Technological advancements in today’s world are as fast as the speed of light, metaphorically speaking. But scientifically, there’s nothing that can match the pace of light. And pretty much based on a similar idea is the popularity of fiber optic cables over the conventional copper ones. Fiber Optic Cables are just around 30% slower than the speed at which light travels.
But it’s not limited to that. Copper cables have their own advantages and features but still on some grounds optic cables are in a ‘win-win’ situation. Moreover, IT professionals have almost shifted to Fiber Optical Cables more or less replacing copper ones entirely. Let’s unravel the ‘Why?’ that goes behind the very choice by looking at various factors that motivated it.
Bandwidth
If we ask anytime to choose you between a higher and comparatively lower bandwidth, you will hardly take a second to go for the former one. The decision is justified. And that’s how fiber cables get the first preference here. A Fiber cable can provide up to 10 Gbps of speed performance.
The speed of fiber optic cable is because of the high-frequency range it is competent to carry while copper wires lose signal strength at increased frequencies. Even though Copper wires have enough bandwidth to send voice signals adequately, IT communication companies prefer fiber cables as they are capable of carrying more information at a quicker pace.
To make it easier in layman terms, Fiber optic cables can carry thousand times the bandwidth of copper cables, going more than hundred times further along with.
Transmission Speed
The transmission speed of the two types of cables has a huge difference. And the interrupted distance travelled by the two also varies greatly. How much? Let’s not get into too many technical terms and make it easier to comprehend for everyone.
So, talking of the transmission distance, copper wires can transmit data up to around 9000+ ft as stretching it further can result in data loss. On the other hand, fiber cables can transmit the same data up to 24+miles. Yes, we are talking about miles here. The IT guys definitely got some serious reason here!
Moreover, if a telephone line is based on copper wiring, it won’t be able to take more than 3,000 calls at a given time while a fiber cable based line can take up to 30,000. That’s almost x10, so quite justified prejudice, isn’t it?
Safe & Secure
Data security is a big issue for IT professionals and in most cases their utmost priority. Fiber cables are very much reliable that way. The data that transmits through the medium is safe as it cannot be tapped. Even a minor deviance will immediately come to your notice as the cable starts leaking light.
Fiber Optic cables are also immune to radio frequency and electromagnetic interference. Therefore, it is best suited for functioning near other electronically active devices without any disruption. Contributing to the safety part, fiber cables cannot catch fires, for the same reason why it doesn’t allow EMI.
Copper wires, on the other hand, can easily cause a fire hazard. So, fiber optic cables definitely got some brownie points here.
Cost
Even though the price of copper wires is lesser than that of fiber cables, the costs of the latter are considerably coming down. It might increase one-time investment for IT professionals but on a long run it turns out to be a cost-effective option.
Along with other benefits, it saves a lot of operational costs by drastically reducing the need for electrical power to carry on connections. Moreover, buying bulk cables and accessories online saves a lot on the initial cost as well.
Durability
For the IT sector, investing on cables and accessories for setups is a one time business. You can always replace a single application at your home if it doesn’t work but IT applications are a costly affair. But what makes it more durable?
Fiber cables consist of glass particles but still are less prone to damage than the copper ones. Additionally, fiber cables have smaller diameter and weigh much lesser than copper wires. That makes it convenient for various applications by requiring lesser space for cabling ducts.
Other than that, one important factor lies in the fact that fiber cables are more robust and can function even the surrounding temperature is fluctuating.
Future Ready
IT professionals like to think and work ahead of the monotony of the contemporary times. Even though copper wires are still widely used for various applications, professionals know that the future is fiber optics. And all IT firms continually strive to be future ready.
Fiber Optic cables are doing a great job as compared to copper jobs still they aren’t at their possible best. Studies and experiments are still going on to introduce much-advanced versions to facilitate more reliable and multi-functional communications.
But for now, it’s still the best option available for IT professionals, based on the above factors and a lot of them more. Yes, there are more reasons, even if minor. Not only do IT people choose fiber optic cables for new applications but are rapidly replacing their already existing copper wiring. And now we know all that isn’t for nothing.
The choice isn’t just relevant and limited to IT professionals. Even for home and smaller work-spaces, fiber optic cables are the best available option for various applications. You just need to focus on long terms benefits rather than the one time cost involved and you will see how what we are saying totally makes sense!
Author Bio:
Jennifer Truong is the owner of SF Cable , a California based online retailer of all kind of cables, wires and cords, including Ethernet Cables, USB cables, Fiber Optic Cables, Display port Cables and SVGA Monitor Cables. Jennifer has extensive experience in the cable industry and blogs about its various aspects.