Network Infrastructure Blog

The global data center market is poised for substantial growth, projected to surge by over 6% year-over-year throughout this decade. This robust expansion is fueled by key technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), internet streaming, and gaming, shaping the digital landscape in profound ways. Amidst this accelerating growth, data centers are evolving into sophisticated hubs, increasingly automated and equipped to handle diverse applications and a myriad of compute and storage devices, effectively managing the escalating workloads of the digital era.

In the dynamic realm of data centers, the importance of a well-designed structured cabling system cannot be overstated. Whether the device requires a copper or fiber connection, having a patch panel design makes it easier and more efficient for the myriad of changes and upgrades that can be expected in today’s fast-paced data center environments. The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) underscores this commitment through its TIA-942 standards, while the International Standards Organization (ISO) reinforces global compatibility with ISO/IEC 24764.

What is a structured cabling system? It’s a connectivity design that strategically places patch panels or enclosures throughout the data center space so connecting devices into the network can be accomplished with short patch cords or jumpers. The connectivity between the patch panels and enclosures is considered “structured” and remains in place for years while the end connections of patch cords and jumpers into the devices can be plugged into and out of the cabling system. For a visual representation, see Figure 1, showcasing a common fiber structured cabling channel supporting duplex LC fiber connections. It’s important to note that the optical transceivers that the compute and storage devices require dictate what type of fiber and connector is to be used. These compute and storage devices can often operate on different fiber types and connector types. The choice of fiber and connector type is best determined by the application in relation to the speed and distance of the connection. With proper planning, the structured cabling infrastructure can be specified to support multiple generations of data center applications eliminating the need to re-cable for each upgrade.

Figure 1

The opposite of a structured cabling system is point-to-point cabling. This connectivity method is less expensive, requires little planning and is easy to execute at the beginning. The downside to point-to-point cabling is when new devices need to be added, moved or removed from the network. Upgrades often require new cables and existing cables are often left in place creating unnecessary pathway congestion. When installing a new point-to-point cable, the technician often uses a cable that is longer than is needed to make sure there is sufficient length to connect the devices on each end. As time goes on these “extra length” cables become difficult to manage and they block air pathways in cabinets and racks that are used to cool the data center equipment. This in turn increases the amount of energy needed to cool the compute and storage devices. As illustrated in the photos below, the once neatly installed fiber cabling begins to resemble a tangled web, challenging to navigate and manage. The inefficiency of point-to-point cabling, once masked by its initial ease of execution, now takes center stage, emphasizing the importance of a well-thought-out structured cabling system.

Figure 2

A structured cabling system offers many advantages over point-to-point in the data center space. Below are seven main reasons:

1. Ease of Management: Structured cabling provides a systematic and organized approach to managing cables within the data center. It allows for easy identification, tracing, and management of cables, which simplifies maintenance and troubleshooting tasks. Cable trunks or bundles reduce pathway conveyance and conduit space allowing for more cabling growth.
2. Scalability: Structured cabling systems are designed to accommodate future growth and changes in technology. They can easily adapt to accommodate additional equipment, upgrades, and expansions within the data center environment without requiring significant reconfiguration or downtime. Structured cabling allows the use of multiple generations of compute and storage equipment to work together seamlessly even with different connector types.
3. Reliability and Performance: A well-designed structured cabling system minimizes signal interference, crosstalk, and other issues that can degrade network performance. This ensures reliable and consistent data transmission speeds throughout the data center, which is crucial for maintaining optimal operational efficiency. A structured cable system installed by a Siemon Certified Installer has a 25-year warranty.
4. Flexibility: Structured cabling systems offer flexibility in terms of supporting various types of network equipment and technologies. They can accommodate different networking standards, protocols, applications, and optical transceivers to allow data center operators to easily integrate new devices and technologies as needed. Any relocation of equipment simply requires changes to patch cords instead of having to re-install new cabling.
5. Reduced Downtime: By minimizing cable clutter, simplifying cable management, and providing consistent administration, structured cabling helps reduce the risk of accidental cable disconnections and other human errors that can lead to network downtime. This helps improve the overall reliability and availability of services within the data center.
6. Cost-Effectiveness: While the initial investment in structured cabling may be higher compared to traditional cabling methods, it offers long-term cost savings by reducing maintenance costs, minimizing downtime, and providing a scalable infrastructure that can adapt to changing business needs over time.
7. Standards Compliance: As mentioned earlier, TIA-942 and ISO/IEC 24764 industry Standards detail best practices to ensure compatibility with a wide range of networking equipment and technologies. This helps simplify interoperability and integration efforts within the data center environment.

