What is the Optics initiative?
Both Dell 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 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.
Why is the Optics initiative important to the Dell customer?
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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
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Identifies probable cause
- In a recent and extensive test study by Dell, 83% of optics (over 500 examined) returned to Dell 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.
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Dell 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 YouTube Service Channel videos, we would like to hear from you. Please share your experiences within your datacenter through Twitter, @DellSupport using the hashtag #OpticsCleanCRU, through the Dell Connectrix Community, and through this brief 1-minute survey.
Scott Ramsay
Director, Service Product Lead – Connectrix
Twitter: @ScottRamsay13
Follow us @Dellsupport