My TN Connection

When most people think of media converters, a small black box about the size of a deck of playing cards comes to mind. More advanced users of media converters may also think of a modular slide-in-card, which is used in a chassis configuration offering the convenience of housing several converters in high density deployments.

Often these two form factors are used together with the high density chassis being used in a central location, next to core switches, while the stand-alone converters are installed at the network edge, in a remote location. In this configuration, media converters provide their users with an economical method of deploying fiber and offering benefits such as extending transmissions distances, while protecting investments already made in existing copper based equipments.

While the size of a typical stand-alone media converts works well at the end point of most star topologies, sometimes they can actually be physically too large for certain installations. Concerns over available real estate are on the rise as more and more equipment is being installed in a given amount of space. Enterprise and central office installations often have space limitations. While this issue can be addressed with re-allocating or expanding office space, this is often a costly solution. Also working with limited space can be difficult in industrial or outdoor applications where the required equipment must fit within the limited space of a NEMA rated enclosure. While traditional media converters are fairly small and typically do not occupy excessive amounts of space, sometimes it would be helpful to have a converter with a smaller footprint.

Mini media converters, measuring a roughly 60 percent smaller than traditional sized converters, can offer users a space saving alternative. In addition to the smaller footprint, mini converters also offer copper to fiber conversion at a lower cost.

The miniature size and the lower cost of these converters have made them more simplistic and eliminated the configuration dip-switches found on many full sized converters. This “fixed” configuration does not mean these mini converters are limited in their capabilities. Optional choices available to the user include:

• 10/100Base-T to 100Base-FX conversion
• 10/100/1000Base-T to 1000Base-SX/LX conversion
• Multimode or Single mode
• ST or SC fiber connectors
• Duplex or simplex single strand fiber
• Link Pass Through support
• Powered via AC adapter, USB power, or POE power
• Redundant power
• Stand-alone, wall mount brackets, or rack mount brackets

When space is tight and budgets are limited, I suggest you take a closer look at mini media converters, they just might be the perfect match for your application.

Keywords: Applications, Central Office, Chassis, connector, Copper, cost, density, distances, Equipment, Fiber, ITS, Media Converter, Media Converters, Mini Media Converters, network, POE, Port, saving space

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