ADC KRONE Network News - Vol.12 No.4 - 2005

Our breaking global news is that in August, we acquired Fiber Optic Network Solutions FONS Corp., a leading manufacturer of high-performance passive optical components and fibre optic ca

Vol12 No4 2005

In this issue

It’s my pleasure to share with you ADC’s third quarter earnings results The company had very strong financial and business results once again this quarter, the highlight being a 40% year-on-year increase in sales Similar to our second fiscal quarter results, we continued in the third fiscal quarter to deliver among the strongest year-on-year growth in sales and earnings per share when compared to most other communications equipment suppliers

Our breaking global news is that in August, we acquired Fiber Optic Network Solutions (FONS) Corp., a leading manufacturer of high-performance passive optical components and fibre optic cable packaging, distribution and connectivity solutions FONS is based in Massachusetts, USA

With the addition of FONS, ADC is now one of the largest suppliers of Fibre-to-the-X (FTTX) solutions, according to proprietary market share estimates FONS has strategic partnerships and outsourcing relationships in many countries including Japan, China and the Americas

With this acquisition, we can more fully leverage our strengths to deliver on customer demands for fibre in the central office, the outside plant and at the customer premises With fibre being an increasing area of interest in the Asia Pacific region, this will assist us in bringing

our customers the very best range of fibre solutions

In the last edition of Network News, we told you about the FiberGuide® product, a new addition to our TrueNet® portfolio This edition, Alan Crawford details the FL2000 fibre panels -another fibre solution you might like to consider See page eight for details

For our readers who are IT Managers,

I encourage you to take a look at Tim Takala’s article on page four Tim highlights some keys to help you diagnose the source of issues within your network based on a few common symptoms Cisco Networkers, held in September was a great success and an event we value as a Cisco Partner It’s always a great opportunity for us to touch base with our customers and update you

on the latest developments in our TrueNet solutions

With this being the last edition of Network News for the year, I’d like to take this opportunity

to thank you for your continued support We look forward to serving you in 2006 with innovative products from our expanding global portfolio and continue to focus on meeting your customer service needs

Sincerely, Bob Fitzgerald

A NOTE FROM BOB FITZGERALD

ADC KRONE News

8 FL2000 Fibre Solutions System

Technical Articles

3 Global Rush Toward IP Services

Delivery

4 It's the Duplex Stupid!

12 Proposed Method of Testing

Fibre Links

Customer Stories

7 Club KRONE Customer Testimonial

10 FOXTEL Selects CopperTen for its New Sydney Headquarters

14 TERMINATOR Gets Smart

15 TERMINATOR Turns up the Heat

Editor: Sarah Bishop Art Direction: Nora Collins Website: adckrone.com/au CONTENTS

Copyright © 2001 KRONE Australia Holdings Pty Limited

Carriers and Enterprises are aggressively

deploying voice, data and video services

based on IP Infrastructures Advocates believe the

move towards converged networks and the

IP-based circuitry that underpins them will enable a

host of applications that will be available to end

users on a wide range of fixed and portable

electronic devices

This change will not happen overnight Current

circuit-based networks must be transformed into

packet-based networks and in many cases

completely new infrastructure builds are

underway However, when it is completed,

carriers, infrastructure providers and application

developers agree that the move towards of

IP-based networks will represent a seismic shift in

the telecoms landscape

IP-based networks represent a fundamental

change of the telecommunications infrastructure

because its adoption involves taking apart the

vertically integrated elements of traditional circuit

switched networks From a network engineering

perspective, this new structure is typically described

as consisting of three horizontal layers: a

technology agnostic ‘infrastructure layer’, a

‘switching and routing layer’ and an ‘application

layer’

The intent of IP-based networks is to provide

the unifying platform that enables network

convergence, allows rapid deployment of new

services and, because they are based on open

standards, keep costs down

To deliver the complete mix of IP-based services, every carrier must evolve all areas of the services delivery - Wireless Services, Residential Services and Business Services Carriers are rolling out initiatives in four areas to enable the new IP services:

I Circuit to Packet infrastructure migration in the network core

I Deep Fibre using Fibre-to-the-X (Node, Curb, Premises) for delivery of broadband services

I Wireless IP-based networks for advanced data and video services

I IP-based high speed business services delivery Given the future impact of these Carrier infrastructure initiatives, Enterprises need to take

a close look at their requirements to leverage the carriers’ new IP-based networks There are many reasons for this Medical imaging and file data transfer is increasingly growing Network storage

is becoming increasingly critical Grid & cluster computing is gaining adoption in public and private sectors, and we are seeing an increase in next generation enterprise applications such as RFID, IP Factory networks and Intelligent Buildings As a result of these changes, more throughput and signal integrity will be required

With 10-Gigabit Ethernet over copper coming to routers/switches in 2006, end-users again have the opportunity to prepare themselves for their

GLOBAL RUSH TOWARD IP SERVICES

DELIVERY

Why Enterprises need to look at the developments in the

telecommunications space to prepare themselves for the future.

