Got Fiber Plant Diagrams?
By Fred Koh - July 20, 2021During the intervening years since we first launched netTerrain Outside Plant (OSP) — it’s an add on module to netTerrain Logical or netTerrain DCIM — we’ve fielded many questions about the type of GIS-enabled maps that netTerrain supports as well as netTerrain’s ability to import existing maps/diagrams. What’s netTerrain OSP (Outside Plant Software)? First, what’s…
Learn MoreBeavers vs. Your Outside Plant
By Fred Koh - July 16, 2021When we first saw this news story back in April of this year, we said, “we have to write a blog about this.” What’s it about? Well, you probably “wood”n’t believe it, but: beavers caused some massive headaches in a Canadian town. Yes: beavers. If you’re new to working on the outside plant, that may…
Learn MoreOSP Network: 3 Ways Software Improves Efficiency
By Fred Koh - May 21, 2021Your fiber plant and OSP networks can be incredibly complex. If there is a problem with a connection, how do you know what you’ll need to fix it, where exactly it is, and so on without an up-to-date map/diagram? How can you plan for, and manage, fiber capacity? Outside Plant Software (OSP) software can help…
Learn MoreGraphical Networks: Bronze Sponsor for Upcoming BICSI Fall Conference 2021
By Fred Koh - April 21, 2021Graphical Networks, makers of netTerrain — IT visualization software used by many organizations today to help document and manage the fiber plant — will be virtually attending the upcoming BICSI Fall Conference in Las Vegas. Graphical Networks is proud to be a bronze sponsor of this conference. The exhibit hall opens on August 23-25th at…
Learn MoreOSP Fiber Management: Save Time, Money, and Stress
By Fred Koh - September 25, 2020If you’re in charge of managing an Outside Plant (OSP) fiber network, you already know there’s nothing like the threat of backhoes and hurricanes to make you lose sleep. What will get damaged…and what else will be impacted? Are you going to have to send someone out in the field on a wild goose chase?…
Learn MoreFiber Mapping Software: What Is It?
By Fred Koh - May 13, 2020Here at Graphical Networks, we often say that our fiber mapping software solution (netTerrain OSP) helps fiber technicians and managers get their jobs done faster, easier, and more successfully. What, exactly, is it? Fiber Mapping Software: What Is It? Fiber mapping software, such as netTerrain OSP, gives those managing or working on fiber the visibility…
Learn MoreOSP Software: 3 Steps to Find the Right Solution
By Fred Koh - December 4, 2018Tasked with finding OSP software? If you need to find an outside plant (OSP) tool to help document and manage your fiber plant, you may be wondering how you can get the project started and find the right OSP solution for your team’s unique needs? First off, find out what your budget is (the cost…
Learn MoreCircuits in Fiber Plant Documentation: OSP Circuit Layout Records
By Jan Durnhofer - October 1, 2018A circuit layout record (CLR) is an end-to-end view of a linear connection between two endpoints, on one page. We have seen these before, as when we launched a CLR for a cable or a port, netTerrain tries to follow the path as far out as possible until it encounters no more connections or too…
Learn MoreCircuits in Fiber Plant Documentation: Terminating and Patching Up OSP Circuits
By Jan Durnhofer -In the previous blog, we started digging a bit deeper into the details of OSP circuits in netTerrain. This blog is also very technical: we will analyze how netTerrain terminates and patches up the circuits paths that we designed previously. Once you have your paths — with the correct hops, cables and strands — you…
Learn MoreCircuits in Fiber Plant Documentation: Designing Optimum Circuit Paths
By Jan Durnhofer -When creating a new circuit in netTerrain, who decides which path it should take and how is that accomplished? There are basically three ways to define a path for a circuit — with decreasing levels of automation: (Most Automation) By having netTerrain choose the shortest path (Less Automation) By having netTerrain choose the shortest path…
Learn MoreCircuits in Fiber Plant Documentation
By Jan Durnhofer - September 30, 2018In an OSP project, a circuit can be many things: a service between two points A and Z on a map, an MPLS connection going over fiber, or really — any logical relationship between points that uses physical resources of the network. One thing is quite consistent in fiber plant layouts, however: circuits traverse from…
Learn MoreWorking with Cables & Strands in Outside Plant Software
By Jan Durnhofer - September 20, 2018Up until now, links in netTerrain have been quite simplistic in terms of how they are modeled: just choose a look and feel for the link, assign some properties and, if needed, apply some rules (visual overrides) to some of those properties. This works well for virtually all network mapping and most Data Center Infrastructure…
Learn More