Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
two main types of optical fiber are single-mode and multi-mode. Copper cabling is
widely available, costs less, and generally covers shorter distances (up to 100 meters,
about 328 feet). Ty pic al copper cabling found in the data center is CAT 5e/CAT 6 with
RJ-45 connectors.
Keep in mind that the emerging 10GBASE-T standard requires CAT6A twisted-pair ca-
bling to support distances up to 100 meters.
It is important for cabling to be easy to maintain, abundant and capable of supporting var-
ious media types and requirements for proper data center operations.
Cable management and simplicity is affected by the following:
Media selection
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Number of connections
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Ty pe of c able termination organizers
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Space for cables on horizontal and vertical cable trays
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These considerations must to be addressed during the data center facility design (for the
server, storage, network, and all the associated technologies that are going to be imple-
mented).
Figure 4-6 shows an example of cabling that is out of control.
Figure 4-6
Data Center Cabling the Wrong Way
Figure 4-7 shows the proper way to manage copper cabling.
The cabling infrastructure needs to avoid the following pitfalls:
Inadequate cooling due to restricted airflow
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Outages due to accidental disconnect
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Unplanned dependencies resulting in more downtime
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Difficult troubleshooting options
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