recommended for working as layer 3 switch.
Fig.2 Inter VLAN Routing on Layer 3 Switches
In figure 2, layer 3 switch is configured with IP address 10.0.0.1. VLAN10 and VLAN20, with IP address 10.10.10.10 and IP address 10.20.20.20 respectively are configured on layer 2 switches. These two IP addresses will be the default gateway addresses for hosts belonging to VLAN10 and VLAN20 on the layer 2 switches respectively. Also, all interfaces connecting the three switches must be configured as trunk ports to allow VLAN10 and VLAN20 tagged frames to pass between switches. Traffic between VLAN10 and VLAN20 will be routed by the layer 3 switch after configuring inter VLAN routing. These steps can be achieved by VLAN configuration command below.
Create VLANs 10 and 20 in the switch database
Assign port Fe0/1 in VLAN 10 and port Fe0/2 in VLAN 20
Create trunk port Fe0/24
Enable layer 3 routing and create VLANs 10 and 20 in the switch database
Create trunk ports Fe0/47 Fe0/46
Configure Switch VLAN Interfaces (SVI) to acts as a virtual layer 3 interface on the layer 3 switch
Conclusion
VLAN is created to enable the communication among hosts in different LANs. Inter VLAN routing is developed to realize the exchange among hosts in different VLANs. Inter VLAN routing on layer 3 switch without a router is also approachable with the development of technology. For more configuration about network switches, please refer to our website www.fs.com.
With the development of technology, network switch grows not only in speed like the migration from gigabit Ethernet switch, to 10gb switch, 40gb switch and 100gb switch, but also in complexity to acquire more functions and meet complicated conditions. Layer 3 switch is equipped with advanced functions and is sometimes compared with a router by people. What are layer 3 switch and router? Can a layer 3 switch act as a router? This post will focus on this problem.
What Is Layer 3 Switch and How It Works?
The data switch is a layer 2 switching device that dynamically transmits packets according to the physical addresses (MAC addresses) of connected devices. Layer 3 switch, on the basis of the data switch, boasts additional routing decisions by inspecting the IP addresses. Layer 3 switches are thus able to segregate ports into separate virtual LANs (VLANs) and perform the routing between them. Additionally, this switch helps reduce the amount of broadcast traffic, simplify security management, and improve fault isolation.
What Is Router and How It Works?
A router works at layer 3 of the OSI Model (Network). It is a device usually located at gateways where networks meet, to connect various local networks and wide networks. It decides where to send packets by utilizing an IP Routing table. When an IP packet comes in, the router looks up the destination IP in the IP Routing table. If that destination IP is not found in the table, the router will drop the packet. The router can perform NAT to translate the private IP address to public address, which can get you into the Internet. So it is a common network device in household use.
Can a Layer 3 Switch be Used as a Router?
As a layer 3 switch possesses the routing function of a router, can we replace a router with it? Let’ s have a detailed view of their similarities and disparities.
Layer 3 Switch Vs Router: Similarity
Both layer 3 switch and router work at layer 3 of the network. Layer 3 switches technically have a lot in common with traditional routers. Both of them can support the same routing protocols, inspect incoming packets and make dynamic routing decisions based on the source and destination addresses inside. The switches can also be configured to support routing protocols such as RIP, OSPF, and EIGRP.
Layer 3 Switch Vs Router: Disparity
Internally, the hardware inside a layer 3 switch blends that of traditional switches and routers. As for packet forwarding, router transmits packet by a microprocessor-based software routing engine, while the switch performs switching through hardware. After routing the first data flow, the layer 3 switch will generate a mapping table of MAC addresses and IP addresses, so that the same data flow will directly pass through the layer 2 according to this table, thus eliminating network delay and improving the efficiency of packet forwarding. Externally, layer 3 switches do not offer the WAN-type ports as standard routers do, so they lack WAN functionality.
Router requires configurations before deployment due to the inbuilt operating system. On the contrary, the layer 3 switch is usually ready to go when acquired, and configurations are optional as you like.
From a software perspective, layer 3 switches are not capable of the extra services that routers typically provide, such as NAT and NetFlow.
Conclusion
All in all, it is not recommended to replace a router with layer 3 switch, but you can apply them in the same network at the same time. In addition, whether a layer 3 switch can supplant a router relies upon the switch model and what you expect from it. Some layer 3 switches are almost router substitutions, with a full scope of WAN, firewall, VoIP, and so on. However, those switches are costly, and most layer 3 switches just have Ethernet ports. In this way, a dedicated router is cost-effective than a layer 3 switch.
Why should fiber optic cable not be tightly bent? Are fiber optic cable fragile? These issues are what users care about when deploying fiber patch cables. Usually, fiber optic cable is made from two bend sensitive materials: plastic or glass. It is broken easily when kinked or bent too tightly to exceed the minimum bend radius of cable. Then which factor will influence bend radius? How to choose cables according to it? This blog will provide some hints.
Why Bend Radius Is Important?
When you deploy the fiber optic cable, it is inevitable to flex, pull and bend it due to the practical conditions. However, it is the bend radius that determines how much you can bend a cable. It represents as the safe value that can prevent your cable from damaging or degrading its performance. If a cable is bent beyond its allowed radius, it will generate crosstalk or interference in data transmission, or even shorten its life. That’s why it’s important to know the bend radius of the cables, especially the minimum bend radius,which is the smallest allowed radius the cable can be bent around without signal loss or impairment.
Factors Impact Bend Radius of Cable
The bend radius may differ from cables. The fact is the smaller the minimum bend radius, the more flexible the cable. Here list some factors that may affect this radius of cable.
Outer Jacket Thickness
The thickness of the outer jacket of a fiber patch cable intended for bending will influence the potential minimum curve radius. Generally speaking, if the outer jacket is thick, the fiber patch cable will have a smaller bend radius. This can be translated by the fact that when the cable is bent, the stretching force makes the outer jacket thinner and even broken. Therefore, if the outer jacket is thin itself, the external tension may deform of break the fragile cable.
Material Ductility
Cables are manufactured by different materials, and this will affect the radius of the bend. Ductility refers to the flexibility of material under tensile stress or stretching force. If you would like to obtain small curve radius, you should choose cables made of highly ductile materials like copper. An alternative such as glass is more brittle than flexible.
Core Diameter
The large core diameter determines the small bend radius. Simply put, the single mode fiber has a smaller diameter than multimode fiber, and the single mode fiber cable bears less weight or bending than multimode fiber cable. That’s why the bending radius of single mode fiber optic cable is larger than the multimode fiber optic cable.
How to Choose Fiber Optic Cables based on Bend Radius?
Generally, the multimode fiber optic cable is recommended if the bend radius is the only consideration. And another option is BIF fiber cable. BIF means the bend insensitive fiber which enables tight curve radius when cables are bent or twisted. FS adopts it in producing both multimode and single mode fiber cables to endow them much smaller bend radii than ever before. It realizes more convenience in cable management, as well as less signal loss and less cable damaging. Here is a bend radius chart of BIF fiber optic cable.
Fiber Cable Type
Minimum Bend Radius
OM3/OM4 MTP BIF
7.5mm
Single Mode OS2 MTP BIF
10mm
Uniboot OS2 LC BIF
10mm
Uniboot OM3/OM4 LC BIF
7.5mm
Conclusion
To sum up, the bend radius of cables is paramount for fiber patch cable installations. Factors which influence the minimum radius of fiber optic cable include the outer jacket thickness, material ductility and core diameter. To protect the integrity and performance of cable, we shall not bend the cable beyond its allowed radius.
Optical transceivers usually work coordinately on a pair of network switches. As switch is responsible for directing the flow of data, optical transceiver works for transforming light to data or the opposite. Then how do two transceiver modules work with each other? Can I connect two optical transceivers of different brands, fiber types or wavelengths? You can find answers here.
How Do Two Optical Transceiver Talk to Each Other?
It is known to all that the fiber optic transceiver contains a transmitter and a receiver in the same component. These are arranged in parallel so that they can operate independently from each other. When working on two switches in the same network, the transmitter on one optical transceiver takes an electrical input and converts it to an optical output from a laser diode or LED. The light from the transmitter is coupled into the fiber with a connector and is transmitted through the fiber optic cable plant. The light from the end of the fiber is coupled to a receiver on the other transceiver where a detector converts the light into an electrical signal which is then conditioned properly for use by the receiving equipment.
Fig1. How optical transceiver works
Can I Connect Two Optical Transceivers of Different Brands, Fibers or Wavelengths?
When people are under-budgeted or in urgent need of original optical transceivers that are out of stock, they may turn to other or third-party transceivers. But how to make different transceivers work coordinately without link failure? Is it possible to connect two optical transceivers of different brands, fibers or wavelengths?
