The Where, When and Why of Dark Fiber

Enterprises looking to improve connectivity across the internet of things and other wide-area data ecosystems basically have two choices when it comes to fiber optics: purchasing leased line services from a telecommunications carrier or implementing its own network using dark fiber.

Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, but in terms of cost and flexibility many organizations are finding that utilizing dark fiber is an effective means of supporting critical and non-critical enterprise workloads.

According to Jerry Gilreath, senior director of IT engineering at Raging Wire Data Centers, the more the enterprise comes to rely on cloud and colocated data facilities, the more attractive dark fiber becomes. Not only does dark fiber provide high levels of scalability and flexibility, but it allows for greater network customization than most leased services and comes in at a lower cost as bandwidth needs grow. This could become critically important as the IoT gathers steam and the number of connected devices scales into the billions.

Still, he adds that it is best to do your homework when it comes to leveraging dark fiber. For one thing, a thorough mapping of your unique IT connectivity requirements is essential. Low-bandwidth, long-haul services are probably not cost-effective for dark fiber, considering the upfront hardware investment involved. As well, dark fiber is strictly point-to-point. If you require multiple end-points, it’s best to do a cost comparison between available lit services and multiple dark fiber paths.
The most common use case for dark fiber is high-capacity local or regional connectivity, says attorney C. Douglas Jarret of law firm Keller-Heckerman. Dedicated high-bandwidth (1 GbE or higher) on metro networks are fairly expensive on a cost/Mbps basis, even under special access service rates. And since fiber typically has a 20 to 30-year lifespan, derivable bandwidth will increase over time due to advancements in underlying transmission technologies.

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