Tools for Building a Better Network Key Differentiator NetVanta Cable/SFP Diagnostics
Increasing Productivity with Network Diagnostics As businesses continue to make the most out of every available resource, the ability for employees to perform tasks faster and with fewer costs can be a valuable competitive advantage. Your business also can t afford any downtime in your network. With devices such as network switches making up a large part of the installed base of telecommunications equipment, the time and effort it takes to manage and troubleshoot these devices can be costly. Consider a typical scenario when one employee loses a connection, while all others remain trouble-free. Your IT administrator can spend countless hours determining the problem and then correcting it, wasting already-limited resources. ADTRAN provides the tools you need to rapidly diagnose and repair network interruptions. The NetVanta Cable and SFP Diagnostics feature offers a creative way of interfacing to and troubleshooting physical network components. We help ensure your resources are not wasted on minor network interruptions or failures. Through this innovative feature, ADTRAN is increasing an IT administrator s bandwidth for repairing network issues and improving your organization s ability to compete in today s fast-paced, global economy. 2 www.adtran.com
NetVanta Cable and SFP Diagnostics The NetVanta Cable and SFP Diagnostics feature provides insight into cable runs and SFP interfaces when connected to ADTRAN NetVanta Ethernet Switch. This innovative feature allows you to obtain real-time information on physical cable failures, like a short, open connection or a broken fiber connection. Cable Diagnostics Cable diagnostics is a method of testing Ethernet cables connected to Fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet physical interfaces. Cable diagnostics can be run on multiple switch ports to determine if the cables stemming from the port(s) are functioning properly, have a short or an open connection, and either the total length of the cable or the length of the cable to the fault. By using cable diagnostics, you can not only determine where on the cable problems have occurred, but you can save time and money in the process. Typically, the process of identifying a possible failure in your network means having to spend excessive amounts of time manually unplugging and re-plugging each cable. Using Cable Diagnostics can save you time and effort. As displayed in Figure 1, if the failure occurred in the 10m between the wall outlet and computer, you could have the length of the cable to the fault information instantly, versus going through the process of unplugging your 5m and 40m cables while working your way to the problem. Patch Panel 10m 40m Computer Wall Outlet NetVanta 1544 5m Figure 1: Typical Cabled Network www.adtran.com 3
Types of results described include: n No Fault A No Fault result indicates that the cable is functioning properly. If a length range (in meters) is displayed, it indicates the cable is terminated and linked at the far end. n Short A Short result indicates that some degradation has occurred on the wire, and wires are now short circuiting or touching each other within the cable. The distance listed (in meters) indicates the distance to the fault. Most common causes of shorts are due to damage to the cable or the connectors. Reading Cable Diagnostic Results There are three main results shown for cable diagnostics testing. The results indicate where in a cable a specific problem has been detected, allowing for the appropriate action to be taken to correct the problem with minimal interruption of the network. n Open An Open result indicates that the wire is not terminated. This does not mean conclusively that there is a fault on the wire. It is possible that the cable is simply not terminated at the far end. However, if the test result reports vastly different numbers for pairs within the same cable, this is a clear indication of a problem. Each of these results must be evaluated in the context of the specific network configuration and the physical location and layout of the cables within the network area.to apply the correct solution, you will also need to understand which pins and pairs of the cable have been affected, the location of the fault, the actual fault result, and the other parameters specific to your network configuration. 4 www.adtran.com
SFP Diagnostics The SFP Diagnostics feature is a quick way to view information about a SFP (fiber or copper) connection available to be collected and displayed. This is available both through the Command Line Interface (CLI) and the GUI. The information collected includes: n SFP Manufacturer n Identifier n Connector n SONET Compliance Code n Gigabit Ethernet Compliance Code n Fiber Channel Link Length n Fiber Channel Transmitter Technology n Fiber Channel Transmission Media n Fiber Channel Speed n Encoding n Nominal Bit Rate n Supported Single-Mode Link Length n Supported Multi-Mode Link Length n Supported Link Length Copper n Vendor OUI n Vendor Part Number n Vendor Revision n Options n Max Bitrate n Min Bitrate n Vendor Serial Number n Datecode **In addition to this information, Finisar SFPs also provide access to view the transmit power, receive power, and temperature. www.adtran.com 5
Below is an example of the information from the NetVanta CLI interface. SFP Diagnostics is supported by the NetVanta 1534/1534P NetVanta 1535P with ActivReach NetVanta 1544/1544P/1544F NetVanta 1638/1638P with ActivChassis This sample table shows information returned when performing a SFP diagnosis in the NetVanta GUI. 6 www.adtran.com SFP Diagnostic Information for giga-swx 0/25 SFP Manufacturer FINISAR Corp. Identifier SFP Transceiver Connector LC SONET Compliance Code Gigabit Ethernet Compliance Code 1000BASE-SX Fiber Channel Link Length Intermediate Distance (I) Fiber Channel Transmitter Technology Shortwave Laser w/o OFC (SN) Fiber Channel Transmission Media Multi-mode, 62.5m (M6) Fiber Channel Speed 200 MB/sec Encoding 8B10B Nominal Bit Rate 2100 Mb/s Supported Single-mode Link Length Supported Single-mode Link Length Supported Multi-mode (50 micron) Link Length 300 m Supported Multi-mode (62.5 micron) Link Length 150 m Supported Link Length Copper Vendor OUI 00:90:65 Vendor Part Number FTLF8519P2BNL Vendor Revision A Max Bitrate Min Bitrate Vendor Serial Number PDD4VW8 Datecode 03/28/2007 Rx Power 0.01mW Tx Power 0.35mW Temperature 27 Celsius
End User Benefits of Cable and SFP Diagnostics: Our job as a supplier of telecommunications equipment is to provide you with dependable products and the tools to easily and efficiently troubleshoot issues as they arise. Cable and SFP diagnostics is such a tool with benefits including: n Reduces time to diagnose problems n Provides at your fingertips information for common network errors n Enable faster problem resolution and lower operational cost n Increases administration efficiency n Provides flexibility and ease of management n Reduces down time of a cable or fiber connection www.adtran.com 7
ADTRAN, Inc. Attn.: Enterprise Networks 901 Explorer Boulevard Huntsville, AL 35806 800 9ADTRAN www.adtran.com Pre-Sales Technical Support 888 423-8726 application.engineer@adtran.com www.adtran.com/support Post-Sales Technical Support 888 423-8726 support@adtran.com www.adtran.com/support ACES Installation & Maintenance Services 888 874-2237 aces@adtran.com www.adtran.com/support EN1420B May Copyright 2013 ADTRAN, Inc. All rights reserved. ADTRAN believes the information in this publication to be accurate as of publication date, and is not responsible for error. Specifications subject to change without notice. ADTRAN is a registered trademark of ADTRAN, Inc. and its affiliates in the U.S. and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.