Optical Transceiver of Different Brands
As is known to all, fiber optic transceivers are manufactured with a lot of standards and protocols. If the SFP types are of the same protocol at each end, for example: both sides with SX, LX or whatever is currently in use, you can build the link between them. Please note that only the identical protocol is far more enough.
If the network switch comes from different vendors and optical transceivers with different protocols, you will get a dead link between network switch and the transceiver, thus the whole network fails. Make sure the transceiver and the switch at both ends are compatible with each other. However, as the transceiver compatibility is introduced to the optic field, many optical transceivers are now produced to be compatible with other brands. FS almost has no transceiver compatibility issues with other brand switches as all the optical transceivers have been tested to ensure its compatibility before shipping.
Optical Transceiver with Different Fiber Types
Common sense says a multimode sfp cannot work well with a single mode sfp, as the single mode fiber features a narrow core, allowing only a single mode of light to propagate while the multimode fiber has a wider core enabling multiple modes of light to propagate.
Well, as the network evolves, it is unavoidable to use single mode devices on the existing multimode fiber cables, which forces the birth of the mode conditioning cable used for single mode to multimode conversion. It is generally a duplex multimode cable that has a small length of single mode fiber at the start of the transmission length. As for optical transceiver with single mode fiber, connect the single mode connector of the cable into the transmit bore of the transceiver, and multimode connectors of the cable into the receive bore of the transceiver with all other connections going as normal.
Fig.2 Optical transceiver works with mode conditioning cable
Optical Transceiver on Different Wavelengths
A given transceiver generally supports a specific wavelength for both transmitting and receiving. It is vital the wavelength of the fiber optic transceivers (850nm, 1310nm, 1550nm) matches on each end, as a 1310nm sfp transceiver will not talk to a 850nm sfp transceiver. Data transmission implies that data is sent from one end to the other. The SFP transceiver on one end converts electrical signals into optical signals. A built-in laser transmits light through the fiber to the other side. Here, an optical diode converts the lightback into an electrical signal. To guarantee that the SFP at the other end is capable of doing this, the SFPs at both ends should support the same wavelength.
Conclusion
To make sure your optical transceivers work smoothly with each other, be careful about their protocols, wavelengths and fiber types in case of link failure. FS provides a great range of fiber optic transceivers with no transceiver compatibility problem and transceiver prices are very competitive.
NAT, which is critical to the IPv4 networks we still use today, has been hotly debated as the IPv6 grows with more addresses. However, since the IPv6 is not full-fledged, the existence of NAT still makes sense. Here I will introduce NAT definition and figure how NAT works and why we need it.
What Is NAT?
NAT, known as network address translation, is the method adopted by a firewall or router to assign the public addresses to the devices work in the a private network.
It translates the private IPv4 addresses we use in our internal networks into public IPv4 addresses that can be routed over the internet. As we all know, the private addresses may be occupied by connected local service—computers, game consoles, phones, fiber switches etc. to communicate with the modem/router and other devices on the same network. However, the home network connection uses a single public IP address to access the internet. Given this, NAT is responsible for translating the IP address of every device connected to a router into a public IP address at the gateway. Then those devices can connect to the internet.
NAT: Why We Need?
Assume that you have 3 PCs, a gigabit Ethernet switch which connects 6 PCs, a 10 gigabit switch connecting 6PCs and one smart phone, two ipads and all of them need to work at the same time, then you need to get each of them an IP address accessible to the Internet. But due to a lack of IPv4 IP address space, it is hard to handle the massive number of devices we use every day. Well, the network address translation, proposed in 1994, has become a popular and necessary tool in the face of IPv4 address exhaustion by representing all internal devices as a whole with a same public address available. Together with its extension named port address translation, the network address translation can conserve IP addresses.
Safety, another issue we may concern when accessing the external internet, can partly be addressed by network address translation which servers as a strict controller of accessing to resources on both sides on the firewall. The hackers from outside cannot directly attack the internal network while the internal information cannot access the outside world casually.
How Does NAT Work
A router carrying NAT consists of pairs of local IP addresses and globally unique addresses, by translating the local IP addresses to global address for outgoing traffic and vice versa for incoming traffic. All these are done by rewriting the headers of data packets so that they have the correct IP address to reach the proper destination.
There are generally two types of NAT: dynamic and static.
In dynamic NAT, we map inside local addresses in internal network to global addresses so that they can access resources on the internet. The router responds to the hosts who want to access the internet with an available public IPv4 address so that they can access the internet.
In static NAT, we usually map an internal local address to a global address so that hosts on public networks can access a device in the internal network.
Conclusion
In a word, before the full transition of IPv6, NAT can guarantee the smooth internet surfing no matter how many devices you’ve got. Knowing what it is and how it works with network address will help you establish a clear understanding of it so that you can make good use if it.
As the network grows, the network equipment producers flourish, bringing many different exclusive products into the market. How to manage or operate so many equipment as the different vendors own diversified CLI and web interface to debug and configure. It’s time to put forward some new technologies, SDN vs. OpenFlow vs. OpenStack to tackle this problem.
SDN VS OpenFlow vs. OpenStack: What Are They?
SDN-Software Defined Network
Software-defined networking (SDN) technology is a new way to cloud computing.To improve network monitoring and performance, SDN is designed to enhance network management and promote programmatically network configuration efficiently. It centralizes network intelligence in one network component by decoupling the forwarding process of network packets (data plane) and the routing process (control plane). SDN is mainly composed by application layer which provides application and service, control layer responsible for unified management and control, and forwarding layer that offers hardware equipment like fiber switches, Gigabit Ethernet switches and routers to forward data. The following table illustrates the advantage of SDN against traditional network.
Software-defined Network vs. Traditional Network
Software-defined Network
Traditional Network
Forwarding and control separation
Forwarding and control coupling
Centralized control
Decentralized control
Programmable
Non-programmable
Open interface
Closed interface
OpenFlow: the Enabler of SDN
To turn the concept of SND into practical implementation, we need to put into place some protocols, among which OpenFlow is the most desirable one. So what is OpenFlow?
OpenFlow is a communications protocol that empowers a network switch or router to access the forwarding plane over the network. Also it can serve as a specification of the logical structure of the network switch functions. We know that each switch vendors may have their own proprietary interfaces and scripting languages, and this protocol enables them to work coordinately while avoid exposing their technology secret inside switches to the public.
OpenStack
OpenStack is an open source cloud computing management platform project that combines several major components to accomplish specific tasks. Its existence confronts the AWS of Amazon, as it allows all participators to access the source code and share some ideas, if they want to. It is convenient and reliable with strong compatibility and adaptability, gaining support from many vendors.
SDN vs. OpenFlow vs. OpenStack: What’s the Difference?
SDN vs. OpenFlow
SDN and OpenFlow are prone to be confused and misunderstood. Take a look at SDN vs. OpenFlow, the two are indeed interconnected. First of all, as an open protocol, OpenFlow underpins the various SDN controller solutions. The complete SDN solution is taking SDN controller as the core, backed by OpenFlow switches and NFV to offer bountiful SDN app for a new smart, dynamic, open, custom network.
OpenFlow vs. OpenStack
OpenFlow, since its release, has gained achievements in hardware and software support. CISCO, Juniper, Toroki and pronto have all launched network equipment like 10gbe switch, router, and wireless access point which support OpenFlow. In contrast, OpenStack covers many aspects like network, virtualization, operation system, and server. It is an ongoing cloud computing platform.
SDN vs. OpenStack
Network orchestration OpenStack copes with the component organization of a particular group of assets, from open source or closed implementations, thus we can say that it can be considered how a software-defined network is deployed. While SDN control serves like the commander of organizers and deals with maintaining consistent (as far as is feasible) policy across multiple groups of assets, so we deem it much like the "why."
Conclusion
SDN vs. OpenFlow vs. OpenStack, the three terms that are of far-reaching significance, attract more attention from the public. This article may provide you with some help to know them at the very first step. Till now, the networking technologies are still advancing, knowing what they are at present doesn’t mean the truly master of it. There is still plenty of room left to be explored.
We know that if any chain in the network fails, the operation may break down. Facing this problem, we’ve introduced the stackable switches and together with it is the concept of redundant links. When stacking switches, except the shortest link between switch and the main frame computer, we also prepare other links in case of the break down of the major link. The other links are redundant links between switches.
Introduction of Redundant Link
In order to maintain the stability of the network, composed of multiple switches, some backup connections are usually used to improve the robustness and stability of the network. The backup connection here is also called a backup link or a redundant link. Redundant links in a switches are accomplished through the use of multiple switches or multiple links between switches.
In an enterprise network, a link is redundant if its presence or absence does not affect the nature of the mechanism. That is, even if we remove that link, the mechanism will behave in the same manner.
