Cabling Solutions for a High-Density Data Center

With the ever-increasing demand on IT sources, data centers must grow to keep pace with the needs of users—whether in the company or beyond it. But adding more floor space is an expensive, disruptive and sometimes unaffordable option. One possible solution is to increase the density of the data center. But how to achieve a high-density data center? This post aims to provide some effective cabling solutions to increase the density of data centers.

 

As a result of the vast proliferation of virtualization and cloud implementation, the trend toward higher-density in data center has been accelerating in recent years. The higher-density data center gives operators greater flexibility and allow them to more efficiently manage the explosive growth in the number of fiber connections. Besides, high-density data center offers greater value and benefit. From the following picture, the total cost of ownership differences between low density (measured at 4KM/rack) versus high density (measured at 12 KW) data centers across five Equinix EMEA sites (London, France, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland), most major sites reduced their CAPEX by 50% and costs by 20%.

 

 

Most traditional fiber patch cables attached with connectors like LC, which are usually locked in the port with a compact latch on the connector body, will cause a finger-access problem for network engineers, especially when they want to plug out a patch cord with connectors. Push-pull tab fiber patch cable with a push-pull tab attached to the connectors perfectly solves this annoying issue. Generally, the connectors attached to the push-pull patch cable are MPO or LC connectors, as these two types of connectors are currently the most popular ones in high density cabling in 40G, 100G, or even 120G applications. The following image shows MPO-HD TAB connector and LC-HD TAB connector.

 

 

As the networking environment of today becomes increasingly dependent on high-speed and high-density solutions, the key concern is how to manage more cables in a smaller amount of space. HD uniboot LC fiber patch cable as shown below is an upgraded version of uniboot LC fiber patch cable, which can reduce cable management space by 68% compared to standard patch cords. It combines the advantages of uniboot LC fiber patch cable and HD TAB fiber patch cable, which joins two optical fiber into a single entity and attaches a push-pull tab on the LC connectors. If you are searching for an extreme space saving solution, HD uniboot LC fiber patch cable is a good choice.

 

 

MTP/MPO fiber patch cable, which is terminated with high-density multi-fiber connectors, is offered for applications for all networking and device needs like 40/100G modules. MTP/MPO trunk cable and MTP/MPO harness cable are two main HD MTP/MPO patch cable types (as shown below).

 

• MTP/MPO Trunk Cable: MTP/MPO trunk cable, terminated with MTP/MPO connectors at both ends, is typically 12 to 144 fibers, and create a permanent fiber links between panels in a structured environment. It can greatly reduce the installation and maintenance costs with their efficient plug and play architecture.
• MTP/MPO Harness Cable: MTP/MPO harness cable, also called MTP/MPO fanout cable, is terminated with a high-density multi-fiber MTP/MPO connector at one end and several duplex LC/SC connectors on the other end. Compared to normal LC patch cord, this type of cable is designed for high-density applications which require high performance and fast installation.

The call for “high-density” is rising in today’s data center. To choose the right and cost-effective cabling solution for a high-density data center is important. This text has provided some popular high-density cabling solutions for your references. You can find all of these solutions from FS.COM.