Today’s Data Center includes a large number f bandwidth-intensive devices, like network servers, data storage systems, virtualization appliances, and backup devices. These devices require reliable cabling infrastructure to meet the increasing demands for higher-performance, -speed and -density. There are mainly two media available when planing careful structured cabling: fiber optics and copper. Followed is an overview of these two data transmission media.

Fiber optic cables, also called fiber patch cables, fiber optic patch cords, or fiber jumper cables, are made of pure glass. These layers contain cladding, stranded fibers and a jacket. Fiber optic cables terminate with optical connectors on one or two cable ends, deployed to link optical equipment and components to achieve data transfer and Internet connectivity between devices. This medium allows movement of data transfer at high speed and with great distances. Besides, their delicacy and ability in transmitting data earn trust and reliability from users.

Fiber optic cables are commonly referred to single-mode fibers (SMFs) and multi-mode fibers (MMFs). SMFs, usually in yellow, have one core and one pathway of light, which leads to more focused light at the center of a core. Thus, they are more suitable for transmitting data over longer distances than MMFs. As for MMFs, usually in orange, they have a larger core diameter and multiple pathways of light, so they can gather more light and signals than single-mode ones over shorter distances. Both SMFs and MMFs are widely used for 10G, 40G and 100G transmission, when combined with transceivers. Take 40G transmission for example, QSFP-40G-LR4 transceiver is designed for SMFs. Fiberstore compatible Cisco QSFP-40G-LR4 module supports link lengths of 10km on SMF for 40G optical links.

Copper cable, in most times, refers to twisted-pair copper cable. This medium consists of several copper wires surrounded by insulators and is designed to transmit electronic signals. The two insulated wires are twisted together to form a pair, and then the pair forms a balanced circuit.

Twisted-pair copper cable comes in two versions: shielded twisted pair (STP) and unshielded twisted pair (UTP). UTP cables are easier to complement, more wildly used and cheaper than their counterparts, STP cables. UTP cables are commonly used in Ethernet networks, while STP cables are in Token Ring networks. The image below show UTP cable (left) and STP cable (right).

Cables are all defined with characteristics, and fiber patch cables and twisted-pair copper cables are no exception. Attenuation and alien crosstalk are the two most important aspects for cables.

Attenuation means the loss or reduction in signal strength during transmission. In addition to distance, attenuation can also be added by the higher temperatures, metal conduits, as well as the low quality of cables. As for fiber patch cables, attenuation decreases with frequency and the lowset attenuation is happens at 1550mn, while the attenuation in copper cables increases with frequency, thus the higher the speed, the greater the signal loss.

Unwanted signal coupling from one component to another is called alien crosstalk (AXT). Fiber patch cables are free from this characteristic, AXT. In contrast, twisted-pair copper cables are sensitive to signals from other surrounding components.

Both fiber optic cables and copper cables play an important role in transmitting data at high speed. Fiberstore supplies various kinds of high-quality fiber optic cables and copper cables for your fast networks, including SMFs and MMFs mentioned above. You can visit Fiberstore for more information about fiber optic cables and copper cables.

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