I am not involved firsthand with purchasing or installing cable, but I am involved enough to know that we don't pay anybody any more to pull fiber than we do to pull copper. I also know that for internal building runs, we don't consider fiber to be a significant expense. As for delicacy, individual fiber strands are more delicate, but you don't run individual fiber strands floor to floor. You run a bundle that has an exterior casing that is tougher than a cat-x cable. As has been mentioned elsewhere, it is also indifferent to electrical interference, so you don't have to worry about where you pull it. The cost of a multi-mode fiber transceiver is not much at all.
I can't explain what flexibility would be gained in the OP's scenario, because I don't know the totality of his organization. You are making an assumption that this is the only connection the OP has anywhere; I don't know that to be a fact, although it may very well be. What I know from experience is that just because you can't imagine major changes in the future doesn't mean they aren't going to happen. While you may be able to match some speeds with copper, it is not going to be the case in the long run. Fiber has exponentially more headroom to grow than coppper. As for how flexible fiber is, I know that we can use our fiber connections to run video signals miles across town. In the past, we have also used fiber to drive serial connections to legacy equipment over long distances. As for "running just one cable", the point I am making is that the kind of fiber cabling we are talking about comes bundled. Copper does not. And if you need a lot of connections and a limited amount of space to get that cable between floors (as we do in old buildings), pulling a bunch of cat-x cables is not an option. I do what makes most sense, as well. The difference here is that you are imagining that the OP has nothing more than what is described in this particular situation, and that there is no chance of things ever changing. I specifically indicated that he should weigh his needs and determine what was best for his situation. If he can afford fiber, he is better positioned for future needs than he is if pulls copper. -----Original Message----- From: Ben Scott [mailto:mailvor...@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:07 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: facilities wiring question On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 9:34 AM, Mayo, Bill <bem...@pittcountync.gov> wrote: > Fiber is good for more than Ethernet. So is UTP. > It is true that it is going to be marginally (depending on his > available funds) more expensive ... It's more than marginally more expensive in this scenario. The materials cost more. The OP has no fiber experience, so he's paying an outside contractor, or learning by doing, both of which cost more. He's got no tools, so again, rent or buy. He's got no fiber equipment, and fiber transceivers cost more than copper ones. Fiber is more delicate; that's a maintenance cost. Fiber needs different tools to test properly. > ... you gain a lot more flexibility with fiber. Explain what flexibility fiber would give us in this scenario. Heck, explain any practical benefit fiber would give us in this scenario. Remember, this is somebody going from a server room on floor 2 to a wiring closet on floor 3. Fiber and copper each have their own general strengths and weaknesses, but this is a specific scenario with well-defined parameters. > I can't imagine having a modern wiring closet and no fiber. Perhaps your imagination is limited. :) > As far as the single copper vs single fiber, that is true. However, > nobody is just going to run one fiber cable between closets. And why would anyone run just one UTP cable? > The other benefit of fiber floor to floor is that you can patch > through multiple terminations with no major worries ... http://www.google.com/search?q=fiber+loss+budget > The only reason I would not do fiber ... I do what makes the most sense. In this scenario, I think fiber has no advantage over copper, and several disadvantages. -- Ben ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
