OM4 Fibre Optic Cabling

OM4 Fibre Optic Cabling for NEXT-GENERATION Data Centers. Brace yourself for a new generation of public cloud data centre applications. The Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) has approved cabling standards that are set to redefine the entire world of network infrastructure as we know it. Multi mode OM1 OM2 OM3 is well known, with OM1 and OM2 now rapidly becoming legacy fibres. OM2 OM3 and OM4 all have a 50-micron core. The main difference is that OM3 and OM4 fibre is laser-optimized.

There has been a request made by the TIA committee recently that will see the standards for their optical fibre, which they say is suitable for manufacturing OM4 cables, being published.

Popularly referred to as the “OM4 Fibre,” the next level of the multimode fibre performance was to be detailed completely on a standard by the TIA.

So when there was a recent TIA standard (492AAAD) brought out and taken through a process of balloting, it carried with it a significant purpose.

OM4 and Industry Standards

The new TIA fibre standard has been developed so as to well satisfy the needs and expectations of many industry leaders. Who had earlier suggested that the specifications for the new OM4 fibre be within the values of 40-Gbit/sec and 100-Gbit/sec Ethernet.

Distances of data centres, as well as the cost and bandwidth demand, were all taken into account when coming up with the new standards for the OM4 fibre cable.

The ability of OM4 specifications to effectively address data centre application needs have been validated. Thanks to the adoption of new fibre standards within application standards which are coming up.

The IEEE 802.3ba task force in May 2009 referenced the document. Which was put out by the TIA within the organization coming up with Ethernet standards of 40-Gbit and 100-Gbit.

On the other hand parallel transmissions which are on multimode fibres are bound to give out optical connectivity which are of low-cost.

Multimode fibre is seen as the most cost-effective solution for individuals or even groups and companies that are looking at protecting their data centers investments in the future. Thanks to the fact that it can support transmission rates of 40 G-bits/sec as well as 100 G-bits/sec.

In its revision FC-PI-5 (published – September 21, 2010) OM4 fibre is set to be specified, this is according to the agreement which was reached upon by ANSI INCITS T11. This will help in defining fibre channel of 16-gigabit.

OM4 Technology choices

Technology choices for the new standards of the fibre channel are already in the works. They feature the use of serial transmission with nanometer lasers of 850 for which optimizing has been done for the lazer. In addition to that, the OM4 will be specified for fibre channel rates of 8- and 4-gigabit.

The most cost-effective fibre solution for data rates which surpass the capability of the modulation of today’s lasers of 850-nm is the parallel transmission solutions.

This is possible due to the fact that they are able to employ multiple multimode fibres. For this reason, the IEEE 802.3 selected this technique for Ethernet of the next generation.

By deploying cabling infrastructure which is multimode in nature and offer migration path to the parallel transmission and option for using either multiple wavelengths or fibres, you will be prepping the network to be able to handle data rates which are high and at costs which are very low.

OM4 vs Singlemode – What to choose?

When it comes to singlemode systems, it has been proven that they are able to effectively achieve long distances using just two fibres.

That said it’s good to note that when it comes to data centres, making use of a single mode system when it comes to reaching meters that total up to 10,000 will lead to a vast overkill in cost as well as capability. This aspect alone makes the multimode system the best choice.

An array connectivity that is based on a multimode fibre solution and one that is able to support longer distances with a broader wavelength spectrum, as well as higher data rates and parallel connectivity, is arguably the best investment.

Conclusion

Considering all the above, your best option is in an array-connectivity-based multimode fibre solution that supports longer reaches, higher data rates, broader wavelength spectrum, and parallel connectivity for future applications.

OM4 Fiber Optic Cable for the Australian Data Centre – Anderson Corporation has a huge range of options of all your OM4 cabling needs. We stock many different fiber types,

Tight buffer – Indoor Outdoor Optical Fibre

Loose Tube – Outdoor

Multimode fiber optic

Single mode fiber

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