Lanactive Switch to the Future
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LANactive Switch to the future Smart Guide to FTTO Q&A Session for Starters Introducing FTTO Most current IT infrastructures are based on a twenty year-old topology which simply can’t keep up with today’s – and tomorrow’s – network requirements. As new applications arrive and convergence increases, there’s a growing need for future-proof scalable infrastructures. These should support Gigabit Ethernet, smart security features and efficient energy consumption. In many cases Fibre To The Office (FTTO), a special last-mile technology for Gigabit Ethernet in office LAN, could be the solution. It can easily accommodate today’s rapidly increasing port density needs with tomorrow’s flexible and resilient network designs. FTTO couples high network reliability with an excellent cost-per-bit ratio. FTTO is ideal if you have, for example, over 200 user desks to connect or plan to implement server virtualisation, DC Ethernet, VoIP, WLAN, Video Conferencing, Building Automation Systems or other high bandwidth applications in the coming years. How do you make sure whether FTTO is the right solution for your cabling project? This Guide aims to provide some answers and definitions. LANactive What is FTTO? Definitions • FTTO (Fibre To The Office) is a special centralized cabling technology for LAN network office envi- ronments. The solution combines both passive fibre cabling and active FTTO Switches to provide end user devices with Gigabit Ethernet services. • Fibre is laid up vertically from the central building distributor straight to the office floor, and from the office floor horizontally right up to a FTTO Switch at the workplace. There is no need for Floor Distributors. Copper Cabling Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Copper Cabling Max. 90 m Fibre Optic Floor distributor Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Copper Cabling Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Copper Cabling Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace No floor distributors needed! Floor distributor Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Copper Cabling Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Copper Cabling Fibre Optic Structured cabling Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace No floor distributors needed! Building distributor (Copper based) Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace No floor distributors needed! No limit at 90 m Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace Workplace No need for floor distributors 550 m (Multimode) or > .000 m (Singlemode) between the Central Switch and End User Devices Building Distributor Structured Fibre To The Office More useable area due to less space cabling for technical equipment (Fibre based) LANactive What is FTTO? Definitions • The FTTO Switch ensures intelligent conversion from fibre to copper and vice versa. The FTTO Switch is installed at the workplace in cable ducts or floor boxes and has up to four copper RJ45 user ports to feed terminal devices with both data and power (in line with Power over Ethernet Protocol). • FTTO intelligently combines both fibre and copper for optimal network performance, offering the speed, reliability and long distance coverage of fibre plus all the Ethernet benefits of copper. This solution meets all current network requirements in terms of both flexibility, cost-efficiency and network interoperability and adds all the practical advantages of fibre. • FTTO equals traditional cabling performance but additionally provides significant cost benefits, espe- cially where large distances are to be covered or building requirements impose specific restrictions. GigaSwitch V3 SFP-2VI GigaSwitch V3 Desk TP SFP-I LANactive 5 What is FTTO? Definitions FTTO versus FTTD • FTTO is often confused with the Fibre to the Desk (FTTD ), a relatively costly and cumbersome struc- tured cabling technology. • FTTD requires a single fibre optic cable, connected to a fibre interface card installed in each specific terminal device. This can be a PC, IP-phone, multifunctional office device, IP-camera or any other user device on the network. This fibre interface card may cost half as much as the device itself. • An FTTD network requires much more installation effort. An FTTO solution is much easier to roll out and to maintain. FTTO Switch Power Supply for FTTO Switch Power over Ethernet (PoE/PoE+) FTTO Structure Fibre Optic Outlets Media Converter FTTD Structure LANactive When is FTTO a great choice for your infrastructure? Long Lifespan Do you need a future-proof solution with a long lifespan? • Current applications (server virtualization, cloud computing, IP-telephony, IPTV, security services, Video