Attend our upcoming webinar, “Taking Your Network to 40/100G Ethernet,” to earn BICSI Credit!

We’re offering one BICSI Continuing Education Credit (CEC) for certifications in RCDD, RITP, DCDC, NTS, Installer 2 Copper/Fiber, Technician and Certified Trainer to attendees of next week’s webinar, “Taking Your Network to 40/100G Ethernet.”

Title: Taking Your Network to 40/100G Ethernet
Date: Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST

Presented by:
Josh Taylor, Senior Product Manager, CABLExpress

Why do we need cabling standards in the data center?

Thirty years ago, when large mainframe computers roamed data centers with plenty of floor space and relatively few ports, the person responsible for the cabling had very few options and very little guidance. These were the pioneers that laid bus and tag cabling underneath the raised floor that we may see to this very day.

Since then, port counts and computing needs have skyrocketed. Cabling, once viewed as somewhat of a hobby, is now “the plumbing” of the data center. And until recently, there have been very few standards for professionals to follow when building, adding and/or maintaining their data center cabling.

In today’s world, we look to standards bodies such as:

• The Telecommunications Industry (TIA) with its TIA-942 standard
• The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) with its standard regulating 40/100gb Ethernet in the 802.3ba
• The Building Industry Consulting Service International (BICSI) with its very current and in-depth standards for design and cabling best practices

For more information on TIA, IEEE and BICSI, check out our Cable Standards page.

I just returned from the 2012 BICSI Winter Conference & Exhibition. It was great to get together with other colleagues and individuals that all have one thing in common: we respect layer one! One of the great benefits of this conference is the educational opportunities, and BICSI certainly delivered this year.

The most common theme that I heard throughout the conference was that 40/100G Ethernet isn’t just on the horizon, it’s already here. This will have profound effects on data center structured cabling – which wasn’t a surprise to me, we’ve been preparing for this for years!

One of the choices data centers must consider when migrating to 40/100G Ethernet is whether to use fiber or copper cabling. Based on what I’ve seen, fiber will be the primary cabling type. The IEEE 802.3ba standard for 40/100G Ethernet states a maximum distance of 7M to run 40/100G, and that will be using “active” cables. (An active cable is a cable with a transceiver hard-wired to it.) This limitation rules out copper as a primary medium of transport.

Fiber optic cabling does offer the choice between multi-mode and single-mode cabling. There are a few key factors to weigh here: distance, transmission type and total link cost. Single-mode fiber will run longer distances and will still utilize a serial transmission. Multi-mode fiber will require parallel transmission, which is a dramatic change for many, and can only run limited channel lengths.

Cost is, of course, key factor here – which makes multi-mode fiber an attractive option. Single-mode fiber is cheaper, but the transceivers are very expensive. Overall, a multi-mode link is projected to be about half the cost of a single-mode. This cost delta is based largely on the expensive lasers required for single-mode transmission. The link distances for multi-mode fiber running 40/100G Ethernet is 100M using OM3 fiber, and 150M using OM4. Since roughly 90% of data center link distances are within the multi-mode distance limitation, it appears to be a no-brainer.

Because of this, it is evident that multi-mode fiber will be the predominant cabling of choice for these higher network speeds. Single-mode will be used only when necessary, and copper could potentially be utilized in specialized areas where short link distances occur. Another consideration for copper: copper transceivers will utilize more power.

Choosing your cabling infrastructure is a critical decision for any data center team, but there is a wealth of information out there (and this site!), and I would suggest doing a little research until you feel comfortable with your decision. We also have a dedicated team to help answer any further questions you may have – give us a call and 800.913.9465 to find out more.

We’re gearing up for another great year in CABLExpress webinars. Last year, we covered such topics as Virtualization and the Cloud, Data Center Fiber Optics, and Migrating to 40/100 gig. We also started offering BICSI Continuing Education Credits (or CECs) for select webinars to help you stay compliant on your RCDD or other credentials. Want to catch up on what you missed? You can view any of our archived webinars here.

Our webinars are an easy way for you to keep up on data center trends, best practices and implementation how-to. This year, we’re hoping to cover such topics as:

• Next-gen data center design
• 16 gig fibre channel
• Structured cabling
• Minimizing data center downtime

But we also want to know what you want to learn about this year.  Email webinars@cablexpress.com and let us know your 2012 priorities, projects or data center technologies you’re just curious about. And if you want to be included on our webinar email list, let us know!

CABLExpress offers Continuing Education Credits (CECs) for BICSI’s RCDD, Installer, Technician or Certified Trainer designations for attending our data center webinars.

Earn one CEC for attending our next webinar, Tiny Particles, BIG IMPACT: A Look at Fiber Optic End Face Contamination.

Fiber optic end face contamination is no joke. Contamination causes over 50% of network outages, and it can be easily avoided. Learn how in this presentation.

In this webinar you will learn:

• • Applicable standards
  • Contamination overview
  • Best practices
  • Cleaning options

Presented by:

• Brian Teague, US Conec Ltd.

Register now!