Re: [SAGE] Non-Orange Fiber Cables

[Nick Stoughton <nick@usenix.org>]

> AIUI the fiber stuff has an industry colour code already in use; Orange
> for a particular multi-mode, etc.  That's what I was told by our Network
> Engineer.
> 
> Googling gives me:
> 
>   62.5/125 multimode     grey
>   50/125 multimode       orange
>   singlemode             yellow
> 
> Allegedly covered as part of ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-A, "Commercial Building
> Telecommunications Cabling Standard"

Mention standards, and you get my interest!

As I understand it, ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-A has been superseded by 568-B.
This is the standard that includes the color-coding for the individual
copper strands in CAT-5e (Orange-white, Orange, Green-white, Blue, etc).
It does not (as far as I know) cover the color of the outer jacket for
CAT-5e, though it may do for fiber. Almost all the rest of
ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B is about the electrical properties of the cables (and
a little about the mechanical, such as minimum bend radius and maximum
pulling tension).

ANSI/TIA/EIA-598-A on the other hand specifically deals with color
coding for fiber cables, and there is a good chart at
http://cablingdb.com/Charts/Fiber_Cordage_Jacket_Colors.asp with the
approved colors ... and for what you want, ORANGE is it!

However, it is usually pretty easy to visually tell the difference
between a fiber patch cable and a CAT-5e (or CAT-6). Since the need for
crossover cables is relatively rare I would suggest you add some other
distinguishing mark to these cables; wrap some red electrical tape
around the cords every three feet or so, and at the ends.
-- 
Nick Stoughton      USENIX/FSG Standards Liaison
nick@usenix.org     (510) 388 1413