Conferencing, WLAN, etc.) require an ever increasing bandwidth, signal continuity and network scalability. • Modern networks should be easy to install, adjust and repair. They should be energy efficient, cost effective and survive several generations of active equipment. • All of that is offered by FTTO. • FTTO infrastructures grow with the user´s needs from the very start, can easily be adjusted to new bandwidth requirements and applications and ensure higher network availability in critically impor- tant environments. • An average FTTO life span is over 20 years. Any other IP based service Laptop or device Fibre To The Office / Copper To The Desk IP Phone IP Camera Laptop Internet FTTO Switch 1 Core Switch 1 Wireless AP Smartphone FTTO Switch 2 PC Network Router FTTO Switch 3 with Firewall Core Switch 2 Access Legend Control Wireless Connection PC Fibre Optics IP Scanner/ Copper Patchcord IP Phone Printer LANactive When is FTTO a great choice for your infrastructure? Distances over 100 m Do you need to cover distances greater than 100 m within a building, or inter- connect campuses and industrial sites? • Fibre breaks the 100 m distance limit of copper signal coverage. Large distances between buildings, campuses and industrial sites can be easily bridged by fibre. There are practically no length limitati- ons. • Unlike copper, fibre is immune to electromagnetic interference and may run along power lines. • Distances of 550 m can be covered by multimode fibre with no signal attenuation. Neither floor distributors nor signal repeaters are necessary between the central switch and workstation FTTO Switches. • Fibre needs no grounding, requires minimal cable volume and has a low fire load. Are there space restrictions for floor distributors or cable trays/ducts? • FTTO eliminates the need for floor distributors. FTTO Switches are directly connected to the central building distributor switch via fibre and feed all terminal devices with energy and data. • Only a minimal number of wiring cabinets and core switches are needed; the rest is done by compact and discreet FTTO Switches installed in a mounting box at the workstation. • Fibre cable is ergonomically more suitable for office environments as it can physically replace more than 4 copper cables in volume. In general, FTTO solutions require less space, less energy, less coo- ling and less active components, so there are less maintenance and service costs. LANactive When is FTTO a great choice for your infrastructure? Maximum Flexibility Do you want to refurbish a building with minimal disruption? • When major rebuilding or refurbishment is planned, FTTO might be an easier and faster alternative to traditional cabling. • With FTTO, you need no floor distributors and no technical rooms to house the switches. Less cabling is required. Regular work doesn’t need to be interrupted. • The discreet design of FTTO switches makes them perfect for environments with specific requirements, for example where space is limited or no structural or cosmetic changes are possible, for example in historical buildings. Installation in a desk profile Installation in a floor box Installation in a cable duct Installation in a cable duct LANactive 9 When is FTTO a great choice for your infrastructure? Advanced Redundancy Are redundant network topologies required at the user level? • FTTO makes it easy to set up ring topologies wherever there is a need for redundancy at the user level. These are established between FTTO Switches and the central switch. • FTTO uses intelligent managed switches which automatically reroute data traffic to a ‘healthy’ fibre path, should a fibre link fail. This guarantees the highest network availability to end users. • In fact, up to 1152 active user ports with full redundancy can be serviced with a single cable. Furthermore, the uplink time is shorter with FTTO, too. Star Topology Ring Topology LANactive 10 When is FTTO a great choice for your infrastructure? PoE/PoE+ Do you want highly efficient Power over Ethernet (PoE/PoE+)? • An FTTO Switch has four user (copper) ports. An external power supply feeds the switch, which can provide all the connected user devices with PoE/PoE+. • As PoE/PoE+ is delivered over smaller distances (the last few metres between the FTTO Switch and the end-user device), less signal loss occurs and less energy is required. For example, in an FTTO infrastructure an IEEE 802.3-compliant PoE device saves up to 2.55W/100 m. With PoE+, 5.4W may be saved. • According to analysts FTTO can save over 30% of energy (only for routing and switching) in an office environment with 220 desks. The more desks there are, the larger are the saving benefits. • A FTTO Switch can link to other intelligent building automation systems, such as temperature sensors, light sensors and