Historically, optical interfaces have had lower reliability (MTBF) than electrical interfaces, of the same rate, due to a high burnout rate for the lasers. This has apparently changed now, and optical failure rates are lower.
Do customers perceive this as true?
Do you know of estimates for MTBF for lasers vs copper, for example, 1Gig ether O versus E? Assume that we're talking VSR usage; otherwise copper wouldn't be suitable.
And in terms of all optical interface types, if you want roughly 10Gbps speed but are agnostic about how, what about OC192C POS interfaces versus 10Gig Ether?
thanks,
-david waitzman
Thus spake "David Waitzman" <djw@bbn.com>
Historically, optical interfaces have had lower reliability (MTBF) than
electrical interfaces, of the same rate, due to a high burnout rate for
the
lasers. This has apparently changed now, and optical failure rates are
lower.
Do customers perceive this as true?
My experience is that product failure is almost exclusively due to design or
manufacturing problems, or customer damage (e.g. floods, ESD).
The best resource for this data would be your vendors' RMA departments.
And in terms of all optical interface types, if you want roughly 10Gbps
speed but are agnostic about how, what about OC192C POS interfaces
versus 10Gig Ether?
In theory, both MTBF and price will be lower for the simpler technology, but
by the same token that simpler technology may not support all the features
you need. It's hard to say what's best if you don't list your criteria.
S