Thursday, April 7, 2011

What Is The Big Deal About Fiber Optical Cables?

By Areelitaha Joahlanski


Lately, there has been a lot of buzz about fiber optical cables. But what are they and what can they do for your business? Is the current cabling infrastructure of your business obsolete or at risk? Why should you be interested in fiber?

Many companies of every size are converting their current cable infrastructures from Ethernet cable to fiber. Some of them may not even realize why they are doing it aside from that a technology guru told them that they should. Well, there are some reasons to upgrade to fiber optical cables, but you will need to determine if your business needs it.

If your network is run on Ethernet cables, otherwise known as Category-5 or Cat-5, chances are that is sufficient for your business. Cat-5 is comprised of four 24-gauge copper wires that are unshielded and has RJ-45 jacks on either ends. It basically looks like a thick phone line with larger jacks. Cat-5 can transmit data in the form of electrical signals at 10 megabits per second. Cat-5e, or enhanced, is capable of 1000 megabits per second, which is known a gigabit Ethernet. Cat-5 cable can only transmit up to 300 feet and is susceptible to interference and can be easily tapped.

Instead of electrical signals, fiber cables use light to transmit data. It is still unknown how fast transmissions can be with fiber optics, but it is exponentially higher than Cat-5e. The light can also be transmitted well over 1,500 miles under certain circumstances with optical cables.

Anyhow, there are two significant advantages of fiber in a business. The first is that the light is entrapped within the cable. Because it is light and not electric signals, it is not influenced or degraded by outside factors. Cat-5, like phone wire, can be degraded by many factors. Running many Cat-5 cables near each other or near electric lines can degrade network performance and waste bandwidth.

Even more significant is that fiber is secure. Copper wires like Cat-5 can easily be tapped into by corporate spies or disgruntled employees. They can collect all of the data that is transmitted through Cat-5 very easily and inexpensively. Worst of all, these devices are almost impossible to detect unless visual inspections are made on the entire length of all cables. Fiber, on the other hand, cannot be tapped. If the fiber is broken at all, the light will not transmit.

Overall, fiber optical cables offer better transmission and far superior security than their copper counterparts. If your business has fears of corporate espionage or inside threats, fiber is definitely an upgrade that you cannot afford to pass up.




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