Carsten Quiram, Marketing Director, Asia Pacific

Wireless Services Residential Services Business and Enterprise Services

Every service provider and enterprise must evolve all areas of the network to deliver a new mix of IP-based services.

Nothing they teach you in a textbook can replace experience from the field The same thing also holds true for the saying “Mechanics are only as good as their tools” If there’s one thing time has taught me from the field it’s that the only constant is change

There was a time when the only way a structured cabling manufacturer could differentiate was to say “my headroom is bigger than theirs” That’s when everything was based

on dB values Then came claimed frequency range, where companies were playing “Name That Tune” with extended frequency response

“If you claim you can work to 350MHz, than I’ll claim 400MHz” surely this must be better, right?

How confusing for the network administrator

“Who do I believe? What’s really important? How

do I choose the best solution for the money?

Which vendor is telling me the truth? I just want

my network to be reliable! I don’t talk Megahertz,

I talk Megabits!”

If you want to make an IT guy’s head spin simply start throwing out acronyms/terms like PSELFEXT or Attenuation to Crosstalk Ratio Do you really want to know whether the cable is good? The answer is much simpler than you think and lies in one question Does the network run at its full potential?

What is the fundamental task of the network?

It’s the transport and storage of data and has nothing to do with dB’s of headroom! It’s

important to remember that every network is as individual as the people supporting it Networks are almost human They’re a living, breathing series of components transporting data through veins (cables), working to ensure the business thrives

Many years ago, ADC KRONE (then KRONE) adopted this philosophy and as a result has gained a great deal of knowledge on what really matters to the network administrator Through a series of excellent networking tools and a good working knowledge of networking fundamentals,

we started a journey to understand the real concerns the IT departments faces daily As a result, in 1999 ADC KRONE’s ZeBER* was launched ZeBER bridged the gap between the structured cabling manufacturer and network administrator perspectives The argument was taken away from Megahertz and more emphasis was placed on reliable transmission of Megabits Testing was conducted in the field, after the network was up and running, to ensure data was flowing throughout the network reliably Fortunately the tools we deployed not only told us how well the cabling infrastructure was working, they also told us a great deal about the active components

There’s a misconception that cabling is responsible for most of the problems within the network infrastructure As the cable guy I’d like

IT’S THE DUPLEX STUPID!

Tim Takala unveils some common misconceptions on the causes of network errors.

Tim Takala, Corporate

Business Manager

It’s important to remember that every

network is as individual as the people

supporting it Networks are almost human.

They’re a living, breathing series of

components transporting data through

veins (cables), working to ensure the

business thrives.

*With ZeBER= Zero Bit Error Rate With the related warranty, ADC KRONE guarantees that the physical layer infrastructure will cause no greater than 10- 12 bit errors per second.

nothing more than to be able to tell you that this

is true, but it’s not Any good IT guy worth his salt

will see right through this argument and tell you

“it’s the duplex stupid”!

When monitoring a network using SNMP,

several different types of errors can and will be

found, depending on circumstance CRC’s

(cyclical redundancy check, also known as FCS

errors), fragments, collisions, jabbers, runts,

oversize, misalignments and the list goes on and

on If the network is a living and breathing entity

than these are the symptoms of sickness Being

able to diagnose what is causing these symptoms

comes from experience

Typically when CRC errors are present, from a

textbook perspective, it is due to an issue on the

physical layer i.e the cabling and connectivity

This is where the textbook needs to be put down,

where common sense and experience need to

take over Different types of active hardware from

different vendors will report errors differently

Remember when I said that the only thing

constant is change This holds true for active

hardware manufacturers Not only is different

manufacturer’s equipment designed differently,

equipment from the same manufacturer can also

be very different functions and report errors

When it comes to CRC errors, what you see on

the surface can be very deceptive This error type

is the most prevalent within networks and the

reason for the misconception that the cable

causes most errors in networking, but if you look

below the surface you will find a completely different answer

Bear in mind that a good cabling infrastructure

is the foundation of the network Electrical problems with the cabling can manifest themselves as errors in the active hardware, but that’s why we test the cable during installation

