As data centers evolve to support emerging high-speed applications, the margin for error has drastically narrowed. With the increasing adoption of 400G transmission speeds, operators simply cannot afford dirty or damaged fibers that degrade signal integrity. Proactive inspection and cleaning of fiber infrastructure must become routine best practice.
Studies show over 50% of network outages stem from contaminated fiber connections. Particles as small as 1 micrometer in the fiber core can impede signal transmission, resulting in a failed link. And unfortunately, contaminated patch cords can spread debris to other connectors when plugged in, compounding the issue.
Inspection and cleaning is vital for high-speed networks.
Best Practices for Maintaining Pristine Connectors
Preventing contamination should be the primary goal. Simple steps like covering connectors when not in use and utilising cleaning tools before mating can pre-empt many issues. There is also the perception that patch-cords right out of the bag are clean. This is not the case, as cable assemblies are not terminated in a clean-room environment. And even pristine connections rarely stay that way for long. The repeated mating and de-mating of connectors inevitably introduces contaminants into those connectors.
In order to address this effectively the proper tools are needed to regularly inspect and clean fibers.
Inspection microscopes have advanced from purely visual confirmation to automated pass/fail analysis. New digital microscopes like AFL’s FOCIS Flex capture images of the connector endface and algorithmically gauge cleanliness against known IEC standards. Consider the likelihood of human error when inspecting multiple connectors- using available technology will drastically reduce errors.
And as multi-fiber connectors become more prevalent, fiber microscopes such as the FOCIS Lightning2 provide rapid inspection and pass/fail analysis of each fiber within the connector. For example, each fiber within an MPO-24 connector can be fully analysed and graded in around 15 seconds.
If you couple the AFL cleaning tools mentioned with tools such as the Fiber One-Click you are able to deliver a comprehensive fiber maintenance regime and can also rapidly restore connectors to mint condition.
When inspecting don’t just focus on the fiber infrastructure you have in place in your data centers but make sure you have a routine for new fiber infrastructure you will be installing.
Monitoring With Test Metrics
Inspection and cleaning work hand-in-hand with performance testing to evaluate fiber health. Power meters, OTDRs, and loss test sets provide quantifiable metrics to diagnose flaws. For example, a spiking loss over multiple testing cycles may indicate an underlying cleanliness issue.
One often overlooked metric is optical return loss (ORL). As back reflections increase due to contamination, ORL is negatively impacted . Tracking this can reveal cleanliness degradation not yet severe enough to impact loss. Monitoring this allows technicians to get ahead of problems through pre-emptive cleaning. When testing does uncover an underperforming fiber, inspection is indispensable to investigating the cause. Examination of the faulty connector can reveal whether simple cleaning will suffice or if replacement is required.
The Bottom Line
Proactive maintenance of fiber infrastructure is absolutely necessary as data centers adopt increasingly high-capacity fiber. Dirty connections can, simply put, impact network performance. Technician training and utilisation of the latest tools for inspection, cleaning, and testing are the keys to success. With robust best practices, operators can have utmost confidence that their fiber backbone will continue to enable optimal network performance.
Your modern data center demands having cleaning tools and technology to ensure your modern high-speed networks stays optimal.
Newer technology and routines can capture connector endface images and algorithmically gauge cleanliness per standards like the international standard IEC 61300-3-35, as well as pass/fail limits. This technology transition to automated scopes not only drastically improves inspection accuracy but also safety.
Partnering with AFL brings proven fiber expertise to optimise your data center connectivity and reliability. Our integrated inspection, cleaning and test solutions guard against contamination, the leading cause of outages. By safeguarding your high-speed fiber backbone, AFL enables future-ready performance.
A few examples of this are standards such as ISO/IEC 14763 and TIA 568.3 which provide loss limits for installed optical fiber cabling and include practices for inspection and testing of optical fiber .Applications standards such as the IEEE 802.3 series provide guidelines around maximum insertion loss and channel length based on the application supported.