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Stagger Solutions

What is a breakout stagger?

A stagger is a multi-fiber cable assembly (trunk or harness) that has connection point leg-lengths cut to precise, pre-built specifications with the intent to reduce slack.  
Staggers can be custom-built to specific lengths for any switch, such as Arista, Brocade, Cisco, EMC, Dell, HPE, and Juniper.

Why use a stagger?  

  • Reduce time on cable installation – Intuitive pre-cut lengths with corresponding labels on each connector make it easy to install.
  • Installation costs decrease – Faster installation time equates to fewer labor hours.
  • Professional aesthetics – Breakout staggering reduces cabling “bulk” and eliminates tangling, thus enhancing the look of capital investments.
  • Make moves, adds, or changes (MACs) easier – Less congestion in front of the switch improves port visibility and access, making MACs inherently easier, faster, and less prone to error. 
  • Safer maintenance – Access to power and fan equipment is less restricted.
  • Ensures premium performance – Tangled cables can create pinch points that degrade data throughput.
  • Saves rack space – Staggering can eliminate the need for horizontal cable managers, freeing up rack space.
     


What a mess!

This is what you want to avoid—no stagger and a big mess.


Clean and precise

One look and you know that this is the better option.

Why doesn’t everyone use breakout staggers? 

  • Engineering time – Taking and recording measurements for the space between the ports is time-consuming and any measurement errors can be expensive.
  • Production capability – Many suppliers do not have the ability to cut multi-fiber assemblies to specific and varying lengths.
  • Very specific use – If a data center reuses fiber, a customized, specifically designed fiber assembly will not “cable up” well in another switch type. 



At CABLExpress, our long-term experience in design and production of breakout staggers, as well as our vast library of “stagger profiles,” guarantee a positive outcome.

Summary

Breakout staggered multi-fiber assemblies offer a myriad of strong benefits in the data center.

The benefits of saving time, eliminating confusion, show-stopping aesthetics, and reduced rack space consumption typically outweigh the negatives for most customers. 

Close relationships with hardware manufacturers ensure accurate support of all the makes and models of product.

Check out our harnesses and trunks here.

Testimonial

Staples

"They work out great having them staggered so it reduces extra cable to have to manage. The most recent example of this is the horizontal panels we got for the SAN switches that extended the switch ports to a panel to keep the switch clean."

 

Testimonial

US Government Lab

"I was pleasantly surprised as to how the patch cords had been labeled and built. I remember our conversation about finding a better way to label the patch panel and then I found that the modules were labeled 1-24 and 25-48. Woot! Loved it. Then as I began connecting the switch to the panel I noticed that the labels were numbered 1-36. Another woot! Saved me a lot of time and simplified my documentation."

Custom Trunk Staggers: What you need to know. 
Click to learn more.

Our expertise with staggers

Learn about cable solution for a Cisco 9710.