Compliance with cabling standards gives confidence that the protocols supported will work with little or no issues ADC KRONE’s impedance matching philosophy took this to an even higher level

So, why do I have CRC errors if the cable is of

a good quality? First you need to understand what a CRC error actually is Imagine that each packet of information you are transmitting on a network is a letter It has a source address, and a destination address, contains information and it

What is the fundamental task

of the network? It’s the transport and storage of data and has nothing to do with dB’s of headroom!

also has a built-in spell check - CRC When the letter reaches its destination the recipient checks the packet to ensure that the spelling (CRC) is correct If a single bit is out of place the letter/packet is rejected and needs to be sent again, hence an error has occurred While the cabling can cause bits within a packet to become corrupted, typically the cause is from a different source ADC KRONE’s TrueNet® portfolio cabling will ensure this holds true

Active hardware manufacturers do differ in the way they make equipment Even equipment from one manufacturer can have very different

equipment designs This can create issues in the way conversations between ports are set up In networking there’s something called duplex When two devices are connected in order for a conversation to take place three things must happen first

1 They must speak the same language i.e Ethernet, ATM, TokenRing etc

2 They must talk at the same speed i.e 10BASE-T or 100BASE-T – whichever is the highest common denominator

3 They must decide if they can handle speaking at the same time (full duplex) or if both devices require that only one speaks at any given time (half duplex)

While the first two are fairly simple, the third can be very problematic With regard to duplex, devices are meant to connect at the highest common denominator However, sometimes things don’t work out as planned When the handshake is made between two devices, if the duplex gets “confused” a mismatch will occur Conversation is still possible, but not without errors and the need for retransmissions This is the single largest cause of errors in networking today!

So what do you do if you find you have excessive CRC errors on your network? The first thing to check is if there are also collisions being detected If you have collisions/misalignments on

a switched network there’s a more than high chance the issue is due to a duplex mismatch Next, check configuration! If one side is set to auto-negotiate and the other to full duplex this can cause the auto-negotiate side to cycle down

to half When both sides are set to auto-negotiate mismatches can still occur, even on same manufacturers’ devices!

I was recently onsite at a large University testing their network I was surprised at how well the network was running, with no errors found on the entire campus in a four hour test period Then

I found out why On the back of the door in the data centre a sign was posted “It’s the Duplex Stupid”! Seems our institutes of higher learning have taken to also teaching practical common

There’s a misconception that cabling is responsible for most of the problems within the network infrastructure…

Any good IT guy worth his salt will see right through this argument and tell you

“it’s the duplex stupid”!

I am always interested in receiving feedback about Club KRONE

so we can look at ways to improve the current scheme and provide

more benefits to our installers Tony Arnold of Arnolds Electrical &

Data Installations, a 3 year Club KRONE member, talks about the

benefits his business receives from Club KRONE.

CLUB KRONE CUSTOMER TESTIMONIAL

Mark Meyer, Manager Club KRONE

ADC KRONE’s FL2000 fibre panels are a flexible, modular and economical series of fibre products for today and tomorrow’s evolving communications and data networks in both Enterprise and Carrier networks The FL2000 is designed for 19” or 23” rack systems, however all panels are wall mountable A variety of options and accessories ensure compatibility with existing optical equipment

FL2000 panels provide termination, splicing and storage capabilities for in-building cables, outside plant cables, and fibre equipment patch cords The termination panels are hinged on one side, allowing full access to the rear of the front plate and the interior of the panel All panels accommodate the modular FL2000 6-pak plug-ins available in all standard connector styles The FL2000 product line includes a complete line of storage panels, cable troughs, and accessories Panels are available empty

or preconfigured at the factory

As a termination device, the connector panels provide mounting points for 12 to 96 bulkhead adaptors A variety of adaptors are available to

ensure compatibility with existing connectors and equipment Also, both single mode and multimode (62.5/125µm) fibres are available

As a splicing device, the splice panels permit splicing up to 48, 96 or 144 fibres in a centralised location The splice modules use modular splice devices that allow many splicing methods

As a termination/splice device, the termination/splice panels provide interconnect capacities for 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 fibre terminations The upper section of the panel is equipped with a bulkhead panel, hinged at the left and latched at the right, to provide access for

Introducing the FL2000 product range, ADC KRONE’s advanced fibre patching system, available in multiple configurations This solution is ideally suited to all Enterprise and Data Centre applications.

