Advanced Tap technology delivers seamless consistency and lower error rates, while raising signal-to-noise ratio—all in a compact 1U form factor

Santa Clara, Calif. – October 2, 2013 – Net Optics, Inc., the leading provider of Total Application and Network Visibility solutions, today announced a spectrum of advanced new features and capabilities in its popular Flex Tap™ product line. Net Optics will demonstrate the upgraded Flex Tap at Interop (Booth #519) in New York.

The Flex Tap resolves system-wide signal loss issues for Service Providers and other organizations as network volumes increase and optical networks migrate to 10G, 40G and 100G. These signal loss issues arise from the fact that as optical network speeds increase, even the smallest imperfections in optical couplers, cable, or access Taps can introduce enough modal distortion to quickly make bit error rates unacceptable. The Flex Tap’s patented leading-edge design provides network operators the means to deliver visibility to these high-speed networks without the risk of injecting errors. This breakthrough product supports deployment with any multimode transceiver, eliminating the signal loss that arises from data errors in high-speed networks.

Key Features and Benefits:

• Substantially lowers error rates and enables the high signal-to-noise ratios that make for excellent clarity and fulfillment of service level agreements.
• Passes a wider light spectrum, which accommodates small imperfections without degrading the quality of the signal
• Requires no power or IP address for transparent, 24/7 monitoring that’s totally isolated from the network
• Compatible with all major manufacturers’ monitoring devices.

The Flex Tap allows any connected monitoring device to deliver total visibility of full duplex traffic as if it were in-line, instantly identifying Layer 1 and Layer 2 errors. With rack space increasingly expensive, the Flex Tap deploys in an extremely compact space; fitting up to 24 taps in a 1U panel, and supporting 1G, 10G, 40G and 100G implementations—a leap forward in value and cost-savings. This unrivaled density optimizes rack “real estate” for unprecedented cost-efficiency that offers substantial business and productivity advantages.

The Flex Tap lives up to its name in flexibility, allowing for a spectrum of design options such as a “mix-and-match” approach of speeds and connectors within a single deployment, as well as all fiber variations, multimode or single mode, and a simple upgrade path.

“While it is critical for operators to maintain total visibility to manage their networks, applications and services, if that data access actually introduces error, the cure can be worse than the disease,” says Lee House, Net Optics VP of Products. “But with a breakthrough product like the Flex Tap, operators can have total visibility into their modern networks while ensuring highly reliable transport.”

Net Optics is known industry-wide as an originator of Fiber Tap technology and has pushed the envelope in Tap functionality for more than 16 years, growing into a major provider of access solutions while continuing to lead and dominate the Tap market.

Thanks to Net Optics for the article