Network and data center managers have their own favorite brands when it comes to connectivity, cabinets, PDUs and cable management. But every now and then, a brand fails to deliver. That’s exactly what happened at Humana, the 3rd largest health insurance company in the nation. Despite their brand loyalty on fiber connectivity, the jumpers they were using just didn’t cut it when it came to port access in high-density patching areas or needing to change polarity on the fly.
Increasingly, applications at the network edge—Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, machine-to-machine communications and the like—are generating tremendous amounts of data. Many such applications demand ultra-reliable low-latency (mid, single-digit millisecond) performance. The challenges of coping with this growing flood of data—to and from the edge—are keeping data center managers awake at night. Here’s what we know.
The VFL source launches overfilled light that will surround the core of the bare fiber and extend into and through the cladding, flooding the inside of the connector body. This is normal and does not necessarily mean the fiber is damaged. The amount of light can vary by fiber and connector type. To visually check the quality of a termination, verify the intensity and quality of light exiting the opposite end of the cable under test. If the light is weak or non-existent, a damaged connector or fiber may exist.
Selecting appropriate media for a robust and reliable industrial Ethernet network is imperative. Three viable media types can be used: optical fiber, balanced twisted pair and wireless. This article addresses the different characteristics of each medium and helps to identify the correct choice for the industrial environment and its specific applications.
There are three methods of installing optical fiber: Conventional cabling whereby optical fiber cable is pulled through innerducts and into conduit; Blown cable systems that use a blowing technique to install cables with a reduced diameter through conduit; and blown fiber systems where optical fiber bundles, rather than cables are blown into empty tube cables.
Healthcare facilities have undergone rapid changes in recent years with a focus on digital transformation taking center stage. New technologies are being introduced to the market to enhance digital critical care, mobility, IoT and smart buildings. Healthcare campuses are struggling to address the IoT explosion, the influx of wireless devices, assurances of greater stability through constant availability and strict Quality of Service to support their mission critical services.
Sometimes, when there are problems in the field, it’s just bad cable. We’re talking about cable that is bad, off the spool before the installer has even had a chance to touch it. This is not a common occurrence, but it’s something we’re prepared for and you should be, too. The vast majority of the time, it’s because someone cut corners and went for the budget special from some unknown manufacturer, but even reputable manufacturers have slipped up. Here’s an example that came into out Technical Assistance Center (TAC) just last month.
The internet of things (IoT) widely spans from the smart speakers and Wi-Fi-connected home appliances to manufacturing machines that use connected sensors to time tasks on an assembly line, warehouses that rely on automation to manage inventory, and surgeons who can perform extremely precise surgeries with robots. But for these applications, timing is everything: a lagging connection could have disastrous consequences.
OM5 was chosen to be the new standard for the wideband multimode fiber in the upcoming 3rd edition of the ISO/IEC 11801. The acceptance of this standard is a milestone for the fiber cabling performance category because it extends the benefits of this revolutionary multimode fiber within connected buildings and data centers worldwide. Compared with OM3 and OM4, which are suitable for transmission in the range of 850nm wavelength, the new optical cabling class OM5 can operate within a range of 850nm to 950nm, thus increasing the performance and the quality of connectivity in your data center.
The global MPO Fiber Optic Connector market will grow by US$ 5 Billion by 2024 at a CAGR of 9.8% in the given forecast period driven by the rapidly increasing demand for a high bandwidth, among end users. The increasing adoption of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, and the growing adoption of 4G LTE network platforms provide numerous opportunities for growth.
