FEATURE FIBRE OPTIC SYSTEMS
Which will Prevail in the Battle of Copper vs. Fibre? Survival of the Fittest By David Palmer-Stevens, Systems Integrator Manager, Panduit EMEA In the light of ever
increasing Ethernet speeds, David Palmer-Stevens considers whether fibre is set to replace copper as the medium of choice.
I have been in this industry for almost 12 years and witnessed various transformations and breath-taking evolutions in data centre technologies, on both copper and fibre. Essentially, copper has played the role of preferred media since the beginning of the Ethernet. This trend was mainly driven by its lower total cost of ownership when compared to its counterpart fibre. However, this had only been true with low data rate transmission up to 100M, further implementation of higher bit rate applications have boosted the demand for higher bandwidth, such as 1G and 10G, which prompted fibre to gain more space and acceptance across the whole industry. Furthermore, the lowering cost of optical transceivers has made fibre a much more attractive choice in the LAN environment. More than ever before I see there is a
higher level of synergy between copper and fibre medium. Latest trends such as consolidation and virtualisation provide enough opportunities for both copper and fibre. For instance, well planned data centre architecture could make the adoption of copper technologies at the access layer, or edge and fibre technologies throughout core and aggregation layers to support switched fabric applications reaching data rates of 10G, 40G and 100G. I believe it is a fundamental role
of any vendor to provide customers with a consultative approach. The goal is to deliver a flexible and agile architecture capable of coping with the challenges presented in today’s business environment. It is therefore paramount to take a holistic view in the interest of the customers and provide solutions that are media agnostic. A synergistic approach to both copper and fibre and in consultation with the customer can provide a future proof solution that maximises performance, improves reliability and reduces the capital expenditure associated with building a new data centre infrastructure. This means being able to provide customers with the knowledge they need to minimise wastage of their existing network, help them to invest in what they need today and bridge the gap into future technologies.
16 NETCOMMS europe Volume II, Issue 1 2011 Counting costs
I see many people within the industry who, having looked at relative costs and the cost per bandwidth, come to the conclusion that a copper system is more cost effective than a fibre system. Realistically I could steer the answer and prove the exact opposite, just for a little bit of fun. The truth is that, as I mentioned earlier, it is paramount to take a holistic view in the interest of the customers. We must do the math considering all the different aspects that add up cost, especially in the long run. If we look at raw data and analyse the actual cost per port of both copper and fibre systems, chances are that a copper system would look attractive. However, it has to be considered that as data rate goes up the copper price advantage is considerably reduced. This is due to the fact that both active hardware and passive components become more complex and therefore more expensive. Also, it is of extreme relevance to consider the further operational costs associated with the two different options. For instance, if we look at today’s
power consumption, a 10GBase-T copper port utilises 4-5W, while a fibre 10GBase-SR OM3 utilises no more than 1W. Furthermore, fibre provides all the benefits of copper with the added advantage of longer reach, smaller size and higher density. Translating all of the above into operational expenditure, this means lower power consumption, more effective cooling and reduced space of real estate. Furthermore, many financial and government institutions are looking into low latency technologies that can help to support their business operations in a more proactive and effective way. For that purpose fibre can really become the media of choice, as I have seen many times before in my career. So, because every customer has different needs, it is even more critical for an organisation to partner with a vendor that provides a consultative and unbiased service aimed to achieve the customer’s objectives and not its own sales targets. Therefore when it comes to costs, I don’t see a straight divide between fibre and copper. On the contrary, I value the advantages offered by the synergy existing between the
two. By acting this way I know that my customer will get the best solution for their business objectives.
Mix and match
Before even suggesting a copper or fibre deployment, the vendor should consult with the customer, listen to their needs and have a clear understanding of their business objectives. They should analyse their short and medium term business plans and understand the business applications that they will need to support. Based on the outcome of this extensive research, and provided a vendor has the capability to do so, it is possible to suggest a flexible architecture to support their applications. For instance, copper is not always the
answer for short reach link and OM4 is not always the answer to Multi Mode fibre extended reach. It could be, and I have seen it many times, that fibre is the best option even in small reach links based on the fact that the customer’s needs dictate a future expansion of their data centre, with the possible adoption of advanced technologies such as 40G and 100G. On the other hand, I have been in the position to suggest OM3 versus OM4 to support current customer’s needs and future expansion of their data centre operations. In conclusion there is never a straight
answer, every implementation has to be evaluated and assessed on a case by case basis. Again, I believe a business organisation has the potential to yield more effective results from its data centre operations by taking advantage of the synergy existing between both copper and fibre. For example, copper HSDT solution such as SFP+ and Infiniband can be used at the edge to connect servers to a switch in a typical top of the rack architecture. Fibre Single Mode and/or Multi Mode could be suggested to connect to the core and/or aggregation layer.
Installation
Generally speaking, people tend to live within their own comfort zone. From a behavioural standpoint, they prefer to continue to do things as they have always known them. To my joy,
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