As AI computing and storage devices are installed into the data center, more fiber cabling is needed to support the higher speeds required for the graphics processing units (GPU) to function properly. A basic AI compute architecture has 128 nodes or servers with 16 spine and 32 leaf switches. The number of compute fiber strands between these devices is 8192! This number of fibers does not include the Storage, In-Band and Out-of-Band management connectivity needed for the architecture. Having a structured cabling system to support connectivity between the network racks and the servers and switches helps manage all these cables. Figure 3 provides a glimpse into the anatomy of a common AI channel using multimode fiber with angled (APC) MTP connectors that hold 8 fibers each. The MTP-to-MTP trunks can scale up in fiber counts to best match the application.

Figure 3

Structured copper cabling systems are also used in the data center. Copper trunks speed up cabling deployments by eliminating the time needed for connector terminations. Figure 4 illustrates a typical structured copper trunk application. It becomes evident that the strategic implementation of these trunks can significantly contribute to the overall efficiency and reliability of a data center’s cabling system.

Figure 4

In summary, in the world of data centers, machine learning, and AI, it is not just about computing power and sophisticated algorithms; it’s also about the silent workhorses behind the scenes – the well-structured fiber or copper cabling systems that enable these technological marvels to function seamlessly. So, the next time you marvel at the capabilities of data centers and AI, take a moment to appreciate the intricate dance of connectivity making it all possible.

Want to learn about Siemon AI Solutions? Visit our Generative AI webpage at www.siemon.com/ai.

Optical fibre has become the cabling media of choice in new data centre deployments whilst existing facilities’ fiber continues to replace copper cables. It is because fibre offers greater flexibility, scalability, and bandwidth capabilities to support the ever-increasing volume of data. At the same time, the number of optical fibre links between switches, storage area networks (SANs) and equipment continues to grow to support new data centre architectures.

With the volume of fiber increasing and cabling designs changing, what does this means for protecting and routing this sensitive medium?

Keeping things clean and tidy

One of the biggest challenges that customers keep facing with fibre installations is the issue of cleanliness. Cleanliness refers to a dust and dirt-free installation environment for when the fiber is being terminated on site, but it also means a tidy and scrap-free data centre space so that cable and equipment can be installed properly.

Traditional fibre routing systems without toolless joiners can be an issue here, especially when drilling takes place to connect duct to other duct or transition pieces like Ts and bends, or when connecting ducting to support hardware such as metal support brackets.

Plug-and-play containment systems such as Siemon’s LightWays® provide toolless joiners and ducting that accept mounting hardware without the need to drill to combine them together. This contributes to maintaining a cleaner data centre deployment.

Growing without concerns

Data centres are continually evolving, and the way critical network equipment is being connected keeps changing. With moves, adds and changes (MACS) occurring on a frequent basis, the cabling architecture keeps changing and other services (e.g., power) must be accommodated at times. When one dedicated and highly flexible pathway is utilised for the fibre cabling, cable re-routing becomes so much easier.

The same applies to the initial data centre deployment process or to capacity expansion as time goes by. A highly flexible and easy-to-assemble containment system will ensure that additional PODs or rows of cabinets can be added easily to enable a faster process.

When Siemon’s LightWays® is deployed, only a change in joiners, adapters and ducting is required to extend the fibre routing system for faster data centre growth. A broad range of different types of brackets provides greater flexibility in terms of where in the data centre the trays run.

Set for the future

Compliance levels in the data centre are generally reviewed every 12-18 months, meaning there is always a chance that the industry could turn around quickly and introduce new compliance regulations. In terms of material compliance and additional fire safety, cable containment systems soon may need to meet LSoH (low smoke zero halogen) requirements. With Siemon’s LightWays® you are ahead of the curve. Manufactured from halogen-free, flame-retardant UL94/V0 plastic it provides the highest level of compliance for any containment system so that the system you have in place will be future-proof from day one.

Discover how LightWays® can help you to protect, scale and future-proof your low-latency fibre cabling infrastructure.

For individuals and companies alike, reducing the amount of waste material we generate as consumers is one of the most immediately impactful steps we can take toward environmental sustainability.  As cliched as the term “The Three Rs” is (it is the subject of a children’s pop song, for goodness’ sake), it outlines very real and effective guidelines for us:  reduce what we use, re-use what we can, and recycle what we can’t.

