Handling Fiber And Fiber Connectors; Acknowledgments And References - Compaq StorageWorks 4000 - RAID Array White Paper

Understanding Compaq StorageWorks RAID Array 4000 and Infrastructure Cabling

Handling Fiber and Fiber Connectors

Observe the following guidelines for handling fiber and fiber connectors:
Protect optical components from heat, contaminants, abrasion, excessive differential or lateral
movement, and mechanical hazards.
Avoid kinking or small-bend radii of the fiber. The rule of thumb is that the bend radius
should be greater than 10 times the outside diameter of the cable. For Compaq-supplied fibre
channel cables, the bend radius is 30 milimeters, or 1.25 inches.
Do not place heavy objects or other heavier cables on top of fiber cable. These objects can
deform the fiber.
All of these factors can reduce the amount of light passing through a cable or connection and can
degrade performance.
GBICs and fibre channel cables ship with dust caps installed and these caps should remain
installed until an optical connection is made. Reinstall the dust caps whenever cables and
connectors are detached.
Compaq products ship with instructions for making proper connections. Clean a connection any
time it may have been exposed to dust or when there is any doubt about its cleanliness.

Acknowledgments and References

Compaq would like to thank Alcoa Fujikura, Ltd. (www.alcoa.com) and Siecor
(www.siecor.com) for their contributions to this paper. Both companies provide fiber products
and installation and testing services.
For Compaq supplied fibre channel products refer to the following two sites:
www.compaq.com
www.compaq.com/products/storageworks/
Other companies that provide fiber products and installation and testing services are listed in the
Fibre Channel Community Web pages:
www.fcloop.org/vlist/default.asp
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