CWDM equipment (current favorites)
A few years ago, NANOG had a discussion regarding various CWDM vendors. Repeatedly MRV was brought up as a good option for metro-area LAN type applications. Since then, I have actually touched some of the MRV product line personally and found it (and their customer support)... less than ideal. (not comparing to anyone else, and no one is really ideal). The bigger problem was that the devices seem to be less than intuitive, but rock solid once they are working. (which is what everyone praised them for). We need to place a new order for some new fiber builds and were considering some other vendors. Especially in the nx2.5G and nx10G (are CWDM x-cievers even available in 10G yet?) range. Anyone have any new favorites? I'll be glad to summarize/commiserate. :) Thanks in advance, DJ
On Mon, 30 Oct 2006, Deepak Jain wrote:
We need to place a new order for some new fiber builds and were considering some other vendors. Especially in the nx2.5G and nx10G (are CWDM x-cievers even available in 10G yet?) range. Anyone have any new favorites?
I have recommended Transmode (www.transmode.com) to several people and not been flamed yet, so I think people are resonable satisfied with them. -- Mikael Abrahamsson email: swmike@swm.pp.se
On Mon, 30 Oct 2006, Mikael Abrahamsson wrote:
On Mon, 30 Oct 2006, Deepak Jain wrote:
We need to place a new order for some new fiber builds and were considering some other vendors. Especially in the nx2.5G and nx10G (are CWDM x-cievers even available in 10G yet?) range. Anyone have any new favorites?
I have recommended Transmode (www.transmode.com) to several people and not been flamed yet, so I think people are resonable satisfied with them.
Are we talking about the same vendor? Who only only provides Web interface for management of the system? But maybe others are likewise less than ideal.. -- Pekka Savola "You each name yourselves king, yet the Netcore Oy kingdom bleeds." Systems. Networks. Security. -- George R.R. Martin: A Clash of Kings
On Tue, 31 Oct 2006, Pekka Savola wrote:
On Mon, 30 Oct 2006, Mikael Abrahamsson wrote:
On Mon, 30 Oct 2006, Deepak Jain wrote:
We need to place a new order for some new fiber builds and were considering some other vendors. Especially in the nx2.5G and nx10G (are CWDM x-cievers even available in 10G yet?) range. Anyone have any new favorites?
I have recommended Transmode (www.transmode.com) to several people and not been flamed yet, so I think people are resonable satisfied with them.
We use transmode as well (TS series), their service has been great and the price is right.
Are we talking about the same vendor? Who only only provides Web interface for management of the system?
Hah, considering that the configuration of the equipment is fixed based on how you connect your fiber patch cables, monitoring it via SNMP is more than sufficient. You can look at the web interface to see a pretty picture of your equipment, which I guess could come in handy if you forgot what you have. They do have more than one line of equipment. They have some more expensive stuff that has OADM like capabilities.
But maybe others are likewise less than ideal..
Transmode has been rock solid. Once it is plugged in and you connect the patch cables you are done. Mentally you have to get used to the idea the chasis is just there for power and SNMP (which just reports "I'm alive" and what type of cards). Reconfiguration is pulling out SFPs (GE and C48 waves) or XFPs (10G waves) and changing patch cables, or inserting/removing cards. Mike.
-- Pekka Savola "You each name yourselves king, yet the Netcore Oy kingdom bleeds." Systems. Networks. Security. -- George R.R. Martin: A Clash of Kings
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On Sat, 11 Nov 2006, Mike Leber wrote:
Are we talking about the same vendor? Who only only provides Web interface for management of the system?
Hah, considering that the configuration of the equipment is fixed based on how you connect your fiber patch cables, monitoring it via SNMP is more than sufficient. You can look at the web interface to see a pretty picture of your equipment, which I guess could come in handy if you forgot what you have.
Unfortunately it's not enough -- the SNMP process seems to stop responding now and then, and you'll have to use the web gui to log on and reset the system :-( -- Pekka Savola "You each name yourselves king, yet the Netcore Oy kingdom bleeds." Systems. Networks. Security. -- George R.R. Martin: A Clash of Kings
A few years ago, NANOG had a discussion regarding various CWDM vendors. Repeatedly MRV was brought up as a good option for metro-area LAN type applications. There's been some discussions more recently, such as (coauthored by yours
On Mon, 30 Oct 2006, Deepak Jain wrote: truly): http://www.nanog.org/mtg-0606/pdf/lightning-talks/4-pilosov.pdf http://www.nanog.org/mtg-0610/presenter-pdfs/pilosov.pdf
Since then, I have actually touched some of the MRV product line personally and found it (and their customer support)... less than ideal. (not comparing to anyone else, and no one is really ideal).
The bigger problem was that the devices seem to be less than intuitive, but rock solid once they are working. (which is what everyone praised them for). Passive CWDM gear is pretty much all created equal as far as intuitiveness in how to connect it (assuming gear is non-broken). You have muxes, you have SFPs/GBICs, and you plug GBIC output into the mux input. :)
As far as the SFP/GBIC quality, I think MRV is very good. At one point, (maybe even still) Cisco OEM'd MRV gbics under their brand (and with attendant 1000% markup). You can also look at cubo and infineon optics, good quality at reasonable price. Be wary about chiwanese vendors - quality is questionable: high DOA rate, output light level and input sensitivity vary from one module to another. Pricewise, you might find that cubo isn't *that* much more expensive than chiwanese gear. Also, there's market (like, again, from yours truly) of the new-in-box MRV gear, which may also be an option.
We need to place a new order for some new fiber builds and were considering some other vendors. Especially in the nx2.5G and nx10G (are CWDM x-cievers even available in 10G yet?) range. Anyone have any new favorites? 2.5G are only slightly more expensive than 1G - if you have OC48 gear that is SFP-capable, by all means, use that.
10G CWDM is *rumoured* to exist, but I don't think there are any production ones yet. Feel free to correct me. 10G is all DWDM, and so far very pricy.
On Mon, 30 Oct 2006, Deepak Jain wrote:
Since then, I have actually touched some of the MRV product line personally and found it (and their customer support)... less than ideal. (not comparing to anyone else, and no one is really ideal).
We're lucky enough that they have a helpful/clueful distributor here in the UK.
The bigger problem was that the devices seem to be less than intuitive, but rock solid once they are working. (which is what everyone praised them for).
Agreed, though the poor UI meant that debugging a cable problem on a span was much harder than it needed to be. I really wish they had syslog implemented, but look at it this way, it could be worse. At least you don't have to talk TL1 to them ;-). Cheers, Mike
participants (6)
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alex@pilosoft.com
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Deepak Jain
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Mikael Abrahamsson
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Mike Hughes
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Mike Leber
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Pekka Savola