I’d wager that for most individuals when we think “Three Rs” we’re primarily thinking about packaging: boxes, bags, bottles, cans, and those annoying plastic clamshell things.  I’d also bet that most companies see it the same way. At Siemon, we’ve always put a premium on reducing operational waste of any kind, including packaging waste related to our purchased goods.  Our selection process prioritizes vendors that minimize the amount of packaging material in general but also focuses on eliminating specifically problematic packing materials like single-use plastics, Styrofoam, and non-recyclable items such as bonded materials and coated pulp items.  It is our goal to ensure that packaging material entering our facilities leaves only a responsible, sustainable waste reclamation stream, and never ends up in a landfill.

But as we all get a bit savvier about our “cradle-to-cradle” impact on the environment, it should become clear that companies (particularly manufacturers) need to extend the Three R packing principles beyond their facility walls and into the downstream supply chain. For Siemon, that means applying the same (or even more stringent) sustainability targets to our outbound product packaging that we demand from our inbound purchased goods packaging.

Long before Siemon products arrive at our distributors’ docks or our customers’ job sites, we’ve been at work to ensure that we’ve minimized packaging material, chosen materials with the lowest environmental impact (such as high post-consumer recycled content containers), and used materials that can be simply and efficiently recycled back into the sustainable value chain.

As part of Siemon’s long-term packaging sustainability initiative, we’ve made great strides in reducing the volume and mass of packaging we use to deliver our products.  Innovative die-cut carton fixturing allows us to secure and protect product in shipping using smaller cartons and less void-fill material.  Our operations and logistics teams have worked alongside our distributor partners and customers to develop order batching and bulk-pack systems to avoid unnecessary small or individual pack cartons.

We’re also actively addressing packaging sustainability at the material level. Working with our vendor partners, we’ve moved to high post-consumer recycled content cartons across our entire product line. The bulk of our shipping cartons contains at least 75% recycled material, with most being 100% post-consumer. We are eliminating all Styrofoam packing and have shifted from plastic bubble pack to recycled pulp pad pack to protect carton contents.  Pending product innovations will even help to eliminate all single-use plastics from our packaging.

In the end, Siemon’s goal is to reduce the environmental impact of our operations throughout our-end-to-end value chain.  When it comes to packaging, we expect our vendors not to leave us “holding the bag” with excess, unrecyclable waste materials ultimately destined for the landfill.  We, in turn, work to extend that concept to our downstream partners and customers by holding our own packaging to high sustainability standards.  Our goal is to ensure that when a Siemon project is complete, there’s not a trace of packaging waste to be seen – because we’ve reduced the volume of our packaging and ensured that what is left is easily and efficiently diverted from landfill and recycled back into the cradle-to-cradle supply chain.

To see the big picture on Siemon’s ongoing sustainability efforts, download our latest sustainability report.

The drive towards environmentally sustainable business practices has long been a double-edged sword in the network infrastructure space – especially for installers and integrators. Wading through vendor claims, customer demands and the potential minefield of finger pointing on who is responsible for what can leave network infrastructure professionals struggling to determine their ultimate role in the big green world.

But even as the need to address sustainability grows, the quantity and quality of information available to installers and integrators has more than kept pace. Looking back just a handful of years, environmental sustainability claims from most companies were a Wild West of sorts. Though they may have been good faith, well intentioned messages based on accurate data, there was a general lack of consistency on the key environmental benchmarks, as well as the methodologies to calculate them.

Fortunately, the smoke has started to clear. Globally recognised third-party organisations have emerged to set some basic green standards that can help installers build and communicate their environmental credentials and win more business.

Whether the customer requests it or not, installers and integrators need to include sustainability practices in bids/tenders and leveraging vendor environmental qualifications is the easiest piece of the puzzle. Choosing green partners and highlighting their credentials makes the installer’s services greener by default.

Vendors should have information at the ready and good ones will have information based on recognised third-party standards. Installers and integrators can validate this info with some basic questions:

• ISO 14001 certified? This is still one of the most rigorous environmental certifications.
• Are carbon footprint claims based on regionally/globally recognised standards, such as Greenhouse Gas Protocol, Carbon Trust, or others?
• Have they received certifications from organisations such as EcoVadis, Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and Blue Planet Friendly?

