Fiber Networking

[mrbios]

Hey everyone,

I'm attempting to find some fiber networking hardware that will all work together, but this has proven to be a much more daunting task than I imagined. The main problem seems to be in finding an appropriate switch. I don't care about which connectors they use, or what it will all cost (as cost isn't an issue; working properly for years to come is) to implement.

Again, the problem seems to be in finding a switch that will work. Every switch I've seen so far says that it takes SFP or LX connections, but as far as I can tell, these aren't connector type. I did see that 3Com had a switch that supported MT-RJ connectors, but I haven't been able to find much info about this type of fiber connector.

If anyone could provide some insight into finding equipment that will work together, you'd really help me out. Thanks in advance.

 

[spidey07]

Any fiber optic interfaces will work together, provided they are the same type/technology (has nothing to do with the connector)

for LANs you have...
100 Base-FL
1000 Base-SX (short distance)
1000 Base-LX (long distance)
1000 Base-ZX (longer distance)

These are all ethernet technologies and work very well together. Cisco, foundry, extreme will all have network switches that support this.

 

[cmetz]

mrbios, GBIC and mini-GBIC (aka SFP) are physical form factors for inboard gigabit fiber transceivers. In that form factor, you can get SX (MMF), LX (SMF), or "ZX" aka "LX-70" aka "LX-100" (SMF long reach) modules. Those modules have various connectors, but SC is most common for GBIC and LC is most common for mini-GBIC. You can get adapter cables to change the connectors around as needed, that's easy.

There are also 100 megabit fiber options, and 10 gigabit fiber options. You probably want to play at the gigabit fiber level, though.

Find out what kind of fiber you have. Your optics and patch cables must match it. Generally speaking, there's 1000BaseSX-compatible MMF, 1000BaseLX-compatible SMF, and "everything else." If you're in the "everything else" category you might just need conditioning cables or you might be SOL - depends on the details.

A couple of modest SMC switches and their GBICs would work well for your application, and you could probably keep it all under $1k total.

 

[spidey07]

Also keep in mind the distance limitations for each technology and they are directly related to exactly what kind of fiber optic cable you have.

You should probably approach it as "how far and how fast" you want to go because that then dictates/drives the interfaces you use.

As an aside, I'm starting to see multi-mode fiber use declining and more and more single mode uses/applications.

 

[mrbios]

Yeah, all the fiber runs are going to be very short distance, so multimode will me more than sufficient. All runs will probably be no more than about 10 feet.

What this is being used for is a customer who is going to be doing some web and email hosting. He's going to have a everything connected to a 100Mb connection to the internet, and just to speed the internal transfers, he wanted everything internally to be fiber.

 

[spidey07]

well that customer doesn't know much about networking.



I can get you 8 Gbs with copper (bonded 1000 Base-T) and it's a lot cheaper then fiber interfaces.

But if he wants maximum speed then put everything onto a single switch (or two for redundancy, but force everything to use one path) using gigabit ethernet.

 

[FreshPrince]

what does google use?

Foundry! yay!

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
what does google use?

Foundry! yay!

Ya know I gave them some recommendations and they didn't listen. Their infrastructure is actually run by amateurs stringing cables.

Wonder why gmail is down so often? hmmmm.