Tag Archives: MMF

40G Deployment: The Cost Difference Between SMF and MMF

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40G network are now being extensively adopted within LANs and data centers. 100G is still predominantly in the carrier network, but could soon extend its stretch to your local network. There exists much confusion as to whether to choose single-mode fiber (SMF) or multimode fiber (MMF) for deploying 40G bandwidth, considering the single mode vs multimode fiber cost. As well as how to get fully prepared for scaling to higher-speed 100G. If you are hesitating to make the choice, you may find this article helpful.

40G Cost: Difference Between SMF and MMF

Multimode Fiber (MMF): Cost-effective With Higher Tolerance to Dirt

Cost-effectiveness: Multimode fiber (MMF) has been evolving to handle the escalating speed: OM3 has been superseded by OM4 and OM5 is there ready to use. MMF has a wider array of short distance transceivers that are easier to get. One of the liable argument that in favor of using MMF is that multimode optics use less power than single-mode ones, but only in condition that you have tens of thousands of racks. In essence, MMF still has its position under certain circumstances, like cabling within the same rack, in Fiber Channel and for backbone cabling in some new construction buildings.

smf mmf

Tolerance to Dirt: Multimode fiber tends to have a lot more tolerance to dirty connections than single-mode fiber. It can handle very dirty couples or connectors to ensure reliable and consistent link performance. Besides, it is easy to terminate, and more accommodating bend radius. So MMF is preferred by links that change frequently or are less than permanent.

smf mmf

Single-mode Fiber (SMF): Higher Capability and Better Future-proofing

Speed capability: Capacities are really vital for network growth. SMF does so with relatively larger capability than that of MMF. The gap between SMF and MMF cabling is much wider for high-density, high-speed networks. If you want to go further with SMF, say scaling to 100G or beyond, you simply need to upgrade the optics. Unlike using MMF, in which you have to upgrade the glass (OM3 to OM4 to OM5), the labor cost concerning this cannot be underestimated. The capacity for scaling of SMF alone makes it worth the cost. You can use single-mode for almost everything, no need for media conversion. SMF offers enough bandwidth to last a long time, making it possible to upgrade 100 Gbps to Tbps with CWDM/DWDM.

smf mmf

Future proofing: Despite the fact that SM optical transceivers usually cost higher than MM optics, SMF cabling is cheaper and can support much longer distance and reliable performance. Not to mention that bandwidth on SMF keeps going up and up on the same old glass. The good news is that the cost of SMF is dropping in recent years, and it is redesigning to run with less power, thus advocators of SMF think that it is pretty much the only rational choice for infrastructure cabling and the sure winner for today and tomorrow.

SMF and MMF: A Simple Comparison of Cost

There is no doubt that SMF is a better investment in the long run, but MMF still has a long way to go in data center interconnections. In fact the price difference of SMF optics and MMF optics can be minimized if you choose the right solution. Assuming to connect two 40G devices at 70 m away, let’s see the single mode vs multimode fiber cost for deployment in the following chart.

Module Connector Type SMF or MMF Price 2 Connections 4 Connections 6 Connections
40GBASE-SR4 MPO12 MMF, OM4 $49.00 $564.48 $1128.96 $1693.44
40GBASE-BiDi LC MMF, OM4 $300.00 $1534.24 $2734.24 $3934.24
40GBASE-LR4 LC SMF, OS2 $340.00 $1,609.84 $2,969.84 $4,329.84
80 Gbit 160 Gbit 240 Gbit

 

Conclusion

Choosing the right fiber for your network application is a critical decision. Understanding your system requirements in order to select the appropriate fiber will maximize the value and performance of your cabling system. Be sure to select the right cable on the basis of aspects including link length, performance, and of course costs. FS provides a broad range of 40G optical transceivers and fiber patch cables with superior quality and fair price. For more details, please visit www.fs.com.

Related Article: Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber: What’s the Difference? 