Pros and Cons of Redundant Link
Pros
The redundancy in networks can improve its reliability. Our intention is that if one device fails, another can automatically take over. By adding a little bit of complexity, we try to reduce the probability that a failure in switch will take the whole network down. Spanning Tree Protocol,the redundancy protocols, can be implemented on any topology or mesh. The Cellular Redundancy provides alternative to running a physical line for redundancy. In addition, with Parallel Redundancy Protocol, we can achieve zero packet loss, “0ms” recovery. And it can be added to any existing network.
Cons
But you cannot have both complexity and reliability at the same time. The more complex something is, the harder it is to maintain, the greater the chance of human error, and the greater the chance of a software bug causing a new failure mode.
The switches between the backup links are often connected to each other to form a loop. The loops can be redundant to a certain extent. The redundant backup of the links can bring robustness, stability and reliability to the network. However, the backup link also causes loops in the network. The loop problem is the most serious problem faced by the backup link. The loop between the switches will cause new network problems: broadcast storm, loops and duplicate frames.
Tips
To make fully use of redundant links, we can minimize the complexity. Select two identical switches as the core switches. If you need gigabit Ethernet switch, for example, you can select two 10 gbe switches that run the same software and have the same connections. We can also introduce the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) which was developed as a Layer 2 loop-avoidance mechanism for redundant links in a switched network. With STP, there will be only one logical path between all destinations on the network and redundant links that could cause a loop are intentionally blocked.
Conclusion
Redundant links are useful to a great extent. That’s why so many people now choose stackable switches rather than standalone ones to maintain the efficient network operation. Stackable switches are now our star products and focal point. We would like to introduce our high quality fiber switch to every people in need of reliable network performance.
There are many different types of server racks on the market, like open frame rack, server cabinet, and rack mount and wall mount enclosures. Open frame rack, thanks to its reasonable price, and material saving, has attracted more and more customers. It is more convenient to ship and be packed. To help you better understand the open frame rack, this article will introduce it in three aspects.
Brief Introduction of Open Frame Rack
The open frame rack is an equipment to mount your servers and other network equipment. When you deploy equipment and organize cables in a computer room or data center,it is important to make proper and reasonable space utilization. Therefore, open frame server racks come at a right time to help stay organized in a cost-effective manner. Here I list four benefits of open frame server racks and why you should consider them for you equipment storage needs.
Benefits of Open Frame Rack
Better Cable Management
The fact that you may run the cables with obstacles from doors and panels won’t frustrate you when using an open frame rack. It is just formed by 2-post racks or 4-post racks with no limitations to each orientation. With this rack, you will not consider whether it can contain all your applications within the space any more.
Airflow
The enclosed racks are not easy for ventilation. Open frame server racks, on the other hand, allow for unrestricted airflow, preventing heat build-up. The proper cooling is conducive to the running of the whole system.
Easy Access
Without barriers, you can access to every equipment and route cables freely in every direction you want. And all the organs and working status are visible to you for real-time monitoring.
Cost
Open frame server racks are a cost-effective way to manage equipment, compared to enclosed racks. For example, the 45U 4 post open frame server rack sells at $300 and 2 post one $210, much cheaper than the 45U server cabinet selling at $650. The cost of producing and shipping is less than those of closed cabinet or server racks.
How to Use Open Frame Rack?
Take the FS.COM 45U 2 post open frame rack as an example, there are many mounting holes on the two posts on which you can attach different devices like cable organizer and patch panel rack in 19’’ standard. You’d better put it on the flat ground lest it fall down.
The bold innovation, server rack without doors and panels, has been warmly welcomed by customers. Apart from the open frame rack, FS.COM offers a variety of racks and enclosures to meet your different applications and conditions. We aim to provide you with high quality products with reasonable price and best service. And we will forge ahead to deliver more versatile products to optimize your experience. If you are interested, follow us. We will release latest news of our achievements on products.
Fibre Channel (FC) is a serial I/O interconnect network technology capable of supporting multiple protocols. It is used primarily for storage area networks (SANs). Ethernet (and TCP/IP) is the most frequently used technology these days for communication between devices. But for storage, the dominant technology in a data center often is Fibre Channel. Fibre channel vs Ethernet switch: what’s the difference? This article makes an analysis from the following aspects: reliability, transmission speed, flexibility and cost.
Fibre Channel VS Ethernet Switch: Reliability
If you are actively engaged in optic communication, you may have noticed that the fibre channel switch is lossless while Ethernet switch is risk of dropping frame. Fibre Channel is often compared to Ethernet in terms of being a lossless protocol. As for fibre channel switch, it works smoothly without dropping a single frame, and frames must be delivered in order. FC switches will send signal when they’re congesting to other devices, so these devices stop sending frames, lest the frames are dropped. This in contrast to Ethernet which will just start dropping frames when congested, relying on upper layers (like TCP) to make sure everything keeps working.
Fibre Channel VS Ethernet Switch: Transmission Speed
The maximum data rate of the fibre channel switch in the very beginning is 1 Gbps. Now it has evolved up to 128 Gbps, with 8, 16, and 32 Gbps versions still available.
The Ethernet switch transmission speed ranges from Fast Ethernet (10/100 Mbps), Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000Mbps), 10 Gigabit (10/100/1000/10000 Mbps) to even some 40/100 Gbps speeds. In terms of transmission speed, the Ethernet switch seems to outweigh fibre channel switch. Whereas both are in a high speed evolution.
Fibre Channel VS Ethernet Switch: Cost
Cost is also an element to be considered. In most cases, Ethernet switches are much cheaper than Fibre Channel switches. What’s more, the maintenance is also a factor that should be considered. In large IT systems, if an Ethernet switch breaks down, most admins can deal with it. However, when there is something wrong with the fibre channel switch, you need to turn to manufacturers, instead. Comparing to Ethernet switch, fibre channel switch adopts more complicated design in that it should guarantee the extremely availability of data storage, and is equipped with management function.
Conclusion
Seen from above, there are significant differences between fibre channel switch and Ethernet switch. FC is a network standard to enable hosts (servers) to interconnect with storage devices. It’s completely different from Ethernet. A storage network switch is not the same as an Ethernet network switch. Initially, the only transmission medium of FC was fiber, but these days twisted pair copper wire is also available. That’s the opposite of Ethernet, which originally ran only on copper wires and then on fiber. FS.COM provides a variety of Ethernet switches and fiber switches which are mostly upgraded and optimized by our research and development staff, ranging from 10gbe switch to gigabit ethernet switch. For more information, you can search “Fiberstore” on website or YouTube.
The patch panel is a device that integrates both cable management and termination functions. The patch panel cabling is conducive to the structured cabling as the cables are put orderly on the patch panel. As the interface between multiple optical fibers and optical equipment, it serves as a termination unit that helps networking and fiber distribution from wiring closet to various terminal applications.
Lying on the front of it are an array of ports where we insert the cables. The ports in the back will lead to a server, switch, or another type of device. Each port in the front will have a cable coming from a PC, phone, fax, or any other device that needs to be networked together. Each port on the patch panel labeled with a number will connect via an Ethernet cable punch down on the back, through the wall, cross space or added to another location in the house.
Benefits of Patch Panel Cabling
It lets you use the proper type of cable in the proper place. Other than the point-to-point cabling, the patch panel contributes to a structured cabling, representing you a professional and neat look. In a large home or office with lots of connections, patch panels make quick work of re-configuring networks by enabling operators to identify where the cable is coming from and going to. By managing varying port densities and speeds in a single high-density patch panel, you save valuable rack space, helping to lower data center costs. A single patch panel can manage as many as (168) 10Gb ports.
Patch Panel Recommendations
We all know that the fiber transmits data faster than copper does. But the role of patch panels is to direct signal traffic rather than send the signal at a certain speed. Both copper and fiber panels are governed by the same TIA/EIA standards(the highest level of criteria that products must perform to) required to produce speed and signal performance for the rest of the cabling network. Patch panels must coerce data into performing up to the standards.
The 24 ports Cat5e shielded feed-through patch panel, a star product in FS.COM, can be mounted in to 1U racks. The shielded patch panel can minimize the crosstalk between cables, ensuring the smooth transferring of signals. It features with number coding, removable rear cable manager and rear cable management bar.
1U 19" high-density fiber patch panel offered by FS.COM can hold up to 48 fibers with 24 ports. High quality steel adapter panel is suitable for 1U 19" frame rack mount or cabinet, designed for backbone-to-backbone and backbone-to-horizontal fiber cabling. It is fully loaded with fiber couplers to save much cost.
Conclusion
A patch panel allows you great flexibility to move, add and change cables. It gives you the neat look and a simple way to manage and configure and reconfigure your network. If coordinated with a cable manager, the patch panels will do better in cable management since the cable manager has both horizontal and vertical options while the patch panel is only designed in horizontal type at present. It can be easily installed into the wall mount enclosure and rack mount enclosure. What’s more, the whole rack will be much nicer and the networks will work orderly. Remember that 30% space in the cable managers should be left for future growth.
