Bridge Copper to Fiber With PoE Media Converter

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It’s common to see in modern society
that many enterprise networks must support a wide range of installation
environments located indoors and out. Considering this, a wide range of media
converters and power supply options are important. And with the great benefits
of fiber optic cables being accepted widely, PoE media converter seems to be a
better choice for enterprise networks. Today this article intends to explain
what PoE media converter can bring for managers and its applications.

 

PoE Media Converter Basis

PoE
media converter is a
type of fiber-to-copper media converter. It enables enterprises to power their
network devices over the existing copper connections. With its PoE injector,
PoE media converters can power devices like IP phones, video conferencing
equipment, IP cameras and Wi-Fi devices over copper UTP cabling. Besides, they
are available in a variety of multi-port configurations, including dual RJ-45
and dual fiber ports, and they can support fixed fiber connectors or SFP (Small
Form Pluggable) transceivers.

 

Once PoE media converters are connected
into network systems, they are usually close to the PDs (Power devices) like IP
cameras and wireless access points. And when they work, fiber is run to the
power source via the SFP socket, and PoE is distributed over UTP cabling to the
power devices via RJ45 port.

 

Network Design Options Provided by PoE
Media Converter

PoE media converters bring great
benefits for network deployments. For example, they eliminate the need for
power supply devices, power cables and outlets that would be required for
remote device. In addition, they also provide flexible network design options.
Here are some examples.

 

PoE Media Converter with Single Fiber
Ports

As shown in the following picture,
single fiber ports are deployed in star topologies with a point-to-point style
layout with the fiber switch in the center of the network.

 

PoE Media Converter with Dual Fiber
Ports

Option 1: daisy chain design. This
design uses dual fiber ports to support connections in a liner daisy chain
configuration. It suits long-haul applications along subways and rail lines.

 

Option 2: fiber ring design. In this
fiber ring architecture, traffic can flow in both directions. In the picture
below, a switch connects three PoE media converters to form a ring. If a fiber

 

failure occurs in it, the switch can
reroute the traffic in the opposite direction.

 

Option 3: redundant fiber design. This
network structure uses two fiber connections. One is active and carries the
data traffic. The other is a protection fiber port that back-up a fiber failure
switch-over of less than 50 milliseconds.

 

Applications of PoE Media Converter

As we all know, in order to break out
the distance and bandwidth limitations of copper cables, fiber optic cable is a
good alternative. PoE media converters can convert copper to fiber and provide
power at the same time, making it popular among enterprise networks. There are
three main applications of PoE media converters.

 

Fiber to IP cameras. The PoE media
converters have fiber uplink ports and downlink ports. And in most
applications, two IP cameras at each location can be connected through the dual
RJ-45 ports of a PoE media converter.

Fiber to wireless access points. PoE
media converters enable wireless access points to be installed in office
buildings, airport, hotels, public areas or other places needed.

Fiber to the desktop. The PoE media
converters provide fiber to copper media conversion, and they send data and
power to desktop items such as IP phones and video conferencing equipment.

Summary

PoE media converters provide a
cost-effective way to extend distances over fiber optic cabling to PoE powered
devices (PDs). In this article, four network designs with PoE media converters
and three applications of them are illustrated simply. If you want to know more
details about PoE media converters, please visit fiber-mart.COM.