Basis of Pre-terminated Trunk Cable Assemblies

Pre-terminated trunk cable assemblies provide an ideal plug-and-play solution for links between switches, servers, patch panels, and zone distribution areas in the data center. Compared with field-terminated cabling, the pre-terminated cable assemblies can accelerate the process, reduce costs and errors, and can help bring your data center online in less time. This article will tell something about pre-terminated cabling.

What Can Pre-terminated Trunk Cables Achieve?

 

There are many benefits of deploying pre-terminated cable assemblies.

• Increase Speed of Deployment

Field termination is the most time-consuming, labor-intensive part of the cable installation process. Once pre-terminated cable assemblies are delivered, they are ready for deployment, and can be connected quickly. In many cases, pre-terminated cables can cut installation time by up to 80% over field terminations.

• No Need for Performance Testing

The transmission testing of pre-terminated cable assemblies is performed by the manufacturer before shipment, and test reports are included with the assemblies. This leaves only continuity testing for copper and 10% insertion loss and continuity testing for fiber, which reduces the time spent testing on-site.

• Reduce Downtime With Faster, More Flexible MACs

With pre-terminated solutions, data center managers can make changes quickly based on network growth, business decisions, or shifting requirements. In disaster recovery situations that call for fast, temporary data communications set-up, pre-terminated cabling can minimize business downtime and establish communications quickly. It can be disassembled quickly when the situation is resolved. The components are reusable for more efficient moves, adds, and changes (MACs).

• Cut Clean-up Time

Pre-terminated solutions allow for quick clean-up due to minimal leftover materials and scrap. Also, because there is less waste material to clean up, pre-terminated solutions also help meet green design, waste reduction, and material reuse goals.

Common Types of Pre-terminated Trunk Cables

 

There are pre-terminated fiber cabling and pre-terminated copper cabling. This part will introduce two kinds of commonly used pre-terminated trunk cable assemblies: pre-terminated fiber trunk cable, and pre-terminated copper trunk cable.

• MTP/MPO Trunk Cables

Pre-terminated with MTP/MPO connectors on both ends, the MTP/MPO trunk cables provide a quick-to-deploy, scalable solution that improves reliability and reduces installation time and cost. They are capable of supporting multiple users or devices from one point to another while distributing multiple data channels, which is a convenient and economical alternative to running multiple jumpers or patch cables. Generally 12-fiber MTP/MPO trunk cables and 24-fiber MTP/MPO trunk cables are commonly used separately for 40G applications and 100G applications. The following picture is a 12-fiber female to female MTP single-mode trunk cable.

 

There are also high fiber count MTP/MPO trunk cables which have several legs on both ends. The following picture shows a 72-fiber MTP/MPO trunk cable. There are 6 legs on both ends with each leg terminated with a 12-fiber MTP/MPO connectors.

• Pre-terminated Copper Trunk Cables

The pre-terminated copper trunk cable is a bundle of category cables, built with a choice of 6, 12, or 24 cable bundle and factory terminated with jacks and plugs. They allow fast and easy installation with reduced labor costs in large copper infrastructures with high-density cross-connection and patching systems. The pre-terminated copper cable assemblies offered by FS.COM are pre-bundled and pre-labeled styles, available in Cat 5e, Cat 6 and Cat 6a UTP and STP cable constructions with each available in jack to jack, plug to plug and jack to plug termination ends.

 

How to Choose the Suitable Pre-terminated Trunk Cables?

 

When selecting pre-terminated cable assemblies, the following tips are for your reference.

• Be sure to use a reliable vendor that can offer services such as guaranteed cabling performance, design assistance, certified contractor training, and the ability to support large quantities of assemblies in the required delivery window.

• Make sure the pre-terminated fiber or copper cabling purchased through a manufacturer uses components that have been tested and verified by a third party to exceed TIA and IEEE standards. The manufacturer should also provide 100% testing in a quality-controlled environment before the cabling is shipped out to the work site.

Summary

 

Pre-terminated trunk cable assemblies are perfect for data centers and other applications where speed and testing simplify installation. They help to save time, and labor. FS.COM provides various kinds of high-quality but low-price pre-terminated cable assemblies. And all of them are tested before shipment. If you need, please visit www.fs.com.

