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[Video] Network Connectivity: Cabling and Connectors

December 21, 2017

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It's more than just an acronym.


During a recent webinar we hosted Palo Alto’s Fuel User Group we posed a question to the members, ‘Have you installed an MPO/MTP® Connector in your network?’

With a resounding 'No' response, the results got us thinking that it’s important to familiarize our customers with the different types of cabling and connectors available on the market.

Watch the Demo on Cabling & Connectors Now!

In this video, I’ll go over some of the considerations to make when deciding between copper and fiber cables for your network, in addition to digging deeper into the cables and pluggables offered.

Media Specifications for Copper 10G Fiber

Media specifications for the different cables plays a large role in determining the maximum distance the cable can run.

Data Center Connections: 40G/100G

When you move to data speeds beyond 10G, you have different connections available depending on whether you're using single mode or multi-mode fiber. Single mode uses the LC connector, while multi-mode now uses the MPO connector and cable.

Making a Connection to 25G/40G/100G Pluggables

Using and MPO/MTP® 12 or 24 connector, you'll be able to connect to 40G-SR4, 100G-SR4 or 100G-SR10 pluggables.

MPO vs MTP®

MPO is the industry standard connector. MTP® is manufactured by US Conec. Garland utilizes MTP connectors, because the patent they have on their connector gives the lowest dB loss.

Cisco’s BiDi Optical Technology

If you haven’t run into this yet, I’m sure you will soon. Cisco’s BiDirectional technology allows you to utilize the same fiber for the send and receive traffic. This allows you to use the existing infrastructure you already have and boost traffic, all without dropping packets. 

 

If you’re ready to learn more about these different cables and pluggables, check out this quick video.

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Heartbeats Packets Inside the Bypass TAP

If the inline security tool goes off-line, the TAP will bypass the tool and automatically keep the link flowing. The Bypass TAP does this by sending heartbeat packets to the inline security tool. As long as the inline security tool is on-line, the heartbeat packets will be returned to the TAP, and the link traffic will continue to flow through the inline security tool.

If the heartbeat packets are not returned to the TAP (indicating that the inline security tool has gone off-line), the TAP will automatically 'bypass' the inline security tool and keep the link traffic flowing. The TAP also removes the heartbeat packets before sending the network traffic back onto the critical link.

While the TAP is in bypass mode, it continues to send heartbeat packets out to the inline security tool so that once the tool is back on-line, it will begin returning the heartbeat packets back to the TAP indicating that the tool is ready to go back to work. The TAP will then direct the network traffic back through the inline security tool along with the heartbeat packets placing the tool back inline.

Some of you may have noticed a flaw in the logic behind this solution!  You say, “What if the TAP should fail because it is also in-line? Then the link will also fail!” The TAP would now be considered a point of failure. That is a good catch – but in our blog on Bypass vs. Failsafe, I explained that if a TAP were to fail or lose power, it must provide failsafe protection to the link it is attached to. So our network TAP will go into Failsafe mode keeping the link flowing.

Glossary

  1. Single point of failure: a risk to an IT network if one part of the system brings down a larger part of the entire system.

  2. Heartbeat packet: a soft detection technology that monitors the health of inline appliances. Read the heartbeat packet blog here.

  3. Critical link: the connection between two or more network devices or appliances that if the connection fails then the network is disrupted.

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