Creating a fibre backbone

[Sam247]

Hiya,

 

Looking for some help and guidance for setting up a fibre backbone (and please bare with me for being a n00b with fibre and inheriting a badly set up network)

 

At the moment I've got switches in the server room which link to 2 other switches at the other side of the building by individual ethernet cables with computers connected to these switches. What I'm looking to do is to upgrade all of the switches to gigabit switches but would like to swap out the existing ethernet links between the switches with fibre links.

 

The problem I've got is I've not really got much of an idea about how to connect fibre, so don't really know what equipment to get.

 

Any suggestions/tips/tricks/links greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance

Sam

[zag]

All you need is a gigabit switch and a fiber module. Thats it really. The modules fit into an expansion bay.

[localzuk]

Generally speaking, the setup goes as follows:

 

Switch->SFP/GBIC->Patch lead->Fibre patch panel->Fibre Link->Fibre patch panel->Patch lead->SFP/GBIC->Switch

 

The SFP/GBIC type is determined by the type of fibre link - if you're going over low distance (ie. within normal buildings), you would use a 'multimode' GBIC (such as this, if you're using HP switches). The patch lead is determined by the type of fibre used for the link too - you'd probably have OM4 installed now, so would use an OM4 type lead (50/125), with LC on one end (the GBIC end, to match the GBIC) and whatever connection the fibre patch panel has on it - with new installs, you'd probably have LC as well, so you'd have a patch lead like this.

 

And that's about it. Its pretty simple in the end.

[Sam247]

Thanks for that Zag and localzuk.

 

So... noob question of the day... Could I connect something link a DLink DGS 1224T and a Netgear GS724t together? Or would they need to be the same model?

 

Thanks again

Sam

[localzuk]

You should be able to join them together.

 

http://www.dlink.com/uk/en/business-solutions/switching/network-and-switch-accessories/transceivers/dem-311gt

 

That's the gbic for the DLink side.

 

http://www.netgear.co.uk/business/products/switches/fully-managed-switches/switch-modules/agm731f.aspx

 

And for the netgear side.

Edited January 30, 2014 by localzuk

[synaesthesia]

Do you need fibre? What do you intend to get out of it? You won't get more speed or reliability than Copper, unless you are going 10Gb, which clearly isn't the case with either of those switches. The only direct benefit is being able to go over the 100m distance issue.