Does anyone have any experience with any manufactures offering convertors for gigabit ethernet to fiber optics for a network expansion run?

Looking to connect two buildings (~400ft) via fiber to tie the networks together on my family's farm.

There's a lot of equipment out there, and price isn't too bad ~$200 per side (plus cost of cable).
I do need the gigabit speed, but I think/would like to get away with multimode fiber.

4/15/2007 3:20:35 PM

i've used these before:

http://www.neteon.net/prod.aspx?clvl=4&c1=1&c2=4&c3=24&p=56#curr

had to join together a couple rooms in a convention center.

never had a problem with them.

4/15/2007 4:06:18 PM

really high quality cat 5 would be sufficient and most likely cheaper...

this requires high quality cable AND connectors... but with such you can make that distance without a problem. But I mean, no arguments whatsoever against fiber...

and anybody saying all cat5 is the same hasn't done anything other than wire their own house for <100ft runs

4/15/2007 6:12:55 PM

That's just asking for trouble. 295 is the max distance per the spec. You might be able to get away with a longer run, but if you're dependent on your network to run your business, it's a stupid risk.

Also, cat5 is always a bad idea for gigE in a production network. Cat5e is really the minimum you want for gigE over copper.

And to the original question, in my experience, fiberdyne and netoptics are pretty solid, although your best bet is to have switches with fiber uplinks.

4/15/2007 6:48:27 PM

^agree with the fiber uplinks on your switches.

4/15/2007 9:31:03 PM

You can convert from ethernet to fiber through a switch. Some of those run in the hundreds, check out dell.

A lot of SFP multimode modules are rated for about 300m, so the distance shouldn't be a problem.

4/15/2007 9:38:47 PM

Next time I have a switch go out I would probably replace them with one with a fiber uplink, but I just got 2 linksys SR2016 for the other two buildings (which are linked by a Cat6 ethernet cable) so I don't want to invest in any switches at the moment.

I saw the aforementioned convertor in my research so I might look at that one for the install.

Thanks.

[Edited on April 15, 2007 at 9:50 PM. Reason : sp]

4/15/2007 9:46:20 PM

no prob, what you are doing should be relatively easy. The distance is pretty short, considering you are using fiber.

If you have an optical power meter, I would just double check the power readings when you start installing the fiber, just in case you get dirt in the SFPs or fiber ends.

[Edited on April 15, 2007 at 9:50 PM. Reason : .]

4/15/2007 9:50:06 PM

yes. clean fiber is a good thing

I just spent the weekend in NYC proving to a customer that the problem they've been having is related to dirty fiber and not our 10Gig Xenpaks being flaky.

4/16/2007 7:50:02 AM

bump for Grandmaster

Quote :

"The 4 GigE switches I've ordered all have fiber uplink (via GBIC cards). I'm considering running Bulk Fiber, Multimode, Duplex, 50 / 125, 1000' Spool ($200) to each of 3 locations (furthest being ~130ft) for future use. Thoughts? "

yeah, with such a short haul, bulk grade fiber is plenty. It'll even be fine for 10G.

10/13/2011 2:06:58 PM

|MDF|-----[50ft]-------|IDF1|-----[50ft]-------|IDF2|-----[25ft]-------|IDF3|

This looks like OM2 (orange) fiber. I started to scrap the whole thing once I started reading that you needed OM3 for 10G, but you're saying that's not the case? I don't know what the labor will be to run a strand of fiber along with the 25 pair voice feeds and cat5e data feeds, but the bttt was a cost:benefits request for 'future proofing'.

Terminating this looks to be an absolute nightmare for anyone that hasn't done it 1308493 times already.

10/13/2011 2:27:56 PM

Correct, you can even run 10G on OM1 (FDDI grade) fiber

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/modules/ps5455/prod_white_paper0900aecd806b8bcb.html

That whitepaper covers IEEE specs for running 10G-BASE-* over MMF.

yeah, terminating fiber is one of those things left to the experts. My post from '07 related to an installation that tried to do it in house and did not do a very good job.

10/13/2011 3:06:30 PM

So in your non-binding professional opinion, would you purchase two rolls of that bulk OM1/OM2 (which would give me 4 strands) for future use or am I thinking way too much for this particular application?

Like should these resources be rellocated to providing more conduit between the IDFs instead of a "run every type of cable you could possibly need" to future proof.

And thanks for the whitepaper.

[Edited on October 13, 2011 at 3:13 PM. Reason : ]

10/13/2011 3:12:05 PM

hard to say honestly -- I'm assuming that where the fiber is being run, you could fish more through the conduit after the fact, given the short runs?

or are you burying it?

if it's the latter, then my personal opinion would be redundant runs... but ultimately it's more of a business decision than a technical one, so I see why you'd be on the fence.

10/13/2011 3:29:51 PM

It's not being buried. You're right though, it's a business decision and I'm definitely on the fence.

The product I'm looking at is zipcord/duplex and appears to be for 'patching and desktop application' not necessarily to be used as a riser cable but that's where your comment on the short runs applies, yes?

ignorance and indecisiveness do not work well together. =(

10/13/2011 3:39:51 PM

http://www.discount-low-voltage.com/Cable/Pre-Terminated-Fiber-Assembly/6-Strand-250-Feet-In-Out-LC-to-LC-Pulling-Eye

Hmm...

This looks like a pretty cost effective method no? Trying to put together a spreadsheet, but I have to get a quote tomorrow on how long it's going to take to pull ($95/hr) as well as terminate (if I go with a spool of 10G OM3).

10/13/2011 8:49:51 PM