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OM3 and OM4 in

40/100G Migration

To meet the continuously increased requirements, data center 40/100G migration is underway. The
infrastructure of data centers for the 40G/100G should meet the requirements like high speed,
reliability, manageability and flexibility. To meet these requirements, product solutions and the
infrastructure topology including cabling must be considered in unison. Cable deployment in the
data center plays an important part. The cable used in data center must be selected to provide
support for data rate applications not only of today but also the future. Today, two types of
multimode fiber OM3 and OM4 fibers (usually with aqua color) have gradually become the
media choice of data center during 40/100G migration. This article illustrates OM3/OM4 multimode
fibers in 40/100G migration in details.

Data Center and Multimode Fibers

Multimode fiber is being widely used in data centers. You might ask why not single-mode fiber? The
answer is cost. As is known to all, the price of single-mode fiber is generally more expensive than
multimode fiber. In addition multimode fibers provide a significant value proposition when
compared to single-mode fiber, as multimode fiber utilizes low cost 850 nm transceivers for serial
and parallel transmission. If you had all money you wanted and youd just run single-mode fiber
which has all the bandwidth you need, then you can go plenty of distance. However, this perfect
situation would cost a lot of money. Thus, most data center would choose multimode fiber. OM1,
OM2, OM3 and OM4 are the most popular multimode fiber. But OM3 and OM4 are gradually taking
place of OM1 and OM2 in data centers.

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OM stands for optical multimode. OM3 and OM4 are both laser-optimized multimode fibers with
50/125 core, which are designed for use with 850nm VCSELS (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser)
and are developed to accommodate faster networks such as 10, 40 and 100 Gbps. Compared with
OM1 (62.5/125 core) and OM2 (50/125 core), OM3 and OM4 can transport data at higher rate and
longer distance. The following statistics (850nm Ethernet Distance) shows the main differences
between these four types multimode fibers, which can explain why OM3 and OM4 is more popular
in data center now in some extent.
850nm Ethernet Distance
Fiber Type

1G

10G

40/100G

OM1

300 m

36 m

N/A

OM2

500 m

86 m

N/A

OM3

1 km

300 m

100 m

OM4

1 km

550 m

150 m

Why Use OM3 and OM4 in 40/100G Migration

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3ba 40/100G Ethernet Standard was
ratified in June 2010. The standard provides specific guidance for 40/100G transmission with
multimode and single-mode fibers. OM3 and OM4 are the only multimode fibers included in the
standard. The reason why OM3 and OM4 are applied in 40/100G migration is that they can meet
the requirements for the migration cabling performance.
Bandwidth, total connector insertion loss and transmission distance are two three main factors
should be considered when evaluation the performance needed for cabling infrastructure to meet
the requirements for 40/100G. These factors can impact the cabling infrastructures ability to meet
the standards distance of at least 100 meters over OM3 fiber and 150 meters over OM4 fiber. The
following explains why OM3/OM4 are the chosen ones for 40/100G migration.
Get Higher Bandwidth With OM3/OM4
Bandwidth is the first reason why OM3 and OM4 are used for 40/100G migration. OM3 and OM4
are optimized for 850nm transmission and have a minimum 2000 MHz km and 4700 MHz km
effective modal bandwidth (EMB). Comparing the OM1 and OM2 with a maximum 500 MHz km,
advantages of OM3 and OM4 are obvious. With a connectivity solution using OM3 and OM4 fibers
that have been measured using the minimum Effective Modal Bandwidth calculate technique, the
optical infrastructure deployed in the data center will meet the performance criteria set forth by
IEEE for bandwidth.
Get Longer Transmission Distance With OM3/OM4
The transmission distance of fiber optic cables will influence the data center cabling. The
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manageability and flexibility will be increased with fiber optic cables with longer transmission
distance. OM3 fiber and OM4 fiber can support longer transmission distance compare with other
traditional multimode fibers. Generally OM3 fibers can run 40/100 Gigabit at 100 meters and OM4
fibers can run 40/100 Gigabit at 150 meters. This high data rate and longer distance cannot be
achieved by other traditional multimode fiber like OM1 and OM2. Employing OM3 fiber and OM4 in
40/100G migration is required.
Get Lower Insertion Loss With OM3/OM4
Insertion loss has always been an import factor that technically should consider during the data
center cabling. This is because the total connector loss within a system channel impacts the ability
to operate over the maximum supportable distance for a given data rate. As total connector loss
increased, the supportable distance at that data rate decreases. According to the 40/100G standard,
OM3 fiber is specified to a 100m distance with a maximum channel loss of 1.9dB, which includes a
1.5dB total connector loss budget. And OM4 fiber is specified to a 150m distance with a maximum
channel loss of 1.5 dB, including a total connector loss budget of 1.0 dB. With low-loss OM3 and
OM4 fiber, maximum flexibility can be achieved with the ability to introduce multiple connector
mating into the connectivity link and longer supportable transmission distance can be reached.

OM3 or OM4?
Choosing OM3/OM4 is a wise and required choice for data center 40/100G migration. However,
OM3 and OM4, which is better? Numerous factors can affect the choice. However, the applications
and the total costs are always the main factors to consider to figure out whether OM3 or OM4 is
needed.
First, the connectors and the termination of the connectors for OM3 and OM4 fibers are the same.
OM3 is fully compatible with OM4. The difference is just in the construction of fiber cable, which
makes OM4 cable has better attenuation and can operate higher bandwidth at a longer distance
than OM3. Thus, the cost for OM4 fiber is higher than OM3. As 90 percent of all data centers have
their runs under 100 meters, choosing OM3 comes down to a costing issue. However, looking in the
future, as the demand increases, the cost will come down. Thus, OM4 might be the most viable
product at some point soon.
No matter choosing OM3 or OM4, the migration is underway. With good performance like high data
rate, long transmission distance and lower inserting loss, OM3/OM4 fiber is a must in data center
migration to 40/100G.

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Notice: This document is for informational purposes only and does not set forth any warranty, expressed or
implied, concerning any equipment, equipment features, or service offered or to be offered by Fiberstore.
Fiberstore reserves the right to make changes to this document at any time, without notice, and assumes no
responsibility for its use. This information document describes features that may not be currently available.
Contact a Fiberstore sales team for information on feature and product availability.

Fiberstore White Paper | OM3 and OM4 in 40/100G Migration