A Tutorial on

Centralized
Optical Fiber
Cabling
Networks

Figure 1 In the traditional cabling design, cables run to active telecommunications closets located
within 328 feet of users. Each closet contains active network electronics. Therefore, the space
requires power, air-conditioning and grounding. Category 5 copper cables connect closets to users.

HUB
HUB

by Douglas E. Harshbarger
and George Sellard

HUB
HUB

A
FIBER
OPTICS

ll-optical fiber centralized

local area networks (LANs)
are the present wave in network cabling. In increasing numbers, network planners are taking
advantage of optical fibers virtually
unlimited bandwidth and low signal loss (attenuation) to implement
a centralized design. All data electronics are housed in a single location and optical fiber cables
provide direct connections to every
workstation outlet in the network.
Contrast this with the traditional
design, where active electronics,
hubs, concentrators and switches
are housed in telecommunications
closets that are distributed throughout a building and within 328 feet
of all users.
The fiber optic centralized
cabling design is simplicity itself.
The main cross-connect is linked to
desktops in one of three ways:
n Pull through, or homerun
cabling, which involves passing
cables through intermediate
closets to the desktop without
the use of patch panels.
n Splice cabling which involves
splicing to jumper cables in
intermediate closets and then
linking to the desktop.

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n Passive patch panels use jumper
and intrabuilding cables in intermediate closets.
With direct connections between
network hardware and desktops,
maintenance and troubleshooting
are vastly simplified.
Speed
upgrades are quick, easy, economical and many merely involve a
change of ports at the hub and network interface cards (NICs) at the
desktop computer. The passive
patch panels require little real
estate. Also, unlike intermediate distribution frames containing active
electronics, passive patch panels
require no power, air-conditioning
or grounding.
The centralized optical fiber
design offers many benefits, including improved security, fewer points

of failure and reduced telecommunications closet build-out costs.

Consolidating network electronics,
analyzers, uninterruptible power
sources (UPSs), cross-connects and
servers in a single communications
closet greatly simplifies local area
network (LAN) management, provides more efficient use of hub
ports and allows for simple implementation of various network applications.
The deployment of
redundant systems, including
redundant UPSs, also reduces concerns over single points of failure.
Moreover, the centralized optical
fiber cabling design provides a costeffective alternative to the traditional design because using fewer
active components lowers overall
costs. Maintenance costs over the
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Figure 2 In the centralized optical fiber cabling design, fiber to the desktop is achieved
with direct connections between a single hub and each user. All data electronics are
housed in one location.

Figure 3 The centralized design is simple, yet it allows for flexibility in cabling configuration.

Home Run
Cabling

Splice Enclosure

HUB

HUB

Network at American Video

lifetime of the network will be reduced as
well. Cable installation and testing are
simplified, further reducing initial costs.
Centralized network designs simplify
installations, reducing installation time
and labor. All terminations are performed
at the centralized cross-connect, where all
data electronics are housed.
Everything coming back to one point
cuts down on labor, said Darryl Wolford,
president of Communication Design Specialists, Weedsport, N.Y. Wolford has
installed numerous centralized networks.
With the centralized network, you dont
have to direct your crew so much. This
minimizes time and cuts down on labor.
Network testing also is made easier by
the centralized design. Because of the single termination point, the process is especially quick and uncomplicated. Also, test
procedures for optical fiber networks,
which are well-established and fieldproven, are specified in Annex H,Optical
Fiber Link Performance Testing, of
ANSI/TIA/EIA 568A, the Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard.
Testing fiber is a lot less labor-intensive than it is for Category 5 copper,Wolford said,and we test both all the time. To
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CBM SEPTEMBER 1998

test Category 5 takes us about 15 minutes.

It takes two minutes for fiber.
Standards for centralized fiber networks are well along in development. In
September 1995, the TR-41.8.1 committee
of TIA approved publication of Telecommunications Systems Bulletin (TSB) 72,
Centralized Optical Fiber Cabling Guidelines, to supplement the Commercial
Building Telecommunications Cabling
Standard ANSI/TIA/EIA 568A regarding
the design and installation of centralized
optical fiber cabling. Fall 1998 will see
the publication of ANSI/TIA/EIA 568B,
which will include standards for centralized cabling.

