My TN Connection

I was recently browsing the Data Center Journal website doing some research on trends in data center cabling when I came across a nice video - Data Center Cabling for Data Center Managers - published on their Data Center TV site. Benoit Chevarie of Belden Cable discusses trends and what to plan for in data center networking.

Here are some of the discussion points:

• 10 Gig: With 10GBase-T becoming a factor and network demands increasing, 10 Gig is a major factor in today’s data center networking.
• Virtualization will play a role in network speeds and connections.
• Some predict the end of copper and the immediate switch to fiber, but others argue that copper technology will keep evolving as well. Talk of 40 Gig and 100 Gig over copper support that theory.

There is also a section in the interview where Benoit discusses how to plan for tomorrow’s data center networking while planning today’s cabling. He mentions planning robust cabling that will support data center networking for the next 10-15 years.

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Keywords: 10 Gig, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Copper, data center, data center networking, density, Fiber, MCM, video

Recently Transition Networks partnered with Corning Cable Systems to develop the most dense fiber-to-copper media conversion solution on the market. Residing within Corning’s 4U Pretium™ Fiber Housing, the fully populated Plug & Play™ Universal Systems Media Converter Module is able to employ 16 MTP fiber connectors to provide 96 copper ports of Gigabit connectivity. continue »

Keywords: advantages, Applications, cabling, Chassis, Connectivity, Copper, Corning, cost, Data Center, Ethernet, Fiber Connector, fiber optic, Gigabit Ethernet, infrastructure, ITS, MCM, media conversion, Media Converters, MTP, Plug and Play, Transition Networks, Universal Systems

Transition Networks released some of its latest and greatest product portfolios and presented their Technology Toolkit Series. The series of presentations highlighted how networks have become increasingly diverse and new applications are forcing a broader range of product requirements. continue »

Keywords: analog video security, Applications, bandwidth, connection, Copper, CWDM, Data Center, density, Ethernet, Fiber, Fiber Cable, Gigabit, Gigabit Ethernet, Interop, LAN, Las Vegas, Mandalay Bay, media conversion, MEF, POE, Port, power-over-ethernet, Products, Switches, Switching, Transition Networks, Vendors

The ink was hardly dry on the 10Gbase-T (10 gigabit Ethernet over UTP) standard and the industry discussion swung to the next big thing – 40 Gigabit and 100 Gigabit Ethernet. While the latest technology being developed always makes for interesting discussion, it is the deployable technology that exists today that receives the most day-to-day conversation. To that end, we are only just beginning to see 10 gigabit Ethernet actually being deployed in local area network (LAN) environments.

The IEEE standards organization recently ratified the IEEE802.3an-2006 reference standard defining 10GBase-T allowing for 10 gigabits per second data transmission over Category-6a unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cabling at up to 100 meters distance. Since this standard is relatively new and coupled with the fact that the fiber standards and interfaces continue to be refined, I thought it may be beneficial to review some of the different copper and fiber standards and interfaces associated with the different 10GBase standards. continue »

Keywords: 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 100 Gigabit, 1000Base-X, 10Gb fiber, 10GBase, 10GBase-X, 40 Gigabit, cabling, Cat 5, Cat 6, Category-6a, Data Center, Fiber, IEEE, LAN, Media Converter, Media Converters, Products, SC, SFP, ST, Switches, Transceiver, unshielded twisted pair (UTP), XENPAK, XFP

The BICSI organization hosted another successful conference earlier this month at the Gaylord Palms Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. While the idea of visiting Orlando during the month of January is very appealing, it’s the knowledge gained and the information exchanged between fellow information transport systems (ITS) experts that always draws a big number of attendees. continue »

Keywords: 100 Gigabit, About, BICSI, Data Center, Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, information transport systems, ITS, LAN, networking, Networks, Products, ST, Systems, Trade Shows, Transition Networks