So what you really need to do is use "show port transceiver information" which will show you the current RX Power received (and at the other end of the fiber, note the TX power), then clean the ferrules (in the FIU panel and both ends of the fiber patch (e.g. all 4 of them), bring the port back up and then note the new values at each end and see the change. While you might not see an increase in RX received you might see a reduction in TX at the other end to yield the same RX, etc. You will likely see quite a favorable change in the optical levels after proper cleaning of dirty ferrules. Relying on the link to flap (or not) to know if you needed to clean it is really too primitive and not useful, if the link is flapping because the link is dirty that is on you. In fact, record all these values for the entire network and then clean every connection and see the difference! Link flap due to dirty ferrules will no longer be a thing. If you had an inspection microscope (not an expensive item) you would be able to see the dirt before and absence of dirt after cleaning. You also need other basic tools like a light level power meter and a VFL to properly maintain a fiber optic network. And the price on OTDRs has now fallen to the point that any network administrator of such a network should have that in his tool kit also! I'm am certainly one of the folks that cringed at your patching of fiber without cleaning although I never called you out on it (until now) :) By examining the optical levels proactively you will find any links that are living on the edge and therefore prone to flapping or other faults before it happens and be able to prevent it. Tune up your network and you will have a lot less unexpected issues. You should also be monitoring the traffic on these links and installing upgraded optics or additional links, dynamically allocating bandwidth where it is most required. I remember after I started my current job just a few days in the boss called me and asked if I was messing with the network? Yeah, of course I've fixed all kinds of problems that I found. Well keep up the good work he said, our network as never been this fast! They knew they hired the right guy.
Hey again. So I'm a field engineer for a very prestigious long haul engineering/ optical engineering company. Every day I clean fibers that carry 400G muxed signals. You are off to a good start with the plunger. However there's room for improvement. The main issue I saw is that you didn't use enough clicks of the plunger. Our standard is 6 clicks before scoping the port again. The reason for this is that if there's dirt in the port, one cycle of the string will just move it around and not carry it out of the port. Since you don't have a scope, I would say that 8 clicks is safe for you. In addition, while you CAN clean the ferrule on the actual fiber with the plunger, what you really should be using is something called a cletop. You wipe down the sterile cloth (use a twisting motion for simplex connectors). 2-3 cycles of wiping is good since you don't have a scope. However at the end of the day you really, really need a scope. Some fibers come from the factory with caked on junk that you may not be able to get rid of. You could also have a shattered ferrule and not even realize it. There's many, many reasons why a scope is needed in an environment with a lot of fiber. The two main scope manufacturers are exfo and viavi. I've used both and prefer viavi. Hope this helps a little, and it's great to see someone in a dc taking action on fiber hygiene. A lot of colos/DCs I go into have zero fiber hygiene lol
Always clean connectors and ports before you connect.. even for new patch cords and transceivers. It is also recommended to get an inspection scope for view the connector endface. Inspect > clean > Inspect > clean again as necessary > rinse and repeat until clean. Inspection scopes can auto test to IEC spec and give you a pass/fail.
I'm sure our engineers have inspection scopes. I'll see if I can scrounge one up from them. They, like me, assume the patch cables will be clean. Ha, ha. God bless!
You're right on the window of time you need to dedicate to VPN troubleshooting ( ~ 3-4 hr ), especially not knowing how well the other party(s) know the configuration on their side. Hard coding the tunnel IP(s) to a endpoint versus a VIP on either end is just asking for trouble. Hopefully you enjoy your holiday and vacation !
Good Morning! Grace & Peace 2 U and your family 2 day! Once again thank U 4 a great video and learning experience! I think it's awesome that you store your fiber cleaner "Clicker" in a toothbrush holder! Very cool! I thank U 4 all that U do 4 us and please keep your content coming 4 as long as God graces U! Thanks a lot and have a great and blessed day! God Bless brother!🙏🏽
"It's always DNS" ;) Java may have a bad reputation, but you definitely need to install it the first thing in the morning, otherwise you can't compile anything.
I have a broken fiber cable (dog bites it) but suprisingly for me it still working correctly - how to know what kind of cable to purchase? Am I suppose to call my ISP, or I can do it myself? ... Bigger problem is probably my ISP router changing IP address (no internet connection for couple of minutes everyday in the middle of the night - at same intervals) - Is my assumption correct, or you can think of different cause of failure?
@@NetworkAdminLife Obviously that is not right. You need to fix these problems as they are just trouble looking for the worst possible time to mess up your day.
