Connectors

Trunk fibers should be attached to high-quality, low-loss, physical-contact connectors, which are provided by several manufacturers. The most common optical connectors used in the data communications industry include the ST and FC/PC physical-contact connectors. Both are available for single mode and multimode cables. IBM® recommends using either ST or FC/PC physical-contact connectors for attaching trunk fibers to IBM duplex adapters installed in distribution panels. For equipment which is compatible with the FibreConnection (FICON®) interface, the coupling link may provide connectivity with the industry-standard FICON SC Duplex connector, which is a physical contact connector available for both multimode and single mode cable applications.

Also available are Multifiber Terminated Push-on (MTP) connectors that are used for connecting FTS-III Direct Attach trunk cables to FTS-III Direct Attach harnesses.