SMF or MMF? Which Is the Right Choice for Data Center Cabling?

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Selecting the right cabling plant for data center connectivity is critically important. The wrong decision could leave a data center incapable of supporting future growth, requiring an extremely costly cable plant upgrade to move to higher speeds. In the past, due to high cost of single-mode fiber (SMF), multimode fiber (MMF) has been widely and successfully deployed in data center for many years. However, as technologies have evolved, the difference in price between SMF and MMF transceivers has been largely negated. With cost no longer the dominant decision criterion, operators can make architectural decisions based on performance. Under these circumstances, should we choose SMF or MMF? This article may give you some advice.

MMF Can’t Reach the High Bandwidth-Distance Needs
MMF datacenterBased on fiber construction multimode fiber has different classifications types that are used to determine what optical signal rates are supported over what distances. Many data center operators who deployed MMF OM1/OM2 fiber a few years ago are now realizing that the older MMF does not support higher transmit rates like 40GbE and 100GbE. As a result, some MMF users have been forced to add later-generation OM3 and OM4 fiber to support standards-based 40GbE and 100GbE interfaces. However, multimode fiber’s physical limitations mean that as data traffic grows and interconnectivity speeds increase, the distance between connections must decrease. The only alternative in an multimode fiber world is to deploy more fibers in parallel to support more traffic. Therefore, while MMF cabling has been widely and successfully deployed for generations, its limitations now become even more serious. Operators must weigh unexpected cabling costs against a network incapable of supporting new services.

SMF Maybe a Viable Alternative
Previously, organizations were reluctant to implement SMF inside the data center due to the cost of the pluggable optics required, especially compared to MMF. However, newer silicon technologies and manufacturing innovations are driving down the cost of SMF pluggable optics. Transceivers with Fabry-Perot edge emitting lasers (single-mode) are now comparable in price and power dissipation to VCSEL (multimode) transceivers. Besides, Where MMF cable plants introduce a capacity-reach tradeoff, SMF eliminates network bandwidth constraints. This allows operators to take advantage of higher-bit-rate interfaces and wave division multiplexing (WDM) technology to increase by three orders of magnitude the amount of traffic that the fiber plant can support over longer distances. All these factors make SMF a more viable option for high-speed deployments in data centers.

SMF datacenter

Comparison Between SMF and MMF
10GbE has become the predominant interconnectivity interface in large data centers, with 40GbE and 100GbE playing roles in some high-bandwidth applications. Put simply, the necessity for fiber cabling that supports higher bit rates over extended distances is here today. With that in mind, the most significant difference between SMF and MMF is that SMF provides a higher spectral efficiency, which means it supports more traffic over a single fiber using more channels at higher speeds. This is in stark contrast to multimode fiber, where cabling support for higher bit rates is limited by its large core size. This effectively limits the distance higher speed signals can travel over MMF fiber. In fact, in most cases, currently deployed MMF cabling is unable to support higher speeds over the same distance as lower-speed signals.

Name Interface FP (SMF) VCSEL (MMF)
Link Budget (dB)
— 4 to 6 2
Reach (in meters) (Higher value is better)
10GbE 1300 300
40GbE 1300 150
100GbE 1300 <100

Conclusion
As operators consider their cabling options, the tradeoff between capacity and reach is important. Network operators must assess the extent to which they believe their data centers are going to grow. For environments where users, applications, and corresponding workload are all increasing, single mode fiber offers the best future proofing for performance and scalability than multimode fiber. And because of fundamental changes in how transceivers are manufactured, those benefits can be attained at prices comparable to SMF’s lower performing alternative.

Source: Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber: What’s the Difference?

What’s the Difference: Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber

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fiber cable diagAn optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of extruded glass or plastic, slightly thicker than a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber and find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths than wire cables. Optical fibers typically include a transparent core surrounded by a transparent cladding material with a lower index of refraction. Light is kept in the core by the phenomenon of total internal reflection which causes the fiber to act as a waveguide. In general, there are two kinds of optical fiber: fibers that support many propagation paths or transverse modes are called multimode fibers (MMF), while those that support a single mode are called single mode fibers (SMF). Single mode vs multimode fiber: what’s difference between them? Reading this text will help you get the answer.

Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber: What’s single mode optical fiber?

In fiber-optic communication, a single mode optical fiber (SMF) is an optical fiber designed to carry light only directly down the fibre – the transverse mode. For single mode optical fiber, no matter it operates at 100 Mbit/s or 1 Gbit/s date rates , the transmission distance can reach to at least 5 km. Typically, it is used for long-distance signal transmission.

single mode fiber

Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber: What’s multimode optical fiber?

Multimode optical fiber (MMF) is a type of optical fiber mostly used for communication over short distances, such as within a building or on a campus. Typical transmission speed and distance limits are 100 Mbit/s for distances up to 2 km (100BASE-FX), 1 Gbit/s up to 1000m, and 10 Gbit/s up to 550 m. There are two kinds of multimode indexes: step index and graded index.

multimode fiber

What’s difference between single mode optical fiber and multimode?

  • Core diameter

The main difference between multimode and single mode fiber is that the former has much larger core diameter, typically has a core diameter of 50 or 62.5 µm and a cladding diameter of 125 µm. While a typical single mode fiber has a core diameter between 8 and 10 µm and a cladding diameter of 125 µm.

Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber

  • Optical source
    Both lasers and LEDs are used as light sources. Laser light sources are significantly more expensive than LED light sources however they produce a light that can be precisely controlled and which has a high power. Because the LED light sources produce a more dispersed light source (many modes of light) these light sources are used with multimode
    cable. While a laser source is used (which produces close to a single mode of light) with single mode cable.

Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber

  • Bandwidth
    Since multimode fiber has a larger core-size than single mode fiber, it supports more than one propagation mode. Besides, like multimode fibers, single-mode fibers do exhibit modal dispersion resulting from multiple spatial modes, but the modal dispersion of single mode fiber is less than multi-mode fiber. For these reasons, single mode fibers can have a higher bandwidth than multi-mode fibers.
  • Jacket color
    Jacket color is sometimes used to distinguish multimode cables from single mode ones. The standard TIA-598C recommends, for non-military applications, the use of a yellow jacket for single mode fiber, and orange or aqua for multimode fiber, depending on type. Some vendors use violet to distinguish higher performance OM4 communications fiber from other types.

Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber

  • Modal dispersion
    The LED light sources sometimes used with multimode fiber produce a range of wavelengths and these each propagate at different speeds. This will lead to much modal dispersion, which is a limit to the useful length for multimode fiber optic cable. In contrast, the lasers used to drive single mode fibers produce coherent light of a single wavelength. Hence its modal dispersion is much less than multimode fiber. Due to the modal dispersion, multimode fiber has higher pulse spreading rates than single mode fiber, limiting multimode fiber’s information transmission capacity.

Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber

  • Price
    For multimode fiber can support multiple light mode, the price of it is higher than single-mode fiber. But in terms of the equipment, because single mode fiber normally uses solid-state laser diodes, therefore, the equipment for single mode fiber is more expensive than equipment for multimode fiber. And for this reason , the cost of using multimode fiber is much less than using single-mode fiber instead.

Single Mode vs Multimode Fiber: What kind of optical fiber should I choose?

This is based on transmission distance to be covered as well as the overall budget allowed. If the distance is less than a couple of miles, multimode fiber will work well and transmission system costs (transmitter and receiver) will be in the $500 to $800 range. If the distance to be covered is more than 3-5 miles, single mode fiber is the choice. Transmission systems designed for use with this fiber will typically cost more than $1000 due to the increased cost of the laser diode. Single mode vs multimode fiber: Do you know the differences now?

Related Article: Single Mode Fiber: How Much Do You Know?

Comparison Between OS1 and OS2 SMF Cables