Maximum distances using fiber cable types OM1/OM2/OM3/OM4/OS1

Posted by on April 15, 2015 Leave a comment (3) Go to comments

What are the maximum distances using different fiber grades?

This post is meant as an easy reference for when you plan to switch to higher FC or Ethernet speeds or when you’re connecting distant locations and need to order new fiber cables for your rack to rack cabling.

 

fiber cable specs graph

The graphs show the direction where OM-specs are going compared to distances.

This table shows the defined distances in meters:

Optical
transceiver

Speed (Gbps)

Maximum distance (meters) by optical media type

OM1

62,5

Multi mode

200 MHz

OM2

50

Multi mode

500 MHz

OM3

50

Multi mode

2000 MHz

OM4

50

Multi mode

4700 MHz

OS1

9

Single mode

Short wave

1

300

500

860

2

150

300

500

 

4

70

150

380

 

8

21

50

150

190

10

33

82

300

400

 

16

15

35

100

125

32

 20 70 100

40 (8 fibers, 4 transmit and 4 receive)

100

150

100 (20 fibers, 10 transmit and 10 receive)

100

150

Long wave

1, 2, 4, 8, 10,
40 or 100 (no 16 yet)

10 km

 

Please do not use OM1 for 16 Gb speeds. It should work up to 15 meters, but since most datacenters span distances over 15 m, it’s probably better to use the same specs within the datacenter. The distances in the table are estimates listed in the 16 Gbps FC specification.

Edit 2021-12-22: Added distances using 32Gb on OM3 and OM4.

Configuration, hardware, SAN / WAN, , ,
  1. Annop Nakharin February 17, 2018 at 15:59

    I would like to ask more. If om2 connect to odf for 10Gbps (45m.+odf+38m) and (43+odf+38m) which one is ok? no down. what is the different between direct connect and connect via odf? The length of cable will be impacted? Thanks for your reply.

    Reply
  2. Larry February 20, 2018 at 21:15

    A quick search of the standards shows OS1 fiber is good to 2 KM while OS2 is good to 10 KM

    Reply

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