Customers Save Time with Optic Cable Cleaning

What is the Optics initiative?

Both Dell EMC and our customers consume considerable time and effort to replace optics/SFPs in our switches, directors and storage arrays.  This expense in time, effort and product is frequently unnecessary.  The Optics initiative creates an opportunity to identify and to simplify these situations, avoiding Service Request creation and reducing remediation time through customer education and self-service.

What is an optic/SFP?

Optics are the small components that enable Dell EMC products to communicate on the network.  Did you know?

  • Optic cable cleaning should be standard practice in any data center.
  • Both cable cleaning and optic replacement are very simple and quick procedures that customers may perform themselves, saving significant time.
  • All Connectrix products support Customer Replaceable Units (CRU) for optic replacement.

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Why is the Optics initiative important to the Dell EMC customer?

  • Provides customer choice that:

    • Saves time, through multi-paths, by facilitating cable cleaning by the customer at any time
    • Ensures redundancy by recovering a “down path” through the cleaning process
    • Accelerates recovery by reducing resolution time greatly through the cleaning process
    • Simplifies problem resolution by eliminating one of the probable causes of the failure if cleaning fails
  • Identifies probable cause

    • In a recent and extensive test study by Dell EMC, 83% of optics (over 500 examined) returned to Dell EMC after replacement were determined to not have any fault.  Also, in a recent study by NTT-Advanced Technology, 98% of installers (blue) and 80% of network owners (red) reported that issues with connector contamination was the greatest cause of network failure.

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  • Facilitates customer education and self-service

    • Customers requesting an optic replacement may wait over a day for an engineer to be scheduled and to appear onsite.
    • Dell EMC YouTube Service Channel podcast videos include:

      • Connectrix Optics Cable Cleaning Made Easy  (2:31).  In this video, you will learn how easy it is to clean your fiber optic cables to prevent connectivity issues in your Connectrix products.

      • Connectrix SFP Optic Replacement Made Easy  (1:51).  In this video, you will learn how easy it is to replace your failed SFP optic in your Connectrix products.

  • Identifies Cleaning and CRU tasks that customers could easily perform themselves, saving significant time

Once you have reviewed the Dell EMC YouTube Service Channel videos, we would like to hear from you.  Please share your experiences within your datacenter through Twitter, @DellEMCSupport using the hashtag #OpticsCleanCRU, through the Dell EMC Connectrix Community, and through this brief 1-minute survey.

Scott Ramsay

Director, Service Product Lead – Connectrix

Twitter: @ScottRamsay13

Follow us @DellEMCsupport

About the Author: Scott Ramsay