What Are The Benefits And Drawbacks Of Fiber Optic Networks?

by Bobby Coyle

Fiber optic networking transmits data by passing light pulses through almost invisible glass or plastic fibers. These fibers serve as waveguides, transporting light signals over great distances with little loss. Fiber optic cables preserve data integrity by delivering light signals that are immune to electromagnetic interference, in contrast to conventional copper cables that transmit data as electrical signals susceptible to interference and degradation.

Bonelinks provides a range of high-end fiber optic equipment that enhances the performance and dependability of data center networks. Managers of data centers that need to make sure their networks can support high-speed data transmission and significant amounts of data traffic will find our products to be the perfect solution. These items, which include fiber patch panels, fiber optic network solutions, and fiber optic enclosures, can assist data center managers in building a structured, effective, and scalable network architecture.

Benefits of Fiber Optic Network

The benefits of fiber optic cabling help to explain why it is increasingly chosen as the Medium for high-bandwidth, long-distance network cabling:

Resistance to Electromagnetic Interference

Because optical fiber does not conduct electricity, fiber-optic cabling is resistant to crosstalk and transmits data using Rather than electrical impulses traveling via a metallic conductor, light signals are sent through a glass fiber. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is a problem that affects all copper cable network media. It is therefore unable to generate a magnetic field, making it immune to EMI.

Higher Data Rates Are Possible

Fiber optic cable methods enable far faster data speeds than conventional copper networks because the Light is impervious to interference and can be manipulated at extremely high frequencies and arrives at its destination relatively instantly.

Single-mode fiber optic cables are the preferred medium for transcontinental and oceanic applications because they can transmit data at these multi-gigabit data rates over extremely long distances, reaching and exceeding the gigabit per second (Gbps) range. For distances of 100-550 meters, multimode fiber optics are preferred.

Longer Maximum Distance

The typical copper medium has a maximum length of less than 100 meters for data transmission. Single-mode fiber optic cables can span 75 kilometers (46.6 miles) without the use of signal-boosting repeaters because they are immune to the electromagnetic interference issues that traditional copper cabling faces and because they do not use electrical signals that can significantly shorten the long distance.

Better Security

Taps can be used to listen in on conversations using copper cable as the communication medium. A tap, sometimes known as a wiretap, is a tool that pierces a copper cable’s outer jacket and contacts the inner conductor. The tap redirects signals received on a LAN to a different (unwanted) destination.

Similar devices called electromagnetic (EM) taps employ the magnetic fields of the cable, which resemble the pattern of electrical impulses, rather than cutting the wire. Fiber optic cabling is utilized in networks that need to remain secure, like government and research networks, due to its resistance to conventional eavesdropping techniques.

Drawbacks of Fiber Optic Networks

Highly Susceptible

Due to the fiber optic cable’s small size and low resistance, it is very likely to be cut or damaged during installation or building tasks. Massive data transfer capacities can be achieved with fiber optic lines. Therefore, restoration, backup, and survivability must be taken into consideration when fiber optic cabling is selected as the communication medium.

High Cost

The increased cost of fiber optic cabling is mostly unrelated to modern cable. Fiber optic cable prices have decreased to levels that are equivalent to high-end UTP on a per-foot basis. Yet, the cables aren’t much more difficult to pull thanks to increases in available production capacity. For a PC, a fiber optic NIC costs at least four times as much.

Difficult To Install

Fiber optic cable splicing is challenging. If you bend them too far, they will also break. Additionally, fiber cable is quite prone to being cut or damaged during installation or building tasks. They all contribute to installation difficulties.

Summary

The advantages and drawbacks of fiber optic cable both exist. Optic fiber will eventually take the place of copper, nevertheless. Fiber optic cable is extensively utilized and has increased in use in today’s networks. As a top provider of optics, Bonelinks offers a variety of optical fiber cables for your service that are of the highest quality and least expensive.

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