The difference between the fiber optic and network cabling

Nowadays fiber optic cable are adapted in many fields and families. But there still some families use the network cabling. So, is is possible that the optical fiber replace network cable? And What is the difference between optical fiber and network cable?

In the telecommunications industry, the contest between optical fiber and copper cable has lasted for more than ten years. Nowadays, with the continuous emergence of new services such as cloud computing and 5G, the scale of data centers continues to expand, and their architecture and cabling are becoming more and more complex. The lightweight and gradual reduction of optical fiber makes the backbone network equipment less effective than optical fiber. The demand is also growing, and the proportion of optical fiber in large data centers is as high as 70%, which is much higher than that of copper cables. Does this mean that copper cables will be completely replaced by optical fibers? actually not.

Can optical fiber replace network cable?

In power supply applications such as voice signal transmission and wireless access, and POE power supply systems, optical fibers cannot replace copper cables.

First, because copper cables are different from optical fibers in that they transmit data through electrical pulses and can support voice signals. Therefore, copper cables can be used for voice transmission, but optical fibers cannot.

Second, because the glass fiber used in the optical fiber cannot conduct electricity, and the copper in the copper cable can conduct electricity, the copper cable can supply electricity while performing data connections, so it is widely used in wireless access and POE power supply. System, LED-based power system, etc.

Optical fiber and copper wire are two common data center transmission media. Both have anti-interference and good confidentiality. So what is the difference between optical fiber and copper wire? The difference between the two is mainly reflected in the following four aspects:

1. Transmission distance

Generally speaking, the transmission distance of copper wire does not exceed 100m, and the maximum transmission distance of optical fiber can reach 100km (single-mode fiber), which far exceeds the transmission distance of copper wire.

2. Transmission rate

At present, the maximum transmission rate of copper wire can reach 40Gbps (such as eight types of network cables, DAC passive copper cables), and the maximum transmission rate of optical fibers can reach 100Gbps (such as OM4 fiber jumpers), far exceeding copper wires.

3. Maintenance and management

The operations such as the production of the crystal plug of the copper wire and the port connection of the equipment are very simple, while the operations such as the cutting and welding of the optical fiber and the equipment connection are very demanding and the operation is more complicated.

4. Price cost

In the case of the same length of optical fiber and copper wire, the price of optical fiber is generally slightly cheaper than that of copper wire, but the price of optical fiber plug-in equipment (such as optical fiber coupler, etc.) and construction is higher than that of copper wire, so in terms of project cost, The price cost of optical fiber is higher than the price cost of copper wire.

From the above comparison, optical fiber and copper wire have their own advantages. Copper cable still occupies an important position in applications such as voice transmission, indoor network, horizontal wiring, and POE system, and will not be completely replaced by optical fiber. Copper technology currently It is still under constant research and development in order to meet the demand for more device connections in the future, so there is no need to worry about it being eliminated by the times.