Can anyone tell me about Fibre optic cables and ethernet.
I want to link two buildings approx 200m, I have been told that is too long for standard CAT5 and wireless is too slow at the moment. We run a Backup server over night and need 1000Mbs to get the Backups done before morning (Retrospect).
In addition to being too long in your case, it is generally considered good practice to use fiber between buildings. Among other things it avoids differences in ground potential between the two buildings.
Can I run the Fibre between the buildings to join two switches and run CAT5 to the computers?
Sure.
Are there special requirements for the switch?
You can get either Media adapters, basically a fiber-copper converter or a switch with a fiber port. This is basically a switch with the above built in. I don't know which is cheaper. Which one would be better for you depends on what you have currently.
What speed can I expect ?
The fiber at my daughter's school is 1000 Mbps. The switches we use only have 100Mbps copper but that's okay for us.
Is the performance of fibre effected by power cables like CAT5?
No.
We have 6 G4s (1000Mbs) currently running through a switch (1000Mbs) and 2 eMacs, a couple of PCs and 3 Printers running on another switch (100Mbs).
Initially there will only be 2 Macs (1000Mbs) in the new building but more will follow.
All Macs running 10.3.7 and PCs Win XP.
Any info would be helpful.
While fiber patch cables are pretty standard stuff the fiber between buildings will have to be terminated into patch panels. Last I looked this still requires some training to do. Your best bet is to hire a contractor to do it.
--
Clark Martin
Redwood City, CA, USA
Macintosh / Internet Consulting
"I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway"
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