What’s the difference between 1U and 2U cable managers? The most distinguishable one in my mind, is the number lying in their name. The “U”, also known as “RU”, stands for rack unit that is a unit of measure defined as 44.50 millimeters (1.75 in) by EIA. It is most frequently used as a measurement of the overall height of 19-inch and 23-inch rack frames, as well as the height of equipment that mounts in these frames. With this standard, we don’t need to play with complicated numbers, instead, a simple addition can work. For example, a 12U cabinet can accommodate twelve 1U devices or six 2U devices or four 3U devices. And so on.
Where and When to Use 2U Cable Manager
As the data center grows, you may have many cables to handle, thus the point-to-point cabling is not workable any longer. To realize and maintain a neat and clean cabling, you may need such tools as patch panels, enclosures, and cable managers, among which the cable managers are the primary consideration when you want a good cabling. 1U and 2U cable managers are the most common products for horizontal cable management at present. As people’s demands vary, 2U cable managers come in to being. The 2U cable manager allows for front-to-back and back-to-front cable runs. The finger ducts can be used for both upside and downside cable management. These products can be used above and below patch panel and network switch to organize and store cables.
2U Cable Manager Options
FS.COM offers a wide variety of 2U horizontal cable managers that range from cable manager with finger duct to cable manager with D-rings and cable manager with end rings manager.
2U Cable Manager with Finger Duct
This 2U cable manager is made of plastic in black coat. It is designed with flexible fingers, rear pass-through holes and a removable cover. The cover will enclose the cables within the fixed space, leaving the clean and neat appearance. In this way, people won’t see the tangled or crossed cables in it. The finger ducts are soft and durable, which offer proper bend radius and flexible operation of cable management, keeping the structured cabling system unhurt and totally functional.
2U Cable Manager with 5 D-rings
As an open-frame cable manager, it is made of metal with five D-rings standing on the panel in a good order. Horizontal cable management panels with D Rings are built with steel for strength and durability. Easily route large amounts of cable through robust rings. The D-Rings organize patch cords and maintain a required bend radius. They are available in sizes of 1U and 2U.
2U Cable Manager with End Rings Manager
It is a metal open-frame cable manager with vertical four rings and two horizontal rings, providing better cord management. It is also compatible with most standard 19” enclosures and open frame server racks, mounting hardware included. The end-rings will somehow protect the cables in case of unnecessary bending.
All these 2U cable managers have 1U versions. To meet your various requirements, we strive to keep improving, innovates unceasingly, making the FS.COM attentively the first-class enterprise.
Cables are in the right position. Patch panels are terminated. All slack cables are put orderly in the cable manager. Let’s see what is missing? Well, where should the patch panels and cable managers be? Just lying on the ground? If indeed, the previous efforts for cable management is wasted. Just with a cabinet or a server rack, you can solve the problem. There are thousands of cabinet for different use, but here we refer to the network patch panel cabinet.
Network Patch Panel Cabinets Introduction
We have wall mount cabinets that has the maximum height of 12U and the normal cabinets standing on the ground that can reach to 45U. Unlike the open frame rack which consists of two or four mounting rails (called posts) without sides or doors, the wall mount cabinet is enclosed by SPCC cold roll steel panels and a glass front door to make its inside visible. The side panels can be removed easily for quick access to equipment and cabling. On the top of the patch panel cabinet, there is a cooling vent to ensure smooth airflow, preventing over-heat in it to further protect equipment. It is designed to house the 19-inch standard that is consistent with most patch panels in FS.COM or non-standard network equipment as well as network accessories. The wall mount cabinet is shipped fully assembled and is ready to mount to the wall.
As for the floor-standing network patch panel cabinet, the ventilation can be naturally achieved as the front door is perforated and the top panel is attached with brush guards to prevent over-heating. It has four casters helping with its move. Top, bottom and back cable access openings provide convenient and multiple cable routing choices to and from the patch panel cabinet.
Layout Inside the Patch Panel Cabinet
We all know that all patch panel are put in the cabinet, be it fiber optic patch panel or Ethernet patch panel. However, the question is whether it is on the front side or back and with the jacks facing in or out?
In most cases, we will start with an empty patch panel cabinet, and then install the devices on its front rails from top to the bottle. First comes the cable manager 1, then follows the patch panel 1, cable manager 2, switch 1, cable manager 3 and switch 2, with all the connectors on the back side of the patch panel cabinet. All gadgets ready, we can go on with the cabling. The patch panel here can be fiber or copper patch panel.
The importance of a patch panel cabinet is no less than that of a tiny screw or a nail. And great attention should be focused on it since the patch panel cabinet can support the other device and prevent them from external damages. A solid and durable patch panel cabinet is necessary, which is actually what FS.COM aims at. There are 9U and 12U, two choices for you to meet different application. To ensure the best performance, 1 bag of nuts and bolts, 1 T-Shaped Lever will be offered for free. And there are so many surprises in the patch panel cabinet that I want to leave it for you to find yourselves. You will find them when installing and using the patch panel cabinet from FS.COM.
Have troubles in vertical or horizontal cable management in your data center? Confused at the cables’ destinations and start points? With slack cables hanging here and there in server rack, blocking and pathway? Well, all these issues brought by point-to-point cabling will become the thing of the past as the structured cabling comes into being.
What Is Structured Cabling?
Before the 1990s, data and cabling system were proprietary which means they were vendor specified, each vendor had his own cabling system design and it was hard to have products from different vendors to work together. In the mid 1980s, the EIA was asked to develop a specification that would encourage structured standardized cabling. In 1991 the TIA published the first version of the commercial building telecommunications cabling standard, better known as TIA/EIA-568.
In the United States, we follow TIA/EIA-568-C as the structured cabling standard. It covers subsystems of structured cabling, installation methods and practices, connector and pin assignments, media types and performance specifications for horizontal and backbone cabling, connecting hardware performance specifications, recommended topology and distances, and the definition of cable elements (horizontal cable, cross-connects, telecommunication outlets, etc.)
How to Design Your Own Structured Cabling Solution
Presume that we have an empty building of four storeys, we need to design a structured cabling solution for different uses in it. One solution we must apply, also one of the subsystems of structured cabling, is horizontal cabling which can not be skipped in each floors. Horizontal cabling is the cabling that extends from horizontal cross-connect or main cross-connect to the work area and terminate in telecommunications outlets. Horizontal cabling includes the following: 1.Cable from the patch panel to the work area; 2.Telecommunications outlets; 3.Cable terminations ; 4.Cross-connections(where permitted); 5.A maximum of one transition point; 6.Cross-connects in telecommunications rooms or enclosures.
Furthermore, to achieve the connection between different floors, we need the backbone cabling, also known as vertical cabling. We can adopt it to to connect entrance facilities, equipment rooms, and telecommunications rooms and enclosures. Backbone cabling consists of not only the cables that connect the telecommunications rooms, equipment rooms, and building entrances, but also the cross-connect cables, mechanical terminations, or patch cords used for backbone-to-backbone cross-connection.
The work area is where the horizontal cable terminates and wall outlets also called the telecommunications outlet. In the work area, the users and the telecommunications equipment connect to the structured cabling infrastructure. The work area begins as a telecommunications area and includes components such patch cables, modular cords, fiber jumpers, station equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines and so on.
The telecommunications rooms and telecommunications enclosures are the location within the building where cabling components such as cross-connects and patch panels are located. These rooms are where the horizontal structured cabling starts from. The telecommunications room and enclosure may also contain networking equipment such as hubs, switches, routers, etc.
The equipment rooms is a centralized space specified to house more sophisticated equipment than the entrance facility or the telecommunications rooms. Most often, telephone equipment or data networking such as routers, switches, and hubs are located there. Backbone cabling is specified to terminate in the equipment room.
The entrance facility specifies the point in the building where cabling connects with outside world. All external cabling such as campus backbone, inter-building, and telecommunications provider should enter the building and terminate in a single point.
Digital data is growing faster than any other commodity and its importance to businesses of all types cannot be underestimated. To learn how you can use structured cabling to better manage your data center, contact the experts at FS.COM.
Long before the born of cable manager, the mess cable management with cables hanging here and there has been a cloud over the data center and server room. How can you realize each smooth and convenient operation on your network application with network cables looking like messy spaghetti? Here we list four common cable managers to simplify your cabling and minimize the trouble during operation.
Different Types of Cable Manager
The following cable managers which you may have heard of or seen before are the most popular types in the market. Each has its unique design and characteristics.
Cable Manager with Brush Strip
The panel is designed to be mounted on any 19in EIA style rack or cabinet and features built-in brush that allows passage of up to 25 cables while blocking airflow, ensuring optimal thermal performance. The steel construction provides durability, resists corrosion, and keeps your rack looking smooth and professional.
