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networking > connect up > optical technologies

Optical Technologies

Optical fibre has extraordinary capacity for data and is now a common, and preferred cabling media. Its high speed and immunity to electrical interference make it an ideal choice in industrial electrically noisy environments.

The glass fibres must be terminated with robust connectors to hold the ends of the hair-like fibres against the transmitting lasers and receiving diodes.

Be careful if you are ever working with optical fibre. The wavelength used for the lasers are not always visible and can be quite powerful, and under no circumstances should the optical fibre be checked for "light" with the naked eye. It may not appear to be working- but it could be, you just can’t see it! Even reflections off any shiny surfaces such as glass or metal can be dangerous.

The photo showw a pair of optical fibre terminators plugged into a switch. One fibre is used for receiving data and the other fibre is used for sending data. Optical cable will often have 8 fibres allowing 4 connections. Only one connection pair may be used initially but an 8 fibre cable will provide 3 extra connections for future upgrades without relaying the cable.

Older versions of optical fibre interfaces simply provided data exchange through the Ethernet RJ45 plugs.

The optical fibres also need to be terminated into a type of patch panel as the photo shows above.

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