Today’s data centers have witnessed an unprecedented increase in computing bandwidth which is needed to drive network services, causing the never-ceasing evolution of Ethernet technologies to accommodate this high bandwidth need. And during this evolution, fiber optic cables are always preferred by users in network deployment for their longer link lengths and greater capacity, compared with their counterpart copper cabling solutions. Here, three key points are mentioned before establishing fiber optic links for your network performance, like fiber optic construction, fiber principles, and versus among different cable types.

Fiber optic cable is a cable made of glass and capped at either end with connectors. It cannot bear sharp bending or longitudinal stress because of its glass material. Thus, special construction techniques are used to allow the fiber to move freely within a tube. Usually fiber optic cables contain several fibers, a strong central strength member, and one or more metal sheaths for mechanical protection (image shown below). Some cables also consist of copper pairs for auxiliary applications. These cables are featured with low insertion loss and return loss, high durability (more than 500 times mating), as well as temperature stability (operating temperature: -20 to +75 ℃). For these characteristics, fiber optic cables are one of the fastest-growing transmission media in optical network systems.

Fiber optic cables’ delicacy and great ability to carry light over either short or long distances are owing to some fundamental physics concerning refraction and reflection of light. Since there exists differences in speeds that the light can travel through different materials, whenever a ray of light passes from one transparent medium to another, the light is affected by the interface between the two materials. Each material can be described based on its refractive index, which is the ratio of the speed of light in the material to its speed in free space. This relationship between these two refractive indexes determines the critical angle of the interface between the two materials.

Fiber optic cables are available in different types, such as breakout cable and distribution cable, indoor cable and outdoor cable.

Breakout cables are made of several simplex cables bundled together. These cables are used to carry fibers that have individual connectors attached, rather than being connected to a patch panel. They are designed to provide the ease of connector installation on optical fiber. Their typical use in fiber optical systems is for 40Gigabit links. Like QSFP+ breakout cable (fiber version), the QSFP to 4x SFP+ breakout active optical cable assembly offers a cost-effective interconnect solution for 40Gigabit links. Take Cisco QSFP-4X10G-AOC10M for example, Fiberstore compatible Cisco QSFP-4X10G-AOC10M runs over breakout active optical cable (AOC) for 40G interconnection. The following figure shows what the QSFP-4X10G-AOC10M product looks like.

Distribution cables have several tight-buffer cables bundled under the same jacket. They can be directly terminated. However, because distribution cables are not individually reinforced, they need to be broken out with a "breakout box” or terminated inside a patch panel or junction box.

Indoor or outdoor cable uses dry-block technology to seal ruptures against moisture seepage and gel-filled buffer tubes to halt moisture migration, suitable for aerial, duct, tray, and riser applications.

After discussion, maybe you have obtained a better understanding of fiber optic cables, which helps you to establish your fiber optic links. As a leading fiber optical product manufacturer and supplier, Fiberstore offers various kinds of fiber optic cables, including QSFP+ breakout cable mentioned above (available in both copper and fiber versions). For more information about fiber optic cables, you can visit Fiberstore.

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