Cable Manager with Finger Duct
The FS.COM finger duct horizontal cable manager is designed with flexible fingers, rear pass-through holes and a removable cover. The soft and durable finger ducts offer proper bend radius and flexible operation of cable management, keeping the structured cabling system unhurt and totally functional.
Cable Manager with D-rings
The name of D-rings cable manager originates from the fact that five metal D-rings stand vertically on the cable management panel in a good order. Horizontal cable management panels with D Rings are built with steel for strength and durability. Easily route large amounts of cable through robust rings. The D-Rings organize patch cords and maintain a required bend radius. They are available in sizes of 1U and 2U.
Cable Manager with Bend Radius Finger
This cable manager is equipped with six or five bend radius control fingers, consuming much fewer material. The total length of it is 222mm. Light in weight, this type of bracket can be installed in specific areas of the rack, rather than along its entire height. Moreover, it can be stacked to reach any height(U), so it can be an alternative of higher vertical cable management.
How to Apply Cable Manager
Cable managers often come together with patch panel to make the patch cables in the front side of patch panel more orderly. Generally, in a server rack, the cable can’t either be put solely on cable manager since it is incompetent for termination, or be applied to just a patch panel due to its imperfect cable management. Therefore, to realize the perfect cable management, we need to deploy this couple at the same time. The cables going out from the patch panel have already gone through the management process, but it should go to the next cable manager installed above or below the patch panel, so that the whole cable management can be finished. Additionally, some people will need the further step to bring the cables that are from horizontal cable management to the vertical cable managers standing at the both sides of the cabinet.
Conclusion
Never look down upon cable management, otherwise the cables haphazardly thrown around will be your nightmare. In case it damages the wires and cause other hazards, now it’s time to arrange your cables properly. FS.COM has many kinds of cable managers to help make your life neater!
Not so long ago, fiber optic communication came into people’s life and provided us with great convenience. Its advantages could be found in such aspects as long transmission distance, large capacity and fast transmission speed. Therefore, the demand of fiber optic products like fiber optic transceiver, fiber optic patch panel and fiber optic enclosures has been soaring these years. But the products on the market are miscellaneous. Today, we will have a closer look at the two major fiber optic enclosure manufactures, namely Panduit and FS.COM. Panduit fiber optic enclosure and FS.COM fiber optic enclosure, which will you choose?
Comparisons of Fiber Optic Enclosures in Panduit and FS.COM
Panduit is a global manufacturer of physical infrastructure equipment that support power, communications, computing, control, and security systems. FS.COM (Fiberstore) is a leading global high performance end-to-end cabling and connectivity solutions provider which provides a complete portfolio of products and solutions.
Focusing on three groups including rack mount fiber enclosure, wall mount fiber enclosure and enclosure accessory(fiber optic cassette for example) which are all applied in 1U cable managemet, I have summarized several critical items that are most concerned by customers in the following table.
Rack Mount Fiber Enclosure
Items
FS.COM
Panduit
Products
FHD-1UFCE Fiber Enclosure
FCE1U Enclosure
Fiber Count
≤96 Fibers
≤96 Fibers
Type
Rack Mountable
Rack Mountable
Price
≈89$
≈289$
Wall Mount Fiber Enclosure
Items
FS.COM
Panduit
Products
FHD-FWME2 Fiber Optic Wall Mount Enclosure
FWME2 Enclosure
Fiber Count
≤48 Fibers
Unknown
Type
Wall Mountable
Wall Mountable
Price
≈60$
≈116$
Fiber Optic Cassette—Enclosure Accessory
Items
FS.COM
Panduit
Products
MTP-12 Ultra High Density MPO/MTP Cassette
FC26N-12-10AS
Fiber Count
12 Fibers
12 Fibers
Dimension (HxWxD)
11.3x92x171.2mm
35 x 89 x 125mm
Price
≈72$
≈293.4$
Panduit Fiber Optic Enclosure or FS.COM Fiber Optic Enclosure
Seen from the clear data and information about 2 pairs of fiber optic enclosures form FS.COM and Panduit, we can distinguish that there is a large gap between the product price and fiber count. The price, a significant factor that influence purchase, is greatly different from each manufactures. Fiber count of the roughly same products are also different, with FS.COM products outnumbering Panduit ones.
And the enclosure accessories provided by FS.COM cater to various needs. They have different fiber counts, connector types, and adapter types, and minimum insertion and return loss.
Price, and fiber count, the top three considerations of purchasers when looking for the ideal products, have been analyzed in the type of table and text for your reference.
Conclusion
When it comes to the choice between Panduit fiber optic enclosure and FS.COM fiber optic enclosure, you should figure out your own requirements to determine which to buy. The renowned Panduit and FS.COM both have their own reasons for each progress and designing. At FS.COM, we offer lifetime warranty and limited warranty for different products varying on the materials, workmanship, usage rate, and the availability of the spare parts for each product. And the relatively reasonable price is also the reason why so many people choose FS.COM. As a company born and grew in China, FS.COM grows with and by people. And it returns people with high quality and best service.
All above are some of my personal opinions and conclusions. The thinking and words just represent my own idea, if you find out any unreasonable, please forgive me and your ideas will be appreciated.
The patch panel, a significant element in cabling design, has many ports on it. Through these ports, the cables are located elsewhere in your building. Patch panel at present has fiber and copper patch panel(also known as Ethernet patch panel), two choices for us. As we all know, a single fiber optic patch panel is not available to all kinds of fiber cables. The same is to copper patch panels which are classified as Cat5e patch panel, Cat6 patch panel and so on.
CAT5e Ethernet Patch Panel VS. CAT6 Ethernet Patch Panel
Both as the copper patch panel, Cat5e patch panel and Cat6 patch panel don’t have many differences, except that Cat5e patch panel usually works with Cat5e, while Cat6 patch panel can work with both the corresponding Cat6 cable and any earlier generation of Cat cable. The patch panels themselves don’t have many practical differences. However, there is indeed a difference in the wire gauge specified between Cat5e and Cat6. The cat6 wire is thicker in that Cat6 usually has 23 AWG copper conductors compared to only 24 AWG in Cat5e cable.
The 24 port patch panel used for different cables are both welcomed by customers. 24 port cat6 patch panel offered by FS.COM acquires acknowledgments from many customers and IT experts. With easy installation and top-quality performance, the high quality patch panel is designed for Fast Ethernet applications. 24-port Cat5e patch panel is the most popular in the market, which has punch down and feed-through patch panel for customer choice. And when applying patch panels to special environments, for example nearby motors, generators, air conditioners, and even office mainstays such as fluorescent lights and printers, you should carefully consider between shielded and unshielded patch panels.
Shielded Ethernet Patch Panel VS. Unshieleded Ethernet Patch Panel
Shielded and unshielded patch panels are required to match with the shielded and unshielded copper cable applications. Shielded patch panels are designed for high EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) environments. If the application environments have special requirements for crosstalk and EMI functions, especially when the copper cable runs near power cables then you should choose to use shielded Ethernet cables with shielded patch panels. However, someone may wonder whether they can use unshielded patch panel for shielded cable. To be honest, it depends on the environment in which your cable will run through. If the place has no high power electrical wires, you can go with unshielded patch panel. On the flip side, if you are in a noisy environment like using arc welders or near high power radio transmitters, then you’d better select the shielded one. FS.COM shielded and unshielded patch panels can meet not only 1G network speed, but also 10G network.
For both shielded and unshielded applications, you can find what you need at FS.COM. The port number marked on the FS.COM patch panel provides easy cable identification. The cable manager on the rear side is removable, providing efficient and organized cabling.
Conclusion
CAT5e and CAT6 cables are the most popular Ethernet cables on the market. To create a nicely organized cabling environment, choosing the right patch panel is essential. Sometimes Cat5e, Cat6 or other Ethernet cables need to be managed in a single panel, in this type of situation, the blank keystone patch panels can support mixed cabling with installation of different rj45 insert modules. In addition, you can customize your patch panel according to your specific applications. FS.COM provides a large variety of patch panels and Ethernet cable and also presents a selection of cable managers to help you create your ideal cabling network. For more details, please visit our website.
As one of the important tools in horizontal cable management and the assist of fiber panel, the horizontal cable manager has been warmly welcomed by the public since its debut. The horizontal cable manager comes in varied types such as brush strip cable manager, finger duct cable manager. And the height of it may vary as the network system demands. The fantastic design horizontal cable manager with finger duct is what we will talk about today.
