Network Admin Life - Chasing Down Fiber Problems

In this week's video I try to track down a problem with a fiber uplink from my core to an edge switch. But am I successful?
Spoiler Alert: No. So part 2 of this video will be coming soon.
#networkadmin #networking #extremenetworks #fiberoptics #fiberopticcable #exos #voss

[@Echoskope]

So making the assumption the other end of the fiber is also transmitting at around -1.44 dBm, you can account about a 0.3dB loss for every connection the light passes through, so with the patch panel in between that's 4 connections (2 SFPs and 2 bulk heads at the patch panel) / ~ 1.2 dB expected loss, and your receive power is at -2.77 dBm, so overall you're only seeing a loss of 1.33 dB which is pretty close to expected! Something I would do in this situation as I go through each rack is have a fiber click cleaner with me and just clean all the optical faces while I'm there, just to eliminate the chance a piece of dust might be part of the problem.

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Excellent suggestion! God bless!

[@psyfertech]

I agree definitely would keep a cleaner with me and im surprised you dont have a light meter to test it at each point its a must have when troubleshooting fiber, I work for a telco so i only work with SM.

[@BlockchainShango]

Great video, good Sir! I love the "labeling cables" approach. I immediately added that to my mental kitbag for when I land a networking gig. Keep those golden nuggets of knowledge coming! Take care, everyone!

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Awesome! Glad you liked the video. Best of luck on your career! God bless!

[@kylejoel87]

Could be a rubbish SFP the amount of times I got called.out for a failing SFP.

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Yeah could be. I did try replacing it though. God bless!

[@kylejoel87]

@@NetworkAdminLife God bless you too, thank you for your amazing content.

[@zbcochran1]

KEEP talking about God! 😀Thanks for another great video!

[@pesticideq3]

In Jesus name.

[@John-te3zd]

If people don't like it- go watch someone else's videos- Yes keep talking about GOD and JESUS

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Thank you, I will! God bless!

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Blessed be the name of the Lord! God bless!

[@NetworkAdminLife]

I absolutely will! God bless!

[@PE4Doers]

Please continue to mention God 😊

[@MrMcMuffinJr1999]

Or just……..not

[@PE4Doers]

@@MrMcMuffinJr1999 to each his/her own

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Not to worry. I'll never stop. Atheists are welcome to just not watch. God bless!

[@PE4Doers]

@@NetworkAdminLife I'm very happy to hear that. 🙂

[@mememan9890]

@@NetworkAdminLife As an atheist I still find it really entertaining/informative to watch!

[@212helpdesk]

Wow, I learned a new phrase, our devices are co-located with HVAC, sometimes XMAS storage and mops. You are the best!

[@NetworkAdminLife]

That is awesome! God bless!

[@johng.1703]

I am a great fan of documentation. when working with fibre cleanliness is next to godliness. the clicker is your friend. I am not in any way religious, but you are free to go on as much as you like about it, it's your video and your channel. if vibration is a problem, or even a suspected problem, you can get the rubber isolation mounts for the racks, that will reduce or completely remove any vibration issues.

[@NetworkAdminLife]

I'm going to have to pick up a clicker. Folks keep recommending it. God bless!

[@AtrachewJemberie]

I appreciate your commitment to God! And your vids on troubleshooting, God bless!

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Thank you so much! God bless!

[@EanBezemer]

Scott you may want to invest in a visual fault locator so you can at least verify what is connected to what..

[@EanBezemer]

You may also want to have someone in engineering check the length of that fiber cable as it's possible you may be over length.

[@NetworkAdminLife]

We know that some closets push the length limit for our OM4 installation. And I previously made a video on the cheap laser tracing tool I bought. But I got lazy on this one and haven't used it as a double check. Sometimes you can find faulty fiber runs just be seeing how much the laser light has diminished at the far end. Not by looking directly into the end, of course. God bless!

[@joncarhart1842]

Great video and please keep talking about God, I love that part !!

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Thank you, I will. God bless!

[@yokelydiaz385]

Its wonderful to hear, you mention God, thank you.

[@NetworkAdminLife]

I always will. To God alone be the glory. God bless!

[@br4ntt07]

You are doing a great job. Especially you speaking in the name of the Lord… God bless you. I was having not a good day, I saw you working, and worshiping, that gave me strength, because is JESUS, our main source… 🙏🔥

[@NetworkAdminLife]

I'm very humbled to read your comment. You don't know how encouraging it was for me to read that somehow, I encouraged you. God bless, brother!

[@212helpdesk]

Maybe before you walk away try your fiber loopback to see if port on your basement sw is working, if you dont have one , they are cheap on amazon and it will make you look even smarter. I bought one of each so I have a total kit. (I'm FE so I never know what I will run into) I once solved a VXLan with leaf and spine architecture in a massive 7 full cabinet storage system at 2am. The engineers might not have been impressed but I impressed myself. I feel smart just saying those above phrases. In addition there are no MAC addresses on the above systems. Each of the 48 sw ports is fiber channel with layer 3. Each port acts like a router (limited) The heat these systems give off is incredible. So cool, sorry I am reliving past events, now back to you.

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Trust me, it doesn't take much to make me look smarter. Sometimes I think a monkey with a hammer could do better fiber work than me. God bless!

[@yokelydiaz385]

God bless you, too.

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Thank you!

[@magesnz]

Have you thought of getting some LR sfp instead of using SR sfp? Would be better for distance

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Most of my SFPs are LR. I'm actually wondering if the runs are too short in some cases. I think the bulk of my problems stem from us using OM4 fiber. God bless!

[@magesnz]

@@NetworkAdminLifei use om4 in most of my setups cause it’s one the cheapest and easy to get fibre , have you thought of trying some SR to see if the issue comes from having LR under 300m ? Maybe that the issue, try with one that is an issue and see if you can make it work if not replace it with a new LR sfp cause be the SFP all along causing the issue

[@samjones4327]

Hey! Grace & Peace 2 U brother! Thanks 4 another great troubleshooting video!! I always love it when we get tours of the racks, even when there's an issue I'm always learning from your expertise! Thank 4 al that U do for us and the fun things you share! God Bless and have a great day!

[@NetworkAdminLife]

And thank you as well for always leading the cheers. God bless!

[@Jimmyhuybrechts]

So first of all I would teach myself to never look directly in a fiber, at short distances you won't notice anything, but when working with longer distances that can be bad for your eyes :) If you have really long fibers an OTDR meter would also be of great help, what it does is sent light over the cable and if it find like a break or something it will tell you at what length the break is so you know where to look :)

[@NetworkAdminLife]

I keep forgetting to put an OTDR on my list of wants during budget season. Good suggestion. God bless!

[@joerockhead7246]

Thanks. I enjoyed this video. I don't like troubleshooting layer 1 issues. I'll take BGP any day.

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Not my favorite activity either. God bless!

[@Slasinth]

God Bless 🙏

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Thank you! God bless!

[@ruhnet]

DON’T stop talking about Jesus! ❤ 😊

[@NetworkAdminLife]

NEVER going to happen. God bless!

[@donjohnson6063]

I miss bare metal

[@NetworkAdminLife]

Yeah, working copper can be a lot easier, I admit it. God bless!