Fiber optic connection--what does this plug into?
Hello, we're moving into a new building that has some of the network infastructure still in place from the previous tenant, but I'm having difficulty figuring out what I'm looking at & how it fits in with the larger picture.
The building has two floors and there is an orange fiber optic cable running between the two floors. Printed on the cable is the following text: AMP Netconnect F.O. cable dist 6x62.5/125 E223000 Type OFNP (UL)c(UL) 04/48 R120439/11/04 02394
Downstairs, this cable goes into a rack-mounted black box (with dire warnings not to open it!). There is an SC to LC cable plugged into that box and the LC connection will fit nicely into my switch. No anticipated problems there.
Upstairs, this cable ends in six SC connectors. I'm not really sure what these connectors would have been plugged into...?
I want to connect this end to my other switch--product suggestions?
The building has two floors and there is an orange fiber optic cable running between the two floors. Printed on the cable is the following text: AMP Netconnect F.O. cable dist 6x62.5/125 E223000 Type OFNP (UL)c(UL) 04/48 R120439/11/04 02394
Downstairs, this cable goes into a rack-mounted black box (with dire warnings not to open it!). There is an SC to LC cable plugged into that box and the LC connection will fit nicely into my switch. No anticipated problems there.
Upstairs, this cable ends in six SC connectors. I'm not really sure what these connectors would have been plugged into...?
I want to connect this end to my other switch--product suggestions?
ASKER
RE: "At each end of the bundle, are the numbers in the '02394' position identical? If not, what are they at each end?" I'm afraid I can only see the numbers upstairs. If you can wait until tomorrow afternoon, I can see if I can get to the downstairs numbers...
I *want* to plug them into my TigerSwitch SMC8124PL2. I'm afraid I know so very little about fiber optic!
I *want* to plug them into my TigerSwitch SMC8124PL2. I'm afraid I know so very little about fiber optic!
Well, from SMC's website info it appears the only SFP transceivers they make for that model all take LC connectors. Note that each SFP module used takes away one RJ45 port (port 23 and/or 24)... so if you use 2 modules you'll have only 22 wired ports left.
SMC1GSFP-SX - is the one they make for 62.5/125 multimode cable. Your switch can take 2 of those, if you need 2Gb of bandwidth between floors. Then you'll need an adapter such as http://www.cypressindustries.com/shoponline/proddetail.asp?prod=FAM2SCFLCM - (one for each transceiver you install).
I'm sure there are other brands of adapters, but $30 each seems reasonable to me, considering they have the 90-degree swivel, and that feature can come in handy making the cables fit where they need to be. If you have plenty of room on both sides and top/bottom of the SFP slots, you should be able to find adapters cheaper without the rotating joint.
SMC1GSFP-SX - is the one they make for 62.5/125 multimode cable. Your switch can take 2 of those, if you need 2Gb of bandwidth between floors. Then you'll need an adapter such as http://www.cypressindustries.com/shoponline/proddetail.asp?prod=FAM2SCFLCM - (one for each transceiver you install).
I'm sure there are other brands of adapters, but $30 each seems reasonable to me, considering they have the 90-degree swivel, and that feature can come in handy making the cables fit where they need to be. If you have plenty of room on both sides and top/bottom of the SFP slots, you should be able to find adapters cheaper without the rotating joint.
When I checked earlier those adapters said 'in stock' - now I see it says out of stock.
Here's an alternative - http://www.keenzo.com/showproduct.asp?M=TRIPP-LITE&ID=844974&ref=GB
Here's an alternative - http://www.keenzo.com/showproduct.asp?M=TRIPP-LITE&ID=844974&ref=GB
ASKER
Alright. Follow-up question. I've got a SMC1GSFP-SX single port 1000BASE-SX SFP transceiver with LC connection installed in my switch. There are actually places for two ports, so I could get an additional one and, in conjunction with the gadget you suggested above, I'd be able to plug in 4 of those six fiber optic cables without losing a RJ45 port. (Unless you're telling me that even if I don't have it plugged into a RJ45 port, the power gets diverted from ports 23 and 24 to power the fiber optic bits)
My question is: is it desirable to plug in more of the fiber optic connections? Do I get better bandwidth? Don't I have to check out which of the six fiber optic cables are plugged into the other switch downstairs? It looks to me like the switch downstairs has only two cables plugged into it...?
My question is: is it desirable to plug in more of the fiber optic connections? Do I get better bandwidth? Don't I have to check out which of the six fiber optic cables are plugged into the other switch downstairs? It looks to me like the switch downstairs has only two cables plugged into it...?
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ASKER
Wow! Lots of information!
I haven't given up on numbers downstairs, but I'm afraid they are pretty inaccessible. I'm going to guess that the cable is roughly 40' long. Just a guess.
I looked more closely at the box downstairs. The orange fiber optic cable goes into the box, appears to get split into six component fiber optic wires. (can I call them wires?). The wires each appear to be connected to some sort of gadget? connector? that makes them SC female. There's an SC (male) to LC (male) duplex cable coming out of that which will pop into my switch nicely. But it does appear that there are four ports/wires that are not in use. There are rubber caps on the ports.
Sounds like I have to do some work to figure out which fiber wires are going to be used. Thank you!
I haven't given up on numbers downstairs, but I'm afraid they are pretty inaccessible. I'm going to guess that the cable is roughly 40' long. Just a guess.
I looked more closely at the box downstairs. The orange fiber optic cable goes into the box, appears to get split into six component fiber optic wires. (can I call them wires?). The wires each appear to be connected to some sort of gadget? connector? that makes them SC female. There's an SC (male) to LC (male) duplex cable coming out of that which will pop into my switch nicely. But it does appear that there are four ports/wires that are not in use. There are rubber caps on the ports.
Sounds like I have to do some work to figure out which fiber wires are going to be used. Thank you!
OK... if only 40 feet in length, they would easily support 10Gb too.
But SMC doesn't make any 10Gb multimode SFP modules... all of their 10Gb modules are about twice that wide (GBIC, I think they call them). So you would need different hardware (whether that's more SMC or another brand) to get 10Gb out of each pair, but that should be do-able if it's ever decided that much bandwidth is required between floors.
But SMC doesn't make any 10Gb multimode SFP modules... all of their 10Gb modules are about twice that wide (GBIC, I think they call them). So you would need different hardware (whether that's more SMC or another brand) to get 10Gb out of each pair, but that should be do-able if it's ever decided that much bandwidth is required between floors.
> 6x62.5/125 E223000 Type OFNP (UL)c(UL) 04/48 R120439/11/04 02394
At each end of the bundle, are the numbers in the '02394' position identical? If not, what are they at each end?
> Upstairs, this cable ends in six SC connectors. I'm not really sure what these connectors would have been plugged into...?
They would have been plugged into SC jacks.
Those jacks could have been on media converters, or a switch, or router, or about anything else terminating in SC jacks.
It's not much different than finding a bundle of cat5e cables with one set of ends in a cable closet/panel and the other ends in a cable closet/panel on a different floor. You can probably use them for a wide variety of devices... e.g. a 24 port 10/100 switch with a couple gigabit SC modules, leaving 1 pair of your cables for spare, or a 48-port 10/100/1000 switch with 2 or 3 10Gb SC modules (these would be limited to about 108'/33m, though).
What do you *want* to use them for? :-)