Tag Archives: MTP connector

Why Is Plenum Cable Important to High Density Data Centers?

In most terrible building or house fire disasters, combustible plastics (PVC) used in the wiring are always among the very things that contribute to the rapid spread of fire and toxic smoke. And the air conditioning systems even help the toxic smoke given off by the burning cables to spread throughout the building quickly. As for the high density data center with high speed computing equipment and large amount of plastic jacketed cables, it is crucial to take measures to reduce the damage in an unwanted fire. How to make the crucial data center a safer place? The high quality plenum cable (eg. MTP fiber) can be one of the best choices.

break-down of precision air conditioning system might lead to fire incident

The break-down of precision air conditioning system might lead to fire incident.

Plenum Cable for Data Center Environment

Plenum space is an area used for return of air circulation or air conditioning systems. In a data center, the spaces covered by the precision air conditioning unit are often necessary to deploy plenum products. They include not only plenum containment that separates cold aisle and hot aisle, but also plenum cables that meet the highest fire code requirements. Both electric cables and fiber optic cables are required to be plenum rated (CMP) when they are installed in inner walls and inner ceilings of data center buildings.

Cold aisle containment (left) and hot aisle containment (right) in a precision air conditioning unit.

Cold aisle containment (left) and hot aisle containment (right) in a precision air conditioning unit.

MTP Plenum Fiber: Get Safety and High Bandwidth at the Same Time

The integration of plenum jacket and MTP fiber is a perfect solution for high density data center applications. The safety feature of the plenum cable and the high fiber port count of MTP connector endow the data center with two essential components. By using MTP plenum cable, the possible danger that might be caused by cables located at cold aisle and hot aisle can be minimized when a fire incident occurs. In addition, the high bandwidth demands within a limited space in data center can be satisfied.

safe and high speed mtp plenum cable

Use MTP plenum cable to get safety and high bandwidth at the same time.

When buying MTP fibers, be sure to check if it is genuine plenum rated and the MTP connector should meet the physical connection standard for acceptable insertion loss. When burnt, plenum cable will give off little smoke, and the color of the smoke is light instead of dark. FS MTP plenum cables are made of Corning fiber and U.S. Conec MTP connector. They are all tested and guaranteed by 3D interferometry and the insertion loss is no more than 0.35 dB. No matter it is the plenum jacket, the inner fiber, the connector, or the end face geometry, they are all genuine parts and in high quality. They can be checked by any user without a problem.

FS high quality MTP plenum cable made of U.S. Conec connector and Corning fiber.

FS high quality MTP plenum cable made of U.S. Conec connector and Corning fiber.

Things You Should Know About Ribbon Optical Cable

Local area network (LAN) campus and building backbones, as well as data center backbones, are migrating to higher cabled fiber counts to meet increasing system bandwidth needs. Ribbon optical cables are now being deployed to meet this need, as they provide the highest fiber density relative to cable size, maximize utilization of pathway and spaces and facilitate ease of termination. This article may provide some knowledge of ribbon optical cable.

Ribbon Optical Cable Design

Ribbon optical cable is now being widely used in campus, building and data center backbone applications where fiber counts of more than 24 are required. This kind of fiber optic cable offers robust performance equivalent to the stranded loose tube cable. It provides the maximum fiber density relative to cable diameter when compared to stranded loose tube and tight-buffered cable designs. The cable design characteristically consists of 12 to 216 fibers organized inside a central tube. There are two kinds of jacket material for ribbon optical cable. Non-flame-retardant jacket material is often used in outdoor applications while flame-retardant outer jackets are used for indoor applications. Picture below shows a basic construction of ribbon optical cable.

Ribbon Optical Cable

MTP Connector Makes a Easy Ribbon Optical Cable Termination

For many years, people have been reluctant to use ribbon optical cable in the LAN and data center because 12-fiber ribbon fiber optic cable field terminations were limited. With the introduction of field-installable 12-fiber array connectors, 12-fiber ribbons are easily terminated with simplex and duplex connectors such as LC or SC connectors or with the MTP connector. The MTP connector (shown in the picture below) is a 12-fiber push/pull optical connector with a foot-print similar to the SC simplex connector. These high-density connectors are used to significantly accelerate the network cabling process, minimize errors and reduce congestion in patch panels.

Today, the MTP connector is commonly available in preterminated form—as a pigtail to be spliced onto a 12-fiber ribbon, or as a MTP patch cord which is terminated on each end (shown in the picture below). Many end-users are now using preterminated cables where the cable is factory terminated with MTP connectors and/or simplex or duplex connectors to ensure the highest quality connector insertion loss and return loss performance and to expedite the cable installation.