There are many other credible green indicators and it is not difficult to find out if the sustainability information provided by a given vendor is valid. If it is, it should be leveraged. In addition to the vendor’s information, installers should also consider the green potential of their own practices. While most contractors “clean up after themselves” by carting off any project jobsite scrap and packaging materials, how difficult would it be to ensure that the material is recycled or otherwise sustainably handled? Better yet, what documentation can an installer provide to their customers that any project scrap and end-of-life (EoL) material removed, including decommissioned network infrastructure such as abandoned cable, was responsibly handled? More and more customers will value, if not eventually demand that level of EoL documentation as part of their own sustainability and greenhouse gas accountability initiatives.

Beyond jobsite practices, what controls are in place to minimize fuel use by reducing trips to and from the project site? Are there energy efficiency and recycling programs at the installer’s facilities? There are sustainability self-promotion opportunities to be had all over the place – from a cutover to energy-efficient LED lights at the office, to the company garden, to those new low-flow toilets installed last year. Even simply using one of the many easy online calculator tools to estimate their company’s carbon footprint shows an installer’s commitment, and it is a mistake not to leverage these efforts to build green credibility. Take account of your sustainable practices (many of which an installer may simply consider a matter of common sense business efficiency), identify gaps and low-hanging improvement opportunities, and share those efforts with current and potential customers.

‘GLOBALLY RECOGNISED THIRD-PARTY ORGANISATIONS HAVE EMERGED TO SET SOME BASIC GREEN STANDARDS THAT CAN HELP INSTALLERS BUILD AND COMMUNICATE THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL CREDENTIALS AND WIN MORE BUSINESS.’

View original article on Inside Networks.

Find out more about Siemon’s commitment to Environmental Stewardship.

The increased need for Data and Security and convergence of IP networks is resulting in more devices than ever connecting via the structured cabling system. From a wireless access point (WAP) to an intelligent lighting system, or PoE clocks and AV over IP systems, structured cabling is now supporting, with the help of remote power, almost all building automation systems. With so many elements involved and the network reach expanding to new areas of your work environments you will find that many of those devices required to secure a building asset such as CCTV cameras and access control panels might be installed outside the building. A recurring question we hear from many organizations is “how should we best support a cabling system outside a building knowing that standard LSOH cables are not suitable for an Outdoor environment?”.

Options For Supporting Your Outdoor Devices

There are a variety of options to connect outdoor devices mounted on the outside of buildings or poles. In terms of topology, good practice would be to use consolidation points (CP) installed near outside entry points to enable the use of outside plant (OSP) cable from there. Outside plant cable is the perfect cable type for external environments but the standards restrict the use of OSP cables inside a building by 2 meters due to their non-LSOH construction. If the link to the outdoor device requires cable to be deployed in direct burial, lashed aerial, or underground conduit applications which are subject to moisture and UV radiation, OSP cable is required and must transition from indoor cable at the building entrance.

However, Siemon can provide Indoor/outdoor cable ideal for indoor riser/cable trays and outdoor applications such as outdoor security cameras, WAPs, and parking garages where the cable is not subject to long-term emersion. The I/O cable meets the IEC LSOH rating as well as the EU CPR Dca rating, which allows more flexibility in the cabling infrastructure and potentially uses the same cable along with the full permanent link.

At the device level, the outlet, cords, or plugs need to be rated for the intended environment. Ruggedized IP67 cabling components are available to serve those devices, but in many cases the use of the recently released MPTL topology would simplify and secure the cabling system. The MPTL topology eliminates the service outlets, the housing box, and the patch cord, connecting the end device directly with a plug terminated on the OSP or I/O installation cable. Like our Z-PLUG™, in combination with our metallic gland, it will support a majority of outside configurations using I/O or OSP cable with the promise of reaching high-performance signals of category 6A required for more and more applications.

For remote security devices located beyond 100 meters, hybrid copper/fiber cable can be used to provide both network connectivity and remote power. Devices with a copper port only, hybrid power/fiber cable can terminate to a PoE media converter placed within a NEMA enclosure. The PoE media converter transforms the optical signal and provides both a data and PoE connection for the device, which is connected to the converter using a copper patch cord.

So, in summary, it is clear that there is a range of options that can be deployed for a wide variety of indoor/outdoor application environments. As a technology leader in the structured cabling industry, Siemon provides a range of solutions and support services for a wide range of I/O applications designed to support your organization no matter what.

Explore how we can support your applications in our deep-dive application guides:

• Wi-Fi Application Guide
• Security Application Guide
• View our full range of application guides