Recently I had the opportunity to break bread with a handful of professionals who are fully immersed in the business of fiber-optic cabling systems for local area networks. (Read: A vendor that sells fiber systems took me out to lunch.) As the conversation wound down and we were all about to be late for our next appointments, a member of the group offered me an, "Oh, by the way ..." message. It was from another member of the organization who was unable to be present at the meeting, although I now wonder if it was one of those thinly veiled questions asked on behalf of "a friend." Regardless, the message was that this friend was taken aback by the scant few mentions of fiber-optic technologies I included when I assessed the 10 most compelling cabling stories of last year.
At that moment, I was taken aback by the observation. What? I'm being accused of dissing fiber? Couldn't be. But then I mentally scanned through the stories I chose as the biggest of 2010, and the focuses of those stories. Price of copper? Check. 10GBase-T? Check. Increasing the density of the RJ-45? Check? Wireless? Check!
I guess maybe there was some justification for the feeling of disrespect among those who advocate the use of fiber-optic systems, and do so because of their genuine faith in the medium's superiority over other options.
In all fairness, fiber did make its way onto the list in a couple ways. The OM4 standard was mentioned, as were the fiber-rich outside-plant cabling projects taking place with funding from the Broadband Stimulus Act.
But it was the final item on that top-10 list where I apparently did a good job of hiding fiber-optic cabling. I rolled up a number of items under the heading "continuous improvement." The reason I chose that theme as one of last year's top stories is that virtually anytime we posted on our Web site information about a practical resource relating to fiber optics, it was eagerly consumed. By "resource," I mean a reference to a fiber-optic text book or training. The single-page poster on fiber safety produced by The Fiber Optic Association was a particularly big hit. In that sense, fiber was among the most popular topics of 2010.
My hypothesis is that fiber-optic cable as a medium is a stable technology. Its users don't have to "plug and pray" that it will work. So you don't see dozens of articles along the lines of "How to make sure your fiber-optic cabling system will successfully transmit 10-Gbit Ethernet." Looking at the hands-on installation of fiber is where it gets more interesting. I believe many installers are paying more attention to fiber than they had before. For some, perhaps for the first time. Based not on scientific polling but rather on a "finger-in-the-air" approach, I believe that many contracting firms used to have one or more fiber-optic installation specialists on staff. Many of these specialist positions were cut once the economic collapse of 2008 took hold. And now the situation is an example of the jobless recovery we're experiencing. Professionals with fiber-optic installation expertise are not being hired back, and now that - dare I say it? - demand for fiber systems is picking up, installers and technicians with lots of experience in copper cabling but little if any in fiber cabling are looking for all the information they can get.
What I'd really like to hear is your experience from the real world. How close to reality is my assessment?
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2 comments:
Enjoy reading your blog. Keep up the articles which are timely, thought provoking, and accurate. With regards to your hypothesis - I believe their are other contributing factors.
1) Higher bandwidths demanded at edge devices create tighter power budgets. !0 Gig Ethernet or Fiber Channel require 6 db or less margins end to end. This requires proper cleaning visual inspection and interoperability determinations to be made if it is going to work errorless for any length of time.
2) Network Administrators have come to terms with the fact that uplinks to switches should be on fiber media to "future proof" infrastructure upgrades when higher bandwidth is necessary
3) Administrators and Facility Managers require certification and commissioning of optical based circuits. Link light is not enough to determine whether it is going to work. Hence manufactures are providing test equipment to "qualify" an installation. Professionals are recognizing that their installation techniques matter.
4) Lastly, high density pre-terminated interfaces (i.e. MPO) are contributing to the expediency of installing thousands of strands with minimal labor.
Fiber optic installation procedures are now just as turnkey as copper. Install, clean, visually inspect, and certify. If these methods are followed by your average installer - fiber optic systems will continue to grow.
Hope these observations contribute to your hypothesis.
Sincerely,
M. Sameth
Data Center Manager
Fiber has been big for us last year. A law firm order about $15,000 of OM4 12 strand to go along with their new Cisco switches. They want to get away from paper as much as possible. In the long run I don't see how copper is going to compete. The size difference alone and the face that 10G on copper cannot go as far as fiber....whatever things change.
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