So what you really need to do is use "show port transceiver information" which will show you the current RX Power received (and at the other end of the fiber, note the TX power), then clean the ferrules (in the FIU panel and both ends of the fiber patch (e.g. all 4 of them), bring the port back up and then note the new values at each end and see the change. While you might not see an increase in RX received you might see a reduction in TX at the other end to yield the same RX, etc. You will likely see quite a favorable change in the optical levels after proper cleaning of dirty ferrules. Relying on the link to flap (or not) to know if you needed to clean it is really too primitive and not useful, if the link is flapping because the link is dirty that is on you. In fact, record all these values for the entire network and then clean every connection and see the difference! Link flap due to dirty ferrules will no longer be a thing. If you had an inspection microscope (not an expensive item) you would be able to see the dirt before and absence of dirt after cleaning. You also need other basic tools like a light level power meter and a VFL to properly maintain a fiber optic network. And the price on OTDRs has now fallen to the point that any network administrator of such a network should have that in his tool kit also! I'm am certainly one of the folks that cringed at your patching of fiber without cleaning although I never called you out on it (until now) :)
By examining the optical levels proactively you will find any links that are living on the edge and therefore prone to flapping or other faults before it happens and be able to prevent it. Tune up your network and you will have a lot less unexpected issues. You should also be monitoring the traffic on these links and installing upgraded optics or additional links, dynamically allocating bandwidth where it is most required. I remember after I started my current job just a few days in the boss called me and asked if I was messing with the network? Yeah, of course I've fixed all kinds of problems that I found. Well keep up the good work he said, our network as never been this fast! They knew they hired the right guy.
That's actually a good idea. It's something I've tried before but I'm not consistent about it. Point taken. God bless!
An excellent video with a great network engineering tutorial, as usual. God Bless.
Well, all the fiber guys were laughing at me but at least they gave me credit for trying. God bless!
Good morning to you too!
Enjoying the content as always, something to enjoy for a Sunday afternoon.
God Bless!
Thank you! God bless!
Coffe = the technician's Life Blood - Love these Videos ...
Doesn't seems like it working today:) ... need to upgrade to Hi-Test
Good ol' covfefe. God bless!
@OldePhart, you mean someone noticed? :-) I have no excuse, our cafeteria coffee is pretty dang strong. God bless!
Hey again. So I'm a field engineer for a very prestigious long haul engineering/ optical engineering company. Every day I clean fibers that carry 400G muxed signals. You are off to a good start with the plunger. However there's room for improvement.
The main issue I saw is that you didn't use enough clicks of the plunger. Our standard is 6 clicks before scoping the port again. The reason for this is that if there's dirt in the port, one cycle of the string will just move it around and not carry it out of the port. Since you don't have a scope, I would say that 8 clicks is safe for you. In addition, while you CAN clean the ferrule on the actual fiber with the plunger, what you really should be using is something called a cletop. You wipe down the sterile cloth (use a twisting motion for simplex connectors). 2-3 cycles of wiping is good since you don't have a scope.
However at the end of the day you really, really need a scope. Some fibers come from the factory with caked on junk that you may not be able to get rid of. You could also have a shattered ferrule and not even realize it. There's many, many reasons why a scope is needed in an environment with a lot of fiber. The two main scope manufacturers are exfo and viavi. I've used both and prefer viavi.
Hope this helps a little, and it's great to see someone in a dc taking action on fiber hygiene. A lot of colos/DCs I go into have zero fiber hygiene lol
I should have known better than to follow the instructions. My gut told me it needed more than one click. Great advice! God bless!
Always clean connectors and ports before you connect.. even for new patch cords and transceivers. It is also recommended to get an inspection scope for view the connector endface. Inspect > clean > Inspect > clean again as necessary > rinse and repeat until clean. Inspection scopes can auto test to IEC spec and give you a pass/fail.
I'm sure our engineers have inspection scopes. I'll see if I can scrounge one up from them. They, like me, assume the patch cables will be clean. Ha, ha. God bless!
You're right on the window of time you need to dedicate to VPN troubleshooting ( ~ 3-4 hr ), especially not knowing how well the other party(s) know the configuration on their side. Hard coding the tunnel IP(s) to a endpoint versus a VIP on either end is just asking for trouble. Hopefully you enjoy your holiday and vacation !
Yeah, 30 minutes is a new record for me. Glad the guy on the other end of the conversation knew more than I did. God bless!
Good Morning! Grace & Peace 2 U and your family 2 day! Once again thank U 4 a great video and learning experience! I think it's awesome that you store your fiber cleaner "Clicker" in a toothbrush holder! Very cool! I thank U 4 all that U do 4 us and please keep your content coming 4 as long as God graces U! Thanks a lot and have a great and blessed day! God Bless brother!🙏🏽
The company actually sells it with the toothbrush case. Nice idea indeed. God bless!
So what I learned is its always DNS?
You'd be surprised how often network problems and Active Directory problems are actually DNS problems. God bless!
"It's always DNS" ;)
Java may have a bad reputation, but you definitely need to install it the first thing in the morning, otherwise you can't compile anything.
Some days it takes Java longer to load than others. God bless!
I have a broken fiber cable (dog bites it) but suprisingly for me it still working correctly - how to know what kind of cable to purchase? Am I suppose to call my ISP, or I can do it myself? ... Bigger problem is probably my ISP router changing IP address (no internet connection for couple of minutes everyday in the middle of the night - at same intervals) - Is my assumption correct, or you can think of different cause of failure?
Same time every day? That's your ISP most likely. I'd start with them. God bless!
fiber is so finicky (kinda like morris the cat)
It certainly can be. I've got some fiber pairs that if I just bump the connector, it will link flap. God bless!
@@NetworkAdminLife Obviously that is not right. You need to fix these problems as they are just trouble looking for the worst possible time to mess up your day.