Horizontal Cable Manager with Finger Duct Overview
The FS.COM finger duct horizontal cable manager is designed with flexible fingers, rear pass-through holes and a removable cover. It can be mounted to standard 19 and server rack and cabinet providing well-organized cabling quickly and easily. 1U and 2U versions are both available at FS.COM. Unique hinge cover allows for easy cable moves,adds and changes to connections, saving time and money. The soft and durable finger ducts offer proper bend radius and flexible operation of cable management. 2U version increases more space for Ethernet cable runs.The two holes on the main plate allow for front-to-back or back-to-front cable runs. The finger ducts can be used for both upside and downside cable management. Simplify network maintenance and cost, as well as support future growth and cabling demands.
How the Finger Duct Horizontal Cable Manager Works?
Take 1U finger duct horizontal cable manager as an example, it can be mounted above or below the fiber optic patch panel, with the hinge cover side facing towards us. Open the cover and 12 gaps between 11 finger ducts. The cable is inserted into the above patch panel, and then 2 cables share a same gap. The left 6 couples of cables are all combed to the left vertical cable manager, and the right 6 to the right horizontal cable manager. The two holes on the back of the cable manager are designed for the cables inserted to the below patch panel. The procedure is all the same with the front cabling.With all the cables in their position, you can load the cover.
Vertical and Horizontal Cable Manager
Vertical cable manager is standing vertically on both sides of the cabinet, while the horizontal one is mounted in the cabinet. In addition, whatever the height of the cabinet is, the vertical cable manager can satisfy your needs by mounted with each other. You can choose them according to your actual needs. However, the combination of them shown in the video is no doubt the optimum option. The more detailed information of the two cable managers：Horizontal and Vertical Cable Management At a Glance
This cable manager with finger duct is an optimum option for your horizontal cable management. Get it to protect your equipment, improve the appearance and accessibility of your rack. I am sure you will be content on its hassle-free compatibility with your rack. Any question or puzzle is expected to be asked immediately. With your recommendations, we can go further and grow faster. And also, we sincerely hope that with our products and service, you can gain in both work and life.
Patch panel is defined as the interface between multiple optical fibers and optical equipment. It’s a termination unit that helps networking and fiber distribution from wiring closet to various terminal equipment. Fiber optic patch panel is a mounted hardware unit containing an assembly of port locations in a communication or other electronic or electrical system. Fiber optic patch panel is used to terminate the fiber optic cable and provide access to the cable’s individual fibers for cross connection. They are mostly mounted in 19 inch relay racks, but they can also be mounted on freestanding rails, in cabinets and also on walls.
Fiber Optic Patch Panel Types
Fiber optic atch panel are divided into two types based on different designs, the wall mount and rack mount category. Both types can house, organize, and protect fiber optic cable and connectors. Rack mount patch panels come in flat and angled versions while the wall mount patch panel is used for direct termination of several fibers, and are mostly equipped with routing guides to limit the bend radius for enhanced strain-relief control. They can also be classified according to the count of ports. The common patch panels are come in 12 ports, 24 ports, 48 ports and 96 ports. The height of it can also vary as 1U, 2U, 3U and so on. For more about the types, click here.
How to Connect Fiber Optic Cable To Fiber Patch Panel
Insert the adapters into the mounting plate, then fix the mounting plate in position. Prepare cables based on standard termination procedures and ensure there is enough surplus cable to work with. Connect the cable by fixing the gland and roll the excess fiber onto the spool. After that, remove the protection cap and insert into position in the adapter. Once the cables are all attached, it’s better to use a zip tie to secure the cables in a bundle. In a typical setup, the connection consists of a shorter cable plugged into the front side of the patch panel and a longer cable plugged into the back. In this way, the panel can take the place of otherwise expensive switching equipment. This is the extract from How to Connect Fiber Optic Cable to Fiber Optic Patch Panel. You can find more useful information in it.
How To Use A Fiber Optic Patch Panel
Getting a fiber optic patch panel is mainly for two reasons: termination and better cable management. As for patch panel termination, it is the step to terminate fibers on the patch panel, a precise task required much attention. As for cable management, here I recommend you to accompany it with cable managers. From a top-down perspective, the order of the devices in a cabinet should be: fiber patch panel 1, cable manager 1, fiber patch panel 2, cable manager 2 For fiber optic cabling cable management, you should plan the location of your fiber connectivity hardware carefully, including fiber patch panels. You can choose between direct cross connection and patch panel. It is also necessary to arrange your routing and dressing of your fiber patch cords if you choose to use fiber panels. In the meantime, you also have a choice to use fiber cable management brackets to avoid the dangling fiber patch cables. Owning a fiber optic path will not only spare you a lot of time and energy in cabling design, but also present you a neat cabling system, which will bring you efficient work.
It seems that we have already known that the fiber patch panel is the bridge of fiber patch cables. Fiber patch panel, also known as fiber distribution panel, serves as a convenient place to terminate all the fiber optic cable running from different rooms into the wiring closet and provides connection access to the cable’s individual fibers. Fiber patch panels are termination units, which are designed with a secure, organized chamber for housing connectors and splice units.
How Does Patch Panel Termination Units Works?
We know that there are two major termination solutions for fiber cable: field terminated and pre-terminated. The pre-termination, with most devices terminated by the manufacturers in advance, requires less efforts when installing than field termination does. Therefore, this post is going to offer a glimpse into the field termination which describes the termination of the fiber optic cable in the field or the termination after installation.
Fiber Patch Panel Termination Procedure
In the termination process, the fiber optic cable need to be pulled between two points, then connectors will need to be attached and then connected to a patch panel. In addition, before they can be attached to a panel, connectors need to be attached to each individual strand, and a variety of tools will be needed. With field termination, we can determine the cable length accordingly, and fiber optic bulk cable is very easily to pull from either end of the installation circuit. To carry out the termination, such tools are needed as fiber optic enclosure, fiber cable, patch panel, cable ties, connector panels, permanent marker, fiber optic stripper, cleaver, metric ruler and rubbing alcohol.
To terminate the cable, first slide the boot onto the fiber. Strip the fiber to at least about an inch and a half . Place a mark at 15.5 mm for ST and SC connectors or at 11.5 mm for LC connectors. Clean the stripped fiber with an alcohol wipe and remove any debris. Set the stripped fiber into the cleave and cleave it. Insert the cleaved fiber into the rear of the connector until the mark align with the back of the connector body. Slight the boot up and over the rear of the connector body. After the termination, transmission testing of assemblies need to be performed.
In the final fiber patch panel termination, first, open the front and rear door of the patch panel, and remove the covers. Remover the inter stain relief bracket. Second, use cable ties to put the cables on the bracket. The fibers should be put inside the clips on the tray to segregate the fibers from A and B slots. Put the patch panel into the panels clips. Take the excess fiber slack into the slack management clips. Make a bend in the fiber to maintain slight pressure on the connection.
Conclusion
The processes in the device connection and cable management are linking with each other that missing any or failure in any one will result in the imperfect system, or even the damage. If we own a fiber patch panel, we should make full use of its termination function. The products provided by FS,COM enable you to perfect your cabling system.
When the fiber patch panel is loaded with cables, your cabling is almost finished with the core elements all ready. You can achieve fast and smooth Ethernet connectivity. But turning around, you may find a mess caused and left by the installation. The slack cables without careful comb are hung casually, resulting in a sloppy look just like the noddles being stirred. If we have a look at an expert, it is common to find that they all manage their cables in a good order. And today, we will reveal the secret of the marvelous layout — horizontal and vertical cable management.
Horizontal and Vertical Cable Management
When you try to simulate others’ cabling system, you will inevitably find that the cable management comes in two varieties, horizontal and vertical. When installing cables in a fiber enclosure, you will undoubtedly have to run them both vertically and horizontally. The best solution for this cabling is to run all the cables horizontally from the server directly to the vertical cable management rack. With these two solutions, you can gain many benefits like enhanced availability through reduced downtime, and improved system performance through reduced crosstalk and interference. We all know that crosstalk is harmful and will damage more or less the data transmission. What’s more, it enables us easier and safer access to individual components so as to achieve improved maintenance and serviceability. And the moves, adds and changes will be simplified.
Horizontal and Vertical Cable Manager
With horizontal cable managers, the cables from equipment in racks can be routed neatly and properly and away from damage. If you are using flat-faced patch panels or network switches form which cables come above or below, horizontal cable manager will complete the support pathway for patch cords between the cabling section and the exact connection point (port) on the patch panel or switch. Alternately, horizontal management can be used to create rack-to-rack pathways for patch cords. The FS.COM finger duct horizontal cable manager is designed with flexible fingers, rear pass-through holes and a removable cover. It can be mounted to standard 19 and server racks and cabinets providing well-organized cabling quickly and easily. 1U and 2U versions are both available at FS.COM.
