Enterprise Network fiber–optic deployment

Most businesses realize that network performance is a critical component to creating a competitive advantage in their market. As a result, frequent network upgrades and enhancements are fundamental to maintaining an optimized infrastructure. Media Converters play a vital role in enabling businesses to make the upgrades they need while reducing the costs of adding infrastructure to the network.

In an enterprise network, whether it be a large multi-building location or a small flat network, businesses need the ability to systematically to build upon the infrastructure they already have installed instead of replacing it with entirely new systems.  As the LAN extends to more users, businesses need to find a way to reach those who copper cabling solutions cannot access¹. Fiber optic cabling can provide the distance requirements but the associated new fiber based switch will cost thousands of dollars.

The alternative is to utilize Fiber to Copper Media Converters with existing free ports on a copper switch.  If an additional copper switch is needed, one can be picked up for a few hundred dollars from a wide variety of manufacturers.  This combined solution, is far less expensive than going for a wholesale fiber replacement.

Another common challenge in the enterprise network is the demarcation point provided by the ISP.  Generally it is located where the fiber cable runs to the building, which could be far away from a business’s data closet.  Fiber to Copper Media Converters can be used back to back to extend the data connection to the company's data closet.

Network upgrades are traditionally complex and expensive. Media conversion can simplify both of these issues for businesses and enable them to improve network performance.

¹ Copper-based Ethernet connections are limited to a data transmission distance of only 100 meters when using unshielded twisted pair ( UTP ) cable.  Fiber-optic cable can extend network distances up to 160km.