Common structured cabling installations can form a solid foundation for migration to high speed traffic when combined with slim design shielded cables offering high packing density and protection against crosstalk.
Data Centre World, London, March 2, 2011 – Draka Communications, a global leader in the cabling and optical fibre industry today announces that its current range of FTP cabling solutions now provide an off-the-shelf solution to the current industry challenge of cable packing density in fast emerging 10 G Ethernet projects. The company is proposing a new cost efficient approach using shielded cabling systems providing security and space saving advantages when run within cabling installations migrating to super speed data traffic.
“ As there is little price difference from their non-shielded counterparts, FTP cabling systems are coming into their own for high speed data networks”, says Lee Stokes, Connectivity Business Manager, Datacom, Draka Communications. “They perform at Cat6A level, provide the highest headroom and remove concerns about Alien-NEXT. The latest slim generation of FTP cables has shielding that protects inner electronic circuits against all kinds of interference, including NEXT from the cable in the adjacent duct.”
Crosstalk is now high up on the agenda for cable management when moving to 10 G and higher speed networks. A study commissioned last year by Draka demonstrated that for high end data centres, S/FTP cables offer the most secure option for data traffic integrity. The research results qualify FTP as highly recommended in protecting 10 Gigabit Ethernet traffic.
Shielded cables are mistakenly perceived as thicker and harder to work with – wrongly, as unshielded cables are often extremely rigid due to their thicker jacket. This is why, as well as EMC radiation, space is become a critical factor extending beyond modern small-footprint data centre backbones to the thousands of office installations needing to cope with increasing service demands from data hungry users.
Networks upgrading to 10 G still are the backbone of everyday office buildings which have their own defined cableways. Especially in UK office environments, data installers deploying 3-duct containment installations are dealing with cable management issues on a daily basis. Electricians run their electrical power through the larger middle compartment for electrical power, usually taking up two cables. Data cable installers are left with the smaller top and bottom compartments, which for non-shielded cable designs can result in additional costs for containment drops from a cable basket above a false ceiling in order to create additional space.
Correct cable screening eliminates the need for the space-wasting separation of UTP cables, which often results in larger bundles in the cable channels. So shielding indirectly contributes to lower overall installation costs, including containment systems, while providing significantly increased headroom to AXT, as well as a greater degree of overall noise immunity. Yet another factor is that for 10 G networks using UTP cables within 3-compartment containment systems, cautious IT management will insist on having the 3 compartment separators shielded, which results in additional costs.
Current Draka cable designs offer a 10% less diameter advantage over many UTP designs, together with the additional security of shielding to accomodate the most up to date 10 G Ethernet applications. That’s why the company is proposing today a better alternative to building new Class EA conforming networks, and that these be made with Cat6A cable. Today, the proven concept of structured cabling forms an ideal base to step up to next generation network speeds, applying well proven techniques in component installation, in exactly the same way it has been done over the last 15 years.
Draka designs and produces both UTP and STP Ethernet cable solutions across a range of data connectivity requirements. With data traffic rising to 10 GB/s and beyond in increasingly reduced footprint environments with a higher density of bundled cables, the impact of EMC on data flow is an IT management issue that cannot be overlooked.
In 2010 the company published the results of the world’s first independent study assessing UTP and STP cabling EMC radiation interference within 10 Gigabit Ethernet environments. Jointly sponsored by six leading global cable manufacturers, the study was conducted by GHMT AG, a leading European independent test lab specialized in physical transmission security in networks, data centers and industrial environments. A copy of the White Paper can be downloaded from this link.
Draka
Draka (Euronext Amsterdam: DRAK), headquartered in Amsterdam, has 9400 employees in countries worldwide and 2010 revenues of over € 2.4 billion. Draka has a presence in 31 countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australia.
Draka’s activities are divided into three groups: Energy & Infrastructure, Industry & Speciality and Communications. Draka Communications with its four business units, Telecom Solutions, Multimedia Specials, Optical Fiber and Cable Solutions is a global market leader in the development, production and sales of fibers, cables and advanced network solutions. More information at www.draka.com/connectivity.
Photo: Draka proposes a new approach for 10 G cabling systems : Shielded FTP cabling systems provide security and space savings advantages, for migrating to super speed data traffic. The latest slim generation of FTP cables has shielding that protects inner electronic circuits against all kinds of interference, including NEXT from the cable in the adjacent duct.
More Information
Contact:
Draka Communications,
Lee Stokes ,
Tel: +44 1472 239 386 or lee.stokes@draka.com
Draka Communications PR,
Nicole Esser,
Tel: +49 221 677 3551 or nicole.esser@draka.com