Case In Point: A Centralized

An optical fiber centralized network
recently was completed at the new home
of American Video Glass Company (AV),
which manufactures glass panels and funnels for television picture tubes. The
newly completed 500,000-square-foot factory in Mount Pleasant, Pa., is equipped
with a state-of-the-art information technology and controls infrastructure, the
foundation of which is a centralized

Patch Panel

cabling, fiber-to-the-desktop network

designed by Sellard Communications.
Two issues drove the decision to install
an all-fiber network at American Video
Glass. Most critically, planners wanted to
be assured of sufficient information-carrying capacity to run whatever applications they might require in the
not-so-distant future. Fibers virtually
unlimited bandwidth provides that assurance. Also, with plant expansion and
cabling moves on the horizon, the robust
and flexible fiber optic centralized
cabling plant will allow for quick and
easy moves and changes.
At the center of the centralized network at AV is a computer room with network hubs and servers housed in a
two-story core structure in the middle of
the factory. From this point, Siecor MIC
cables, each containing 24 Corning
62.5/125 micron multimode optical
fibers, run to the telecommunications
closets. Siecor two-fiber MIC cables connect closets with workstations inside the
building.
In addition, three Siecor
FREEDM cables, each with 24 Corning
multimode fibers, travel from one
telecommunication closet directly to clos-

ets in three outbuildings.

FREEDM cable is an indoor/outdoor
cable that eliminates the need for a transition splice at building entrance points.
Due to a special loose tube design, the
cable is riser-rated, allowing AV to extend
its centralized network to three buildings
near the central factory by way of aerial
conduit. With no splicing along the way,
each cable runs directly from a telecommunications closet, outdoors, into another
building and straight to other telecommunications closets. This capability reduces
installation costs by eliminating the material and labor expenses associated with
the building entrance transitions.
Without optical fiber none of this would
be possible. Other media, particularly copper, cannot meet the bandwidth and attenuation requirements at the distances used
in a centralized cabling design such as the
one at American Video Glass.
Its more cost feasible to use the fiber
optic centralized cabling design because
there are no closet build-outs and minimal
maintenance, said Ralph DiNinno, IT and
controls manager. With no active electronics distributed throughout the network, there are no large closets to build
and maintain just small cabinets con-

taining wall-mounted splice centers. This

reduction in multiple closets played a
major part in reducing the cost premium
traditionally associated with fiber.
Upfront savings were important to AV
network designers. But even more crucial
was the opportunity to future proof their
cabling infrastructure against soaring
bandwidth demands by installing optical
fiber throughout their facility. The huge
bandwidth offered by optical fiber has
already paid off at AV, according to DiNinno. He has gained considerable peace of
mind from knowing that his network will
not suffer bandwidth bottlenecks any
time soon.
Fact is, were a brand-new company,
DiNinno said. We have limited history
and information about our network and
capacity requirements. So, when we
designed the network, we installed Ethernet knowing that the bandwidth available
on optical fiber could support a change to
new electronics, such as ATM (asynchronous transfer mode), as our needs grow.
Expanding the network or adding applications will not present problems either.
If we decide to deploy additional workstations, DiNinno said, the fiber is there
to do it.

Also, long term maintenance is an

issue, DiNinno said. But with the centralized cabling and fiber, maintenance
and troubleshooting do not require going
out to hubs. We have homeruns, so troubleshooting is easy. We just test through
the hubs in the central computer room.
DiNinno is confident that installing an
all-fiber network at American Video Glass
has been a smart move strategically, commercially and financially.
The fiber allowed us to go with a very
simple cable design, DiNinno said. That
eliminated a lot of trouble. The centralized design is excellent.
By taking advantage of fibers superior
distance performance, network designers
can reduce the number of electronic components and increase their port utilization. Furthermore, the single point
administration made possible through a
centralized system increases ease and productivity while reducing cost. CBM
Douglas E. Harshbarger is market
development engineering manager,
premises systems, for Corning Inc.;
George Sellard is president of Sellard
Communications. Special thanks to
Patrick Scanlon of Rochester Institute of
Technology for his assistance.

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