Vertical cable manager just as seen in the below image, utilizes the additional space at the both sides of the cabinet to manage the slack from patch cords, and make sure that they can easily route the largest cable diameter in your plan. For static environments, you can consider installing another vertical cable manager behind the racks, which does not block access to components in the space between the racks. Vertical racks can be also installed under a desk or against a wall and accommodate networking equipment up to 4 RU. Its dual sided fingers enable both front and back well-organized cabling.
Conclusion
With horizontal and/or vertical cable managers, the human errors which may be committed previously due to the confusion of a mess of cables can be easily prevented in horizontal and vertical cable management. Once you have to deal with fiber and copper cables at the same time, apart from our multimedia modular panel, FS.COM cable managers can be used to house and organize fiber and copper cabling while keeping separation between the two.
Some people say that patch panel is a waste, and only a network switch matters. Others, however, hold firmly that patch panel is a significant gadget without which you can hardly imagine how the network cabling will look like. As far as I am concerned, we should view it accordingly.
Why We Should Use Patch Panel?
Apart from the easier cable management it provides, its function resembles the railroad switch. And let’s compare the cables to rails to see how it works. With a railroad switch(patch panel), the train(data) can travel from A to B, C and even more destinations, otherwise it can only go from A to B, or C to D. This article, What Is a Patch Panel Used for?, has explained it thoroughly. In addition, FS.COM offers extensive selection of patch panels.
How to Connect Patch Panel to Switch?
Having made clear of the function of patch panel and the switch, let’s see together how do they connect in the network cabling in case of mistakes in the layout process. Assume that we have a two 24 port feed through patch panels and two 24 port switch, and all the devices mentioned below. We don’t take the punch down panel here is because it has to be punched down first then to connect the cabling system. If you use a punch down patch panel, the methods and procedures to punch down it have been listed in my previous article—How to Punch Down Cat6 into Patch Panel.
Step 1
Find a cabinet large enough to accommodate both the patch panel and switch. And mount the 24 port patch panels and switches all in the same rack. The order from the top to the bottom is like this, patch panel 1, spacer, switch 1, patch panel 2, spacer and switch 2.And prepare the cables in a proper length.
Step 2
Prepare the cable in a proper length to avoid the mess.
Step 3
Use the top 12 ports on the patch panel for the bottom 12 ports on the switch, and the bottom 12 on the patch panel for the top 12 ports on the switch. The one set of patch cables would be just a bit shorter than the other 12.
Step 4
Connect the modulars on the rear side of the patch panel with the cables that go to each unit or room.
OK, congratulation. Now you have a very neat and beautiful cabling system. When powering on, the whole system will work orderly in their own places.
Conclusion
All in all, a patch panel is more of an extension of your Ethernet cables. It's used for the purpose of neatness and the achievement of data crossover. A switch connects your devices into a network allowing them to communicate and share files with each other. To help you better understand the ways to connect the two, we are planning to produce a video to illustrate the steps in details. You can refer to FS.COM for more information and follow us for the further knowledge.
As a patch panel offers people easy cable management, it has been widely acknowledged by more and more users and expertise. When choosing a patch panel, a lot of factors can be considered, like types and designs. I would like to recommend you patch panels from there perspectives, that is, cabling system, port density, and space saving.
Cabling System of Patch Panel
As we all know, the patch panel used in fiber cabling system is called fiber patch panel and the one used in copper cabling systems named copper patch panel. As far as I am concerned, the fiber patch panel deserves the higher price since it is a lot easier to install. However, copper patch panel can also be your first choice as it is cost-efficient and durable, like the Cat6 patch panel introduced in the next part.
1U High 19" fiber patch panel is easy to install for better deployment and expand your network for interconnection and cross-connection inside the rack mount and cabinet. It has 24 ports and is available with two adapter types: SC and LC duplex.
Specially designed for Gigabit Ethernet applications, Cat6 Ethernet patch panel meets and even exceeds the TIA/EIA 568 industry specification, and are compatible with all kinds of Cat6 cables and related accessories. Besides, Cat6 patch panels feature high-density and offer the performance required for present and next generation data communications networks and applications.
Port Density of Patch Panel
Port density seems to be a main concern when choosing a patch panel. The patch panel with more ports enables more connectivity. Common patch panels are always designed in 8 or 12-port configurations. While high-density patch panels are available in flat and angled designs with 24 or 48 ports configurations. High-density patch panel is suitable for installations with limited space.
Take the Cat6 Ethernet patch panels we mentioned above as an example, as high-density patch panels, they are available in 12-port, 24-port, 48-port configurations, and feature enhanced front and rear labeling mark for easy circuit identification. In addition, the cat6 patch panel provided by FS.COM contains user-friendly number coding and removable rear cable manager which is conducive to uninstall and install.
Space Saved by Patch Panel
In general, I, myself, prefer wall mount patch panel to rack mount patch panel, because it is installed above the floor, sparing much space for other equipment standing on the ground.
Wall mount patch panel provided by FS.COM possesses number labeling for easy outlet identification, and is used to provide the critical connection between various fiber cables and optical equipment fixed on the customer’s house or office, offering networking and fiber distribution from the wiring closet to the user’s terminal equipment. Furthermore, it can be fixed quickly and easily to the wall using four screws.
Conclusion
Hope you have saved a lot of time and energy by checking out the list we have above. However, another aspect not mentioned is the budget, as many people would struck in a dilemma that whether to choose a patch panel only for now or the expensive one for future. Considering this, you can first choose what function and performance you actually need, then compare the price of the same type of patch panel between different vendors. Here I can assure you that FS.COM can provide you with best quality and reasonable price. If you have puzzles, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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Nowadays, there exists five physical layer standards for Gigabit Ethernet, adopting optical fiber, twisted pair cable, or shielded balanced copper cable. They are 1000BASE-X, 1000BASE-T and 1000BASE-CX. Today, let’s see the 1000BASE-X first. “X” in the term refers to 4B/5B block coding for Fast Ethernet or 8B/10B block coding for Gigabit Ethernet. 1000BASE-X is used for gigabit Ethernet connections that transmit data mainly over fiber optic cable. When referring to 1000BASE-X, two popular types of it can not be neglected, that is 1000BASE-SX SFP and 1000BASE-LX SFP.
1000BASE-SX SFP
The SX systems allows data being transmitted in two opposite directions simultaneously, but it is operated with multimode fiber only, using the cheaper 850nm wavelength laser diodes. According to the bandwidth and attenuation of the fiber optic cable connected, the maximum distance supported varies between 220 and 550 meters. The 1000BASE-SX SFP transceiver module is highly compatible with the 1000BASE-SX standard. So 1000BASE-SX SFP supports link length of up to 550m (depending on fiber type) on multimode fiber at 1Gbps. This optic works at 850nm wavelength and uses a LC connector. Take Generic SFP1G-SX-85 for example, this 1000BASE-SX SFP transceiver is able to realize 550m link length through OM2 MMF with LC duplex.
1000BASE-LX SFP
In contrast to 1000Base-SX, 1000BASE-LX, a type of standard for implementing Gigabit Ethernet networks uses long wavelength, can operate not only with multimode fiber fulfilling a maximum length of 550 meters but also with single-mode fiber a working distance of up to 10 km. If you want to add, replace or upgrade the ports on your networking equipment later, 1000BASE-LX SFP will be a cost-effective choice for you. Huawei eSFP-GE-LX10-SM1310 is a 1000BASE-LX SFP transceiver that operates over a wavelength of 1310nm for 10 km on SMF.
1000BASE-SX VS 1000BASE-LX SFP
Items
1000BASE-SX SFP
1000BASE-LX SFP
Wavelength
850nm
1310nm
Transmission Distance
550m
10km
Interface
LC
LC
Dispersion
Modal Dispersion
Wave Guide Dispersion
1000BASE-SX SFP is designed for shorter distance transmission, while SFP LC LX transceiver for long-haul transmission. 1000BASE-LX SFP is preferably used for connecting high-speed hubs, Ethernet switches, and routers together in different wiring closets or buildings using long cabling, and developed to support longer-length multimode building fiber backbones and single-mode campus backbones. While 1000BASE-SX SFP is highly popular for intra-building links in large office buildings, co-location facilities and carrier neutral internet exchanges. They can both work in a wide range of temperature(-40℃~75℃).
Conclusion
As mentioned above, 1000BASE-LX SFP and 1000BASE-SX SFP are both popular with the consumers. Advantages of them and differences between them have been showcased. And you just need to compare the specification with your actual need. However, with so many products available in the market, sham or genuine, brand-new or second-hand, careful notice should be given if you want to select an ideal one. FS.COM offers a large amount of in-stock 1000BASE SFP transceivers that are compatible for Cisco, Juniper, Dell, Brocade, or Netgear in various options. If you have any requirement of our products, please send your request to us.