Originally published: www.fiberopticshare.com/basis-pre-terminated-trunk-cable-assemblies.html

24-Fiber Trunk Cabling – A Better Solution for 10-40-100G Migration

In the data centers, tremendous amount of business data needs to be transmitted, processed and stored. Fiber optic links are vital for providing the bandwidth and speed needed to transmit huge amounts of data to and from a large number of sources. Transmission speeds at core switches are increasing and backbone infrastructures are experiencing a significant upsurge in the amount of fiber optic cabling. The 24-fiber trunking and interconnect solution, allowing enterprise data center managers to effectively migrate from 10G to 40/100G, offers the right 10-40-100G migration path. Why say so? Keep reading and you will find the answer.

Standards of 40G and 100G

The IEEE ratified the 802.3ae standard for 10G over fiber using duplex-fiber links (one for transmitting and the other for receiving) in 2002. In 2010, the IEEE ratified the 802.3ba standard for 40G and 100G by using parallel optics, or multiple lanes of fiber transmitting at the same speed. Running 40G requires 8 fibers, with 4 fibers each transmitting at 10G and 4 fibers each receiving at 10G, while running 100G requires a total of 20 fibers, with 10 transmitting at 10G and 10 receiving at 10G. Both scenarios call for high-density multi-fiber MPO connectors.

MPO Connectors and Cables for 40G and 100G

For 40G, a 12-fiber MPO connector is used. Because only 8 optical fibers are required, typical 40G applications use only the 4 left and 4 right optical fibers of the 12-fiber MPO connector, while the inner 4 optical fibers are left unused. To run 100G, a 24-fiber MPO connector is recommended, with the 20 fibers in the middle of the connector transmitting and receiving at 10G and the 2 top and bottom fibers on the left and right unused.

According to the IEEE 802.3ba standard, multimode optical fiber supports both 40G and 100G over link lengths up to 150 meters while using OM4 optical fiber and up to 100 meters when using OM3 optical fiber. It is important to note that single-mode fiber can also be used for running 40G and 100G to much greater distances using wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). While this is ideal for longer-reach applications, for most data center applications of less than 150 meters, single-mode fiber are not feasible due to expensive costs. Copper twinax cable is also capable of supporting 40G and 100G but only to distances of 7 meters.

Why Does 24-Fiber Trunk Cable Provide a Better Migration Path?

The use of 24-fiber trunk cables can support 10G, 40G and 100G applications. For 10G applications, each of the 24 fibers can be used to transmit 10G, for a total of 12 links. For 40G applications, which requires 8 fibers (4 transmitting and 4 receiving), a 24-fiber trunk cable provides a total of three 40G links. For 100G, which requires 20 fibers (10 transmitting and 10 receiving), a 24-fiber trunk cable provides a single 100G link. Some benefits of using 24-fiber trunk cables are listed below.

• Maximum Fiber Use

As mentioned previously, 40G uses 8 fibers of a 12-fiber MPO, leaving 4 fibers unused. When using a 12-fiber trunk cable, those same 4 fibers are unused. For example, three 40G links using three separate 12-fiber trunk cables would result in a total of 12 unused fibers, or 4 fibers unused for each trunk. With the use of 24-fiber trunk cables, data center managers actually get to use all the fiber and leverage their complete investment. Running three, 40G links over a single 24-fiber trunk cable uses all 24 fibers of the trunk cable. This recoups 33% of the fibers that would be lost with 12-fiber trunk cables, providing a much better return on investment.

• Reduced Cable Congestion

Less cable congestion in already-crowded pathways is another benefit of 24-fiber trunk cable. Space is premium in the data center, and congested cable pathways can make cable management more difficult and impede proper airflow needed to maintain efficient cooling and subsequent energy efficiency. The 24-fiber trunk cables are appreciably larger than 12-fiber trunk cables. For a 40G application, it takes three 12-fiber trunk cables to provide the same number of links as a single 24-fiber trunk cable, which may need 1.5 times more pathway space.

• Easier Migration Path

The 24-fiber data center fiber trunking and interconnect solution offers a simple and cost-effective migration path from 10G to 40G and 100G. With 24-fiber trunk cables effectively supporting all three applications, upgrading the cabling infrastructure is as simple as upgrading the hydra cables or cassettes and patch cords to the equipment.

Conclusion

The 24-fiber data center trunking and interconnect solution helps data center managers effectively and efficiently support today’s high-speed requirements. With 24-fiber trunk cables that eliminate the need for complete and complex reconfiguration all the way from the switch to the equipment, it offers an easy, cost-effective method for upgrading from 10G, to 40G and 100G with the least capital and operating expense.

Originally published: www.fiberopticshare.com/24-fiber-trunk-cabling-better-solution-10-40-100g-migration.html

Related Article: http://www.fiberopticshare.com/12-fiber-or-24-fiber-mtpmpo-cabling-which-is-better-for-40g100g-network.html