MTP patch cord

Ribbon Optical Cable Greatly Saves the Pathway and Spaces

Optimal cabled fiber density in data-center pathway and spaces is important to facilitate efficient cooling systems as well as for removal of abandoned cable in accordance, so it’s essential to maximize use of pathway and spaces. Ribbon fiber cables offer up to 45 percent space savings, and three times the fiber-tray capacity over traditional bulkier cable solutions. At the same time, it also minimizes the cable tray weight.

Conclusion

Because the ribbon optical cable offers the highest fiber packing density to maximize pathway and space utilization in ducts and raceways as well as patch panels, it is now being deployed in areas where stranded loose tube and tight-buffered cable have historically been used. Fiberstore provide all kinds of ribbon optical cables (12 to 216 ﬁbers) and MTP connectors, as well as MTP truck patch cables with low price and high quality. For more information, please visit www.fs.com.

MTP VS MPO: What’s the Difference?

In regard to multi-fiber connector, many will think of MTP connector while the others will think it is MPO connector. In most cases, these two kinds of connectors can be considered the same. Actually, they are a little different not only in names but also in some other aspects. MTP VS MPO: what’s the difference? This post will clarify the differences between these two.

MTP VS MPO: What’s an MPO Connector?

As the industry acronym for “Multi-fiber Push On”, MPO is developed to provide multi-fiber connection in one connector to support higher bandwidth and higher density applications. MPO connector is standardized in the international regulatory framework (the IEC 61754-7 standard) and the U.S. (TIA-604-5 Standard ). At present, the most common fiber counts are 12 and 24, and 48 to 72 fiber counts are also possible in limited applications.

MTP VS MPO: What’s an MTP Connector?

MTP is a registered trade mark of US Conec. In other words, MTP connector is used by US Conec to describe their multi-fiber connector initially. Now MTP is commonly referred to as a high performance MPO connector. So MTP connectors are fully compliance with all generic MPO connectors and can interconnect directly with other MPO based infrastructures.

MTP VS MPO: What’s the Difference?

As mentioned above, MTP connector is an enhanced version of MPO connector. This means Generic MPO connectors are limited in performance and are not able to offer the high performance levels of MTP connectors. Generally, MTP connectors are superior to generic MPO connectors in the following aspects:

Mental Pin Clamp

The MTP connector has a metal pin clamp to ensure a strong clasp on the pins and minimize any inadvertent breaking when mating connectors. While MPO connectors are often manufactured with inferior plastic pin clamps which may lead to effortless breaking of pins with constant cable mating.

Floating Ferrule

An important feature of MTP is its floating ferrule, which will help to improve mechanical performance. To be specific, The MT ferrule of MTP connectors can float inside to keep physical contact over a mated pair under an applied load. Generic MPO connector do not have this ferrule float feature.

Elliptical Shaped Guide Pins

MTP connectors use tightly held tolerance stainless steel elliptical guide pin tips to reduce guide hole wear. Unlike single fiber connectors, the adapters for multi-fiber connectors are only for coarse alignment. Thus the guide pins are critical for accurate alignment when mating two MT ferrules. The elliptical shaped pins of MTP connectors does not chip the ferrule material which helps to reduce the amount of debris that may fall into the guide pin holes or on the ferrule end face. Generic MPO connectors have chamfered shaped guide pins which will produce more debris when used.

Removable Housing

The MTP connector is designed to have a removable housing. This allows users to re-work and re-polish the MT ferrule, to easily get access to performance testing and to smoothly change the gender after assembly or even in the field.

Higher Optical Signal Performance

The generic MPO connector is recognized as an international standard for network architects who require density and strive for shorter install times, as well as simplified cabling infrastructure for their 40G/100G data centers. However, in higher fiber count MPO cabling, using MPO connectors will have problems with optical loss (measured in dB), dropped packets and diminished network visibility.

The MTP connector is a high performance MPO connector with multiple engineered product enhancements to improve optical and mechanical performance. It is designed to ensure the precision alignment of the female and male sides. This is critical to reducing insertion loss and return loss in dense, multi-mode fiber connectivity. MTP/MPO connector

Conclusion

MTP VS MPO: Do you know the differences between them now? They are both widely used in high density cabling networks, especially in 40G/100G data centers. MPO is an internationally recognized standard interface for connector manufacturers. While MTP is one type of MPO connector. It is a brand owned by US Conec. If you are planning to build a multi-fiber network, a cable with MTP connectors will give you the best over-life performance. MPO connectors will also work, but may not perform to the same level.

MTP/MPO Cable Assembly – the Game Changer of Data Center Cabling

Fiber Optic Cabling Solutions

The largest solutions of pre-terminated fiber optics, including multimode and single-mode patch cords, MTP/MPO fiber trunks and harnesses, plug-n-play modules/cassettes and fiber enclosures.