Before entering today’s new topic, let’s have a brief review of the last subject—SFP+ cable. As we all know, SFP+ DAC cables transmit 10Gbps signals over copper cabling. Well, 10GBASE-T is a different kind of technology which transmits data via copper cable. As both are 10G copper cabling solutions, which one do you choose? In this article, we will discuss 10GBASE-T vs SFP+, what are their pros and cons.
Introduction of 10GBASE-T
10GBASE-T, a standard released in 2006, is specifically designed for high speed 10 Gigabit Ethernet communication over unshielded or shielded twisted pair cables. It is compliant with the Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) and 10GBASE-T, 5GBASE-T, 2.5GBASE-T, 1000BASE-T standards as specified in IEEE STD 802.3an, 802.3ab and 802.3au. 10GBASE-T provides users with not only backward compatibility with their existing networks but also flexibility in network designs, helping users to protect their investment in existing copper cabling infrastructure. Moreover, 10GBASE-T can be used for long-reach networks up to 100 meters or short-reach networks as short as a few feet.
The new 10GBASE-T SFP+ transceiver module delivers the flexibility and port density well known to the SFP+ form-factor, utilizing Cat 6a UTP structured cabling for network connectivity. It is a power optimized solution for lengths up to 30m, engineered to deliver a minimum power saving of at least 0.5W per port compared to an equivalent embedded 10GBASE-T RJ45 for the same length (Cat 6a, up to 30m). As the first transceiver that offers 10GbE communication over copper, 10GBase-T SFP+ module delivers what you need most in your network connections: reliable performance.
SFP+ Direct Attach VS 10GBASE-T
Connection Type
10GBASE-T
SFP+ Direct Attach
Reach
30m~100m
＜10m
Power
2 to 3.5W(50% lower with EEE）
2W
Field Termination Capability
Yes
No
End-to-End Capability
Yes
No
IEEE Standard
Yes
No
Auto-Negotiation to 1G/100M
Yes
No
Standard, Structured Cabling
Yes
No
The overall information have been listed in the above chart. To help you understand further, let’s translate it into words. 10GBASE-T transceivers are commonly used for 10MB, 100MB and 1GB network connections, while SFP+ Direct Attach Cable only for 10Gigabit Ethernet Network. In many cases, 10GBASE-T can reduce the deployment cost and is easier to install and migrate. 10GBASE-T can offer more design flexibility using a structured cabling approach for longer distances up to 100 meters. A structured cabling approach means that Category 6A cables can be field terminated on patch panels to any length for clean, slack-free cable management. However, SFP+ DAC offers less than 10m distance, and they are factory terminated and must be purchased in pre-determined length. But it is worth mentioning that SFP+ DAC can intermix fiber and DAC freely to meet distance requirements. SFP+ DAC also offers better latency—typically about 0.3 microseconds per link, while 10GBASE-T latency is about 2.6 microseconds per link due to more complex encoding within the equipment.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, both 10GBASE-T transceiver and SFP+ direct attach cable have their own advantages and benefits. It is not easy to conclude which one is better. When it comes to the trade-off between them, you need to consider you actual requirements in the first place. With equipment from multiple vendors available in the marketplace, the next step you need to take is just give the rest to FS.COM, because it will provide you with the best quality and reasonable price.
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?Have you noticed the changes happened in just a few years ago?— The faster internet speed? The thinner computer screen? Or the smaller computer case? Well, one special thing that I want you know is the fiber optic cable. The emergence of it has made the copper cable gradually disappear in front of the public. Today, we will center on the topic that how and why it happens in our life, and provide you with some hints about this magic wire.
What Is Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber optic cables carry communication signals through pulses of light produced by small lasers or light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Compared to wired cables, fiber optic cables provide higher bandwidth and can transmit data over longer distances.
The cable consists of one or more strands of glass, each only slightly thicker than a human hair. The center of each strand is called the core which provides the pathway for light to travel. The core is wrapped by a layer of glass called cladding that reflects light inward to avoid loss of signal and allow the light to pass through bends in the cable.
Fiber Optic Cable Types
The two primary types of fiber cables are called single mode and multi-mode fiber. Single mode fiber uses very thin glass strands and a laser to generate light while multi-mode fibers use LEDs. The core diameter of single mode fiber is 9μm, and multi-mode is 62.5μm or 50μm.
Single mode fiber networks often use Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM) techniques to increase the amount of data traffic that can be sent across the strand. WDM allows light at multiple different wavelengths to be combined (multiplexed) and later separated (de-multiplexed), effectively transmitting multiple communication streams via a single light pulse.
Items
Single mode fiber
Multi-mode fiber
Transmitting distance
Long
Short
Data transmission rate
High
Low
Lamp-house
Laser
Light-emitting diodes(LEDs)
Signal loss
Small
Large
Difficulty of access
Hard
Easy
Costs
High
Low
When making a decision between single mode and multi-mode fiber cables, the first element to consider is the fiber distance you actually need. For example, in a data center, multi-mode fiber cables is enough for the distance of 300-400 meters. While in applications that require distance up to several thousands of meters, the single mode fiber is the best choice. And in applications which can use single mode and multi-mode fiber, other factors like cost and future upgrade requirements should be taken into consideration for your choice.
How To Install Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber optic cable has now penetrated into all aspects of our lives. Understanding the basic knowledge of fiber optic cable installation may help us build a fiber optic network system with high performance and stability. Therefore, one cannot be too cautious when installing fiber optic cables. The end of each cable must be ground and connected to the optical interface through an electric grill or chemical chlorination process to ensure that the optical channel is not obstructed. Moreover, fibers cannot be pulled too tight or form a right angle. Remember to avoid moisture, operate within the cable’s temperature range, and bear in mind the bend radii, crush load and use load along with vertical rise distance.
In the last passage, we have gained a deep and comprehensive understanding of 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Next, we will shed light on 40 Gigabit Ethernet which was introduced by the IEEE 802.3ba in 2010. 802.3ba is the designation given to the higher speed Ethernet task force which completed its work to modify the 802.3 standard to support speeds higher than 10 Gbit/s. 40G is slowly taking the place of the 10G network market as the latter is becoming out-dated due to its slow speed and other shortcomings. Therefore, it is beneficial to study the 40G transceivers in detail.
40G Transceiver: QSFP+ Module
A 40G optical module is a derivative product capable of delivering high density ports and considerable data transmission speed. It is a high performance, hot-pluggable interconnect solution finding its rampant use in data centers. An integrated model of four independent transmit and receive signals work coordinately to deliver the high density but power-efficient 40G Ethernet connectivity. The 40G applications, apart from in data centers, are also being used widely in high performance computing networks, enterprise core and distribution layers, and telecom operators. The new demands of 40G transceiver modules pushed the high-speed optical transceiver market to grow. This article would put emphasis on introducing 40G optical transceiver, especially the QSFP+ module.
What’s 40G QSFP+ Module?
The 40G QSFP+ module is a hot-swappable, parallel fiber optical module. The 40G QSFP+ transceiver complies with the Ethernet, Fibre Channel, InfiniBand, and SONET/SDH standards. It adopts four 10Gbit/s transmission channels to transmit data and the transmission of four channels can get 40Gbps at the same time. In addition, 40G QSFP+ connector can be either duplex LC or 12-fiber MTP/MPO connector.
Types of 40G QSFP+ Module
In this part, three kinds of 40G QSFP+ transceivers will be introduced respectively, that is, QSFP 40G SR4, QSFP BiDi, QSFP 40G LR4.
QSFP 40G SR4, Short-reach (SR) transceivers for 40G connectivity in a QSFP form factor, uses independent transmitter and receiver sections, each with 4 parallel fiber strands. It can transmit 150 meters over OM4 MMF. For a 40G connection, 8 fiber strands are required, and 12-fiber MPO connectors are used.
The QSFP BiDi transceiver is a short-reach optical transceiver that delivers 40 Gbps over a duplex OM3 or OM4 MMF connection, which can reach 100 meters on OM3 or up to 150 meters over OM4. It has two 20G channels, each transmitted and received simultaneously on two wavelengths over a single MMF strand.
The QSFP 40G LR4 Module supports link lengths of up to 10km over a standard pair of G.652 single-mode fiber with duplex LC connectors. The 40 Gigabit Ethernet signal is carried over four wavelengths. Multiplexing and demultiplexing of the four wavelengths are managed within the device.
QSFP+ Type
Wavelength(nm)
Fiber Type
Connector Type
Max Transmission Length
QSFP 40G SR4
850
MMF
MTP/MPO
150m
QSFP BiDi
832-918
MMF
LC
150m
QSFP 40G LR4
1310
SMF
LC
10km
Conclusion
As is shown in the table, there are many types of QSFP+ transceivers. We(www.fs.com) offer a wide range of 40GBASE QSFP+ optical modules that are compatible with major brand network devices, and can also provide OEM customized services. All of our 40G QSFP+ optical modules are tested in multiple performances at the test center for superior performance.
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