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NetBox Plugin Ideas

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Status Discussion
Created by Guest
Created on Sep 20, 2023

OSP (Outside Plant) Management

The OSP plugin for Netbox helps network operators and data centers have a single source of truth for all their outside plant assets, including outdoor cables, fiber splice boxes, CWDM/DWDM MUXs and OADMs), and the ODFs that terminate those outdoor assets inside a data center or facility.

This plugin has been mainly designed thinking of a data center operating fiber connections between facilities, and network operators that serve enterprise customers, 5G sites, etc. This module is not focused on FTTH networks, since they are mainly used for network operators serving residential customers, due to added complexity it would require a larger model. That being said, this could be a great addition for future phases.


It allows users to have a detailed view of their network, including the outside plant, including end-to-end visibility of circuits, and fiber threads. From the device port in site A to the device port in site B, see all the fiber splicing boxes and trays, MUXs, OADMs, ODFs, and any other element that the circuit passes. This allows faster troubleshooting in case of problems with fiber threads.


Main elements

  • ODFs (that's the termination point in the data center)

  • Outdoor fiber optic cables (usually single mode fiber and most common types are loose-tube and ribbon)

  • Fiber thread (this is the optical conductor inside a fiber optic cable)

  • Fiber splice box (this is the element that contains the fiber splice trays and act as a termination point for a cable, not a fiber thread)

  • Fiber splice tray (this is the element where fiber threads from different cables are spliced)

  • MUX (passive optical element that allows a single fiber threads to multiplex and demultiplex different wavelengths, it could be CWDM, DWDM, or LWDM channels)

  • OADM

ODFs

This could be a special case of device type


Outdoor fiber optic cables

These are the fiber optic cables connecting one of the following elements:

  • ODF to ODF

  • ODF to Fiber splice box

  • Fiber splice box to Fiber splice box

Important attributes of this element are:

  • Jacket type (Direct Buried Fiber Optic cable, Duct Fiber Optic Cable, Underwater Fiber optic cable, ADSS most common type, Armored Fiber cable) - drop-list

  • Type: Loose tube (most common) or Ribbon

  • Span (integer, with usual range between 50m and 1000m)

  • For Loose Tube:

    • Number of Buffers per cable (in a fiber optic cable, the fiber threads are usually contained within a buffer). (integer, with a minimum value of 1)

    • Number of fiber threads per buffer - most common value is 12 (integer, with a minimum value of 1)

The product of (Number of Buffers per cable) * (Number of fiber threads per buffer) gives the total number of fiber strains per cable


Fiber thread

This is the element that serves as the actual medium of transmission. A fiber can connect one of the following elements:

  • Pigtail - is the element in an ODF that adds the connector type to a fiber

  • another fiber thread

  • thread on a MUX (non-connectorized fiber optic MUX)


The most important attributes of a fiber thread are:

  • Type: Single mode / Multimode

  • Subtype for single mode: G.652 (most common), G.653, G.654, G.655 (second most common), G.657

  • Subtype of multi-mode: OM1, OM2, OM3, OM4, OM5


Fiber splice box

This is the element that protects the fiber splice trays, it is also a possible termination point for a fiber optic cable.


Fiber splice tray

This is the element where fiber threads or mux threads are spliced. The relationship is 1:1, one fiber can only be spliced to one of the following options: fiber thread or mux thread


A fiber tray can contain fiber threads from one or more cables (integer).


MUX

This is a passive element that can multiplex and demultiplex wavelengths from a fiber thread. Main attributes:

  • Type of technology: CWDM, DWDM, LWDM

  • Type of filters: AWG or TTF

  • Bandwidth: 50GHz, 75GHz, 100GHz, 150GHz, 200GHz

  • Passband: integer

Within a MUX you can carry multiple wavelengths, this could be added similar to an interface in a device.


OADM

This is a passive element that can be used to ADD or DROP single or multiple wavelengths in a specific location, allowing all other wavelengths to continue their way to the next sites.


  • Type of technology: CWDM, DWDM, LWDM

  • Type of filters: AWG or TTF

  • Bandwidth: 50GHz, 75GHz, 100GHz, 150GHz, 200GHz

  • Passband: integer

Use case

Netbox's OSP plugin solves the lack of visibility of fiber paths between two facilities and avoids unnecessary disconnections due to a lack of proper information on the OSP for data centers and network operators.

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  • Knut Nilsson
    Reply
    |
    Oct 1, 2024

    Its not only awesome - its necessary for the future of NetBox. Fiber Documentation should be a real focus right now - and ill commit that i would be really excited.

    Here are some Ideas / Thoughts to this:


    Please add the Class to the Fiber Thread (class a or b ...)

    Please add field for the average or calculated link loss & attenuation

    Please add a field for the attachements from the otdr measurements / protocols

    Please add following devices / types / whatever u want to call it:

    • Fiber Optic Splice Closure (Tier 1,2,3,4,5)

      • thats where the cable from the PoP/DC splits into multi paths for example:

        • 1 cable with 432 fibers from the PoP/DC ends in a cable shaft called "CS-001"

        • 12 cables with 12 fibers goes from the splice closure in CS-001 to 12 houses/sites/whatever

        We need this for a good and exact documentation of our dark fibers :)

    • Cable Shaft (i dont know how to explain this in english)

    • Splitters (1:2,1:4,1:8- 1:128) (gpon,xgspon)

    • Optical Amplifiers with WDM (EDFA)

    • Optical Atts


    Greetings :)

  • Mathieu
    Reply
    |
    Sep 6, 2024

    Would be awesome! Many ISP, universities and cities -- at least -- would benefit from such plugin.

    Of course it should display fiber and tube colors (here, in France, 1 to 12 are red, blue, green, etc. to pink, 13 to 24 are the same colors and ring marked; but there are other color codes elsewhere: Color Codes and Counting Directions for Fiber Optic Cables)

    DanSheps has posted the way he does <https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/discussions/10412>, but it's an approach too simplistic for us: you quickly get loose on which Front or Back Port you must use on a given device when you have several splice closures in series, and anyway there is no management of used/available fiber strains in a given cable and tube.

  • Tony Nealon
    Reply
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    Aug 8, 2024

    Think it'd be better to just focus on the cables themselves from a layer 1 perspective (trench, duct, sheath, strand) with a path object being calculated from joining strands

  • Brian Vessey
    Reply
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    Mar 13, 2024

    This would be an amazing addition. Especially where Netbox can make the link / transition from the outside plant to the facilities inside each site / building / LAN.

  • Jim Bennin
    Reply
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    Mar 8, 2024

    This makes a lot of sense for entities that have a bit of self-owner/operated fiber, that wants an easy way to track it's use etc.