fiber or Base-T??

[jachristie79]

I'm having a hard time finding any information on the speed difference between the two. I'm think of setting up a 1000Mbps backbone for my network. the 48 port 10/100 switches that I will be using have 2 either 1Gbps fiber or baset-t upgrade modules, and I was wondering which I should go with?

basically what i want to know is the price differnce vs. performance.

Or if anyone could link me to a good site or two, or maybe other forums


Here is a link to the both of the switches i am currently contimplating.
Netgear FS750

Netgear GS524T

i'm not going to be moving around that much data right now, but in the future, I'm gonna need a strong backbone.

 

[spidey07]

fiber and copper are just different physical media. The speed comes from the type of ethernet 1000 Base is 1000 megabits/sec, 100 Base is 100 Mbs, 10 Base is 10 Mbs.

All three can run on fiber or copper.

One of those switches has 24 ports that are copper and can run 10/100/100 Base-T
The other has 48 ports that are copper and can run 10/100 Base-T, plus two modular slots for 1000 Base-SX (fiber) or 1000 Base-T (copper)

I prefer fiber for all gigabit ethernet strictly because then I don't have to worry about picky cable.

 

[Tallgeese]

Originally posted by: spidey07
I prefer fiber for all gigabit ethernet strictly because then I don't have to worry about picky cable.

Amen to that brotha!

Fiber is also preferred for backbone connections where there is/could be a difference in potential (between buildings, and sometimes even within the same building on different floors).

And finally, fiber may be necessary where physical conditions dictate, as in a plant environment with spark-arrest requirements, or an environment with significant EMI sources/interference.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Well if you're going from one building to another or long distance, Fiber is the way to go. the cable can be up to 10km.

 

[Oaf357]

Generally, backbones are usually fiber due to the sheer stability of the media.

However, fiber is significantly more expensive than copper. So the true question is how deep are your pockets.