Alan Crawford, Product

Manager Carrier

Connectivity, Wireless &

Wireline

FL2000 FIBRE SOLUTIONS SYSTEM

The FL2000 6-paks feature ADC KRONE’s patented, removable angled retainer for bend radius protection and easier hand access to

the connector.

a 6-pak intallation and cable routing Pigtail fibres from the 6-paks are

routed to splice decks in the lower section of the panel for splicing

The FL2000 fibre panels have numerous cable management features

to protect bend radius and provide easy access to connectors Each

panel comes with its own vertical cable guide (VCG) to protect fibres as

they transition in and out of the panel (bend radius) as well as to

provide an enclosed space for vertical transition Fibres within this VCG

are less likely to be damaged by nearby personnel than if they were

hanging openly from the panel The FL2000 6-paks feature ADC

KRONE’s patented, removable angled retainer, angling each adaptor at

45 degrees This provides bend radius protection for the cables

attached to the bulkhead, access to both sides of the connector, and

easier hand access to the connector

The economical and flexible FL2000 series of fibre optic products is

ideal for small fibre counts and can be used in moderate fibre count

applications as well by combining various panels I

FEATURES

I A complete line of modular panels developed for cabinet, rack and wall mounting

I Fully adaptable for large or small main distribution frame (MDF), intermediate distribution frame (IDF) or telephone closet (TC) applications

I Designed for 19” and 23” rack or cabinet environment

I Provides termination, splicing and storage capabilities for in-building cables, outside plant cables and fibre optic terminal (FOT) equipment patch cords

I Modular design offers maximum flexibility to satisfy both current needs and future growth requirements

I A full line of options and accessories ensures compatibility with existing optical equipment

I FL2000 systems accommodate the value-added plug-in modules, adding flexibility and functionality to the optical transport systems Splitters, wavelength division multiplexers (WDMx) and other optical components can easily be incorporated

I All FL2000 panels accommodate the modular FL2000 6-pak plug-ins These are available in all connector styles and can be ordered as needed

I ADC KRONE’s patented removable angled retainers allow easy access for single fibre maintenance

I FL2000 panels feature superior vertical cable protection and management

I Rack mount panels are hinged on one side, allowing full access to the rear of the front plate and the interior of the panel

I Rack mount panels can be wall mounted

I The new FL2000 splice wheel allows easy roll-up of pigtail and buffer tube lengths and superior bend radius protection

I The FL2000 splice deck is available to complete existing installations

FOXTEL’s corporate data and telephony services are delivered over IP and the majority of broadcast system have some component connected to IP networks so quality network infrastructure is critical The services delivered across the converged network are diverse The new site consists of four buildings, hence the flexibility and performance of the cabling solution was paramount

The company commenced a major relocation from Pyrmont to North Ryde in August 2005 As

a result, FOXTEL needed to integrate their existing network infrastructure into the new building and facilitate the expanding needs of the high-tech organisation

The North Ryde site was designed with four outlets running to each desk The ADC KRONE solution consists of three Category 6 connections and one CopperTen™connection The computers are plugged into the CopperTen outlets as they require a large amount of bandwidth for graphic design and video streaming In the comms room, Category 6 is terminated on HighBand®25 (900 pair wall mount frames) and CopperTen is

terminated on CopperTen™ 20 (720 pair frames)

In addition, there are Cat 6 and CopperTen system tails to the switches

Simon King, network architect for FOXTEL explained the selection process for the new network “The two deciding factors in selecting a solution were performance and suitability to our needs Availability of product was crucial due to short business timelines We needed a flexible solution since we have different uses for the horizontal cabling The solution also needed to be

as ‘future-proof’ as possible given the long-term intentions for the site.” Said King

Rencom’s Wayne Hill described the challenges

of the installation “The installation was unique in that we required a hybrid of existing horizontal cabling termination systems Some services needed to be permanently wired, being ubiquitous across the site and managed via software Other services are still managed by physical patching, being specialised or adhoc The bandwidth requirements also vary across services and ADC KRONE’s offerings allowed us to affordably provision for estimated future requirements.” Said Hill

FOXTEL were pleased with the outcome, “ADC KRONE’s frame termination meant we could meet both our termination needs consistently across the multiple buildings and effectively deliver more points within budget The wall mounted frame solution saved a great deal of floor space, which was much needed Hard wiring and rear facing PBE leads keep the frame neat and tidy.”

Commented King

Jeremy Barnes, Sales

Executive

FOXTEL, Australia’s leading subscription television provider, began a relocation of its Sydney-based premises in August, using ADC KRONE solutions for the updated network infrastructure.

Left to right:

FOXTEL’s Simon King

and Andrew Heyes,

Rencom’s Wayne Hill

“The computers are plugged

as they require a large amount of bandwidth for graphic design and video

streaming.”