What Does Dark Fiber Mean?
Dark fiber has been used to describe optical fibers not currently utilized in fiber-optic communications. These cables are left unused because they do not transmit light pulses yet, making them virtually "dark" or inactive.
During the telecom industry's frantic expansion of the late '90s and early 2000s, an immense amount of fiber optic capacity was excessively installed across America. Many of these unused/dark fiber networks were also a result of the dot-com crash of 2000, which saw a significant drop in the prices of shares in the Internet stock market as many companies doing business on the World Wide Web either went bankrupt or experienced drastic losses.
Because there is such little cost associated with installing additional fibers once conduit has been laid or trenches dug, dark fiber remains an integral part of many telecommunications networks today.
In recent years, the concept of dark fiber has progressed. It now means leasing fiber optic cables from network or service providers instead of relying on regular carriers.
Currently, clients can lease dark fiber from network providers and operators to establish their own exclusive optical fiber networks. The client fully controls their operations because these dark fiber lines are separated from the primary network.
Dark fiber networks provide powerful data transmission through cables that carry tremendous capacity. There is no limit to the distance covered or speed, unlike traditional telecommunications networks and microwave transmissions — making dark fibers an ideal choice in many cases. Furthermore, due to its lack of costly electronic maintenance equipment, utilizing dark fibers can be much more cost-effective than other options available.
Dark Fiber Explained
Utilizing dark fiber to build a privately managed optical fiber network is ideal for operators to reduce their dependence on leased or purchased bandwidth from other companies. This system can be used in various settings, such as private networks, internet access, or infrastructure. By creating their own network with dark fiber, businesses can control the speed, capacity, and availability of services at all times. Currently, there are eight distinct varieties of dark fiber networks:
- daisy chain
- ring or circular
- mesh
- hybrid
- bus
- star
- daisy chain
- tree
Dark Fiber facilitates the integration of DWDM, or Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing, a state-of-the-art technology that slices up optical fibers into various frequencies throughout their spectrum to maximize capacity. Multiplexing can transmit a range of wave signals over one single strand of fiber. Each strand consists of many parallel optical channels that each use distinctive light waves for transmission.
DWDM provides countless benefits, including increased performance, reduced costs, and improved reliability. Moreover, companies can upgrade their system without replacing hardware or cables because the technology allows for unlimited scalability.
Dark Fiber offers revolutionary bandwidth, low latency, and unbeatable security. Government institutions, schools, e-commerce sites, and retail outlets can all gain from this cutting-edge technology — unlocking a heightened level of productivity while safeguarding their data resources with the utmost security.
