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Fiberstore-white Paper-OM3 and OM4 in 40/100G Migration
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WHITE PAPER
Fiberstore White Paper | OM3 and OM4 in 40/100G Migration
To meet the continuously increased requirements, data center 40/100G migration is underway. Theinfrastructure of data centers for the 40G/100G should meet the requirements like high speed,reliability, manageability and flexibility. To meet these requirements, product solutions and theinfrastructure topology including cabling must be considered in unison. Cable deployment in thedata center plays an important part. The cable used in data center must be selected to providesupport for data rate applications not only of today but also the future. Today, two types ofmultimode fiber—OM3 and OM4 fibers (usually with aqua color)— have gradually become themedia choice of data center during 40/100G migration. This article illustrates OM3/OM4 multimodefibers in 40/100G migration in details.
Data Center and Multimode Fibers
Multimode fiber is being widely used in data centers. You might ask why not single-mode fiber? Theanswer is cost. As is known to all, the price of single-mode fiber is generally more expensive thanmultimode fiber. In addition multimode fibers provide a significant value proposition whencompared to single-mode fiber, as multimode fiber utilizes low cost 850 nm transceivers for serialand parallel transmission. If you had all money you wanted and you’d just run single-mode fiberwhich has all the bandwidth you need, then you can go plenty of distance. However, this perfectsituation would cost a lot of money. Thus, most data center would choose multimode fiber. OM1,OM2, OM3 and OM4 are the most popular multimode fiber. But OM3 and OM4 are gradually takingplace of OM1 and OM2 in data centers.
OM3 and OM4 in40/100G Migration
WHITE PAPER
Fiberstore White Paper | OM3 and OM4 in 40/100G Migration
OM stands for optical multimode. OM3 and OM4 are both laser-optimized multimode fibers with50/125 core, which are designed for use with 850nm VCSELS (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser)and are developed to accommodate faster networks such as 10, 40 and 100 Gbps. Compared withOM1 (62.5/125 core) and OM2 (50/125 core), OM3 and OM4 can transport data at higher rate andlonger distance. The following statistics (850nm Ethernet Distance) shows the main differencesbetween these four types multimode fibers, which can explain why OM3 and OM4 is more popularin data center now in some extent.
850nm Ethernet Distance
Fiber Type 1G 10G 40/100G
OM1 300 m 36 m N/A
OM2 500 m 86 m N/A
OM3 1 km 300 m 100 m
OM4 1 km 550 m 150 m
Why Use OM3 and OM4 in 40/100G Migration
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3ba 40/100G Ethernet Standard wasratified in June 2010. The standard provides specific guidance for 40/100G transmission withmultimode and single-mode fibers. OM3 and OM4 are the only multimode fibers included in thestandard. The reason why OM3 and OM4 are applied in 40/100G migration is that they can meetthe requirements for the migration cabling performance.
Bandwidth, total connector insertion loss and transmission distance are two three main factorsshould be considered when evaluation the performance needed for cabling infrastructure to meetthe requirements for 40/100G. These factors can impact the cabling infrastructure’s ability to meetthe standard’s distance of at least 100 meters over OM3 fiber and 150 meters over OM4 fiber. Thefollowing explains why OM3/OM4 are the chosen ones for 40/100G migration.
Get Higher Bandwidth With OM3/OM4Bandwidth is the first reason why OM3 and OM4 are used for 40/100G migration. OM3 and OM4are optimized for 850nm transmission and have a minimum 2000 MHz ∙ km and 4700 MHz ∙ kmeffective modal bandwidth (EMB). Comparing the OM1 and OM2 with a maximum 500 MHz ∙km,advantages of OM3 and OM4 are obvious. With a connectivity solution using OM3 and OM4 fibersthat have been measured using the minimum Effective Modal Bandwidth calculate technique, theoptical infrastructure deployed in the data center will meet the performance criteria set forth byIEEE for bandwidth.
Get Longer Transmission Distance With OM3/OM4The transmission distance of fiber optic cables will influence the data center cabling. The
WHITE PAPER
Fiberstore White Paper | OM3 and OM4 in 40/100G Migration
manageability and flexibility will be increased with fiber optic cables with longer transmissiondistance. OM3 fiber and OM4 fiber can support longer transmission distance compare with othertraditional multimode fibers. Generally OM3 fibers can run 40/100 Gigabit at 100 meters and OM4fibers can run 40/100 Gigabit at 150 meters. This high data rate and longer distance cannot beachieved by other traditional multimode fiber like OM1 and OM2. Employing OM3 fiber and OM4 in40/100G migration is required.
Get Lower Insertion Loss With OM3/OM4Insertion loss has always been an import factor that technically should consider during the datacenter cabling. This is because the total connector loss within a system channel impacts the abilityto operate over the maximum supportable distance for a given data rate. As total connector lossincreased, the supportable distance at that data rate decreases. According to the 40/100G standard,OM3 fiber is specified to a 100m distance with a maximum channel loss of 1.9dB, which includes a1.5dB total connector loss budget. And OM4 fiber is specified to a 150m distance with a maximumchannel loss of 1.5 dB, including a total connector loss budget of 1.0 dB. With low-loss OM3 andOM4 fiber, maximum flexibility can be achieved with the ability to introduce multiple connectormating into the connectivity link and longer supportable transmission distance can be reached.
OM3 or OM4?
Choosing OM3/OM4 is a wise and required choice for data center 40/100G migration. However,OM3 and OM4, which is better? Numerous factors can affect the choice. However, the applicationsand the total costs are always the main factors to consider to figure out whether OM3 or OM4 isneeded.
First, the connectors and the termination of the connectors for OM3 and OM4 fibers are the same.OM3 is fully compatible with OM4. The difference is just in the construction of fiber cable, whichmakes OM4 cable has better attenuation and can operate higher bandwidth at a longer distancethan OM3. Thus, the cost for OM4 fiber is higher than OM3. As 90 percent of all data centers havetheir runs under 100 meters, choosing OM3 comes down to a costing issue. However, looking in thefuture, as the demand increases, the cost will come down. Thus, OM4 might be the most viableproduct at some point soon.
No matter choosing OM3 or OM4, the migration is underway. With good performance like high datarate, long transmission distance and lower inserting loss, OM3/OM4 fiber is a must in data centermigration to 40/100G.
WHITE PAPER
Fiberstore White Paper | OM3 and OM4 in 40/100G Migration
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Notice: This document is for informational purposes only and does not set forth any warranty, expressed orimplied, concerning any equipment, equipment features, or service offered or to be offered by Fiberstore.Fiberstore reserves the right to make changes to this document at any time, without notice, and assumes noresponsibility for its use. This information document describes features that may not be currently available.Contact a Fiberstore sales team for information on feature and product availability.
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