Cabling Insider Blog

While most of us think of free-standing racks and cabinets for housing IT equipment in data centers and telecom rooms (TRs)—MDFs and IDFs—there are plenty of scenarios where a wall mount rack or cabinet is the better option. And like free-standing racks and cabinets, there are many options to choose from. We thought we’d take a look at some common scenarios …
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When we think about today’s networks, all of the advanced technology enabling high-speed, low-latency transmission for the latest applications is pretty darn exciting. While racks and cabinets may not be the sexiest infrastructure component in your telecom spaces, they are an absolute necessity for housing and protecting the equipment that makes our digital world fun …
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Which Fiber Termination Method is Right for You?Fiber optic cabling can be pre-terminated to connectors by your cabling supplier, or they can be terminated in the field using fusion splicing with pigtails or splice-on connectors or using mechanical splice or traditional epoxy/polish connectors. With an increasing number of fiber links in LANs and data centers, designers an …
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Network infrastructure is becoming more complex than ever with an ever-increasing number of connected devices in more places and data centers shifting to strategic architectures with more fiber to support faster transmission speeds in switch-to-switch and switch-to-server links. With these complexities come a wider variety of copper and fiber cable and connectivity compone …
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The Basics of Pulling Fiber When deploying fiber links in data centers, LANs, or even in outside plant networks, fiber is pulled between equipment and spaces through pathways, cable managers, cable tray, risers, or conduit. While it may seem like a routine task, failure to pull properly can damage the cable in a way that prevents data transmission or impacts n …
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Which Network Transceiver Do I Need?In networking, transceivers are the critical components that enable data transmission. The name “transceiver” comes from the fact that these components consist of both receiver and transmitter assemblies required for data transmission. While transceivers can be embedded into short-reach direct attach copper and optical cables, they offer …
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Power distribution units, or PDUs, are a necessity for distributing power to active network equipment in racks and cabinets located in the data center or telecom room. They come in a variety of sizes and flavors to ensure the right input and output voltages, amount of power, and type of receptacles required by your critical network equipment. PDUs can also protect you …
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In our last blog, we discussed PDUs and how to select the right one for powering your data center equipment like servers and switches. Throughout the network, PCs and peripherals like monitors and printers also need power to connect to outlets. When it comes to providing secure and reliable power connections for all your networking equipment, you need the right power …
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After a very long two years, we are finally starting to see the return of large-scale in-person events—from concerts, parades, and festivals, to sporting events and expositions. While event organizers are doing their due diligence to ensure attendee safety and reduce the risk of Covid-19 spread, it’s not just the event goers that need protection. These events requi …
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                         Every network today includes fiber optic connectivity—whether it's an all-fiber outside plant (OSP) infrastructure, thousands of fiber links between equipment in the data center, or the fiber backbone in a LAN. However, sometimes ev …
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                          As fiber connectivity continues to advance and address the need for next-generation transmission speeds to support emerging technologies, today’s data centers encompass more fiber links than ever before. And whether it’s a hyp …
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                        Twisted-pair copper cabling continues to be the predominant media in the horizontal LAN infrastructure for connecting and powering devices at the edge of the network—for everything from Wi-Fi access points and surveillance cameras to LED …
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                         As we discussed in a previous blog , multi-fiber MPO connectors have become the connector of choice for high-speed parallel optics applications that transmit and receive over multiple fibers. These include 8-fiber and 16-fiber appli …
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                      Limited network speed could be due to a range of factors—from VLAN misconfigurations and outdated equipment to poor network design or issues with the cable plant. The first step is to diagnose and try to fix the problem, but once you’ve exhausted those efforts, it may be tim …
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                                Multi-fiber push-on (MPO) connectors like the US Conec MTP® Elite designed for exceptional low-loss performance have become a mainstay in the data center for today’s high-density, high-speed …
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With emerging 5G and IoT/IIoT technologies and ever-increasing demand for more bandwidth, data centers are housing more power-hungry equipment than ever before. And that means more energy consumption and higher cost. At the same time, increasing regulations on energy use and the need for industries to reduce emissions are requiring data centers to become more efficient tha …
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                            Today’s hospital and healthcare facilities are becoming increasingly dependent on technology to streamline patient care, deliver quality healthcare services, and improve operational efficiencies. According to a rec …
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                          When it comes to fiber optic connectivity, we always hear a lot about the various types of connectors and their applications such as duplex LC connectors and multi-fiber MTP/MPO connectors. As probably the most critical …
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                          Pre-terminated fiber assemblies are ideal for data center deployments because they enable high density, reduce labor and deployment time, and offer superior performance with less variability due to factory termination. Howe …
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                            Media converters are fairly simple networking devices for connecting dissimilar media, and most people think of them as being used for transitioning from electrical signals transmitted over copper to optical s …
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                        If you’re new to the industry or just happen to work in an area of IT that doesn’t deal with the cabling infrastructure, you might be wondering exactly what a fiber patch panel is and how it’s used. In reality, a fiber patch panel is not …
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                              In a previous blog, we discussed how multi-fiber push-on (MPO) connectors support 400 and 800 Gigabit applications and beyond. A mainstay in the data center, these connectors use a linear array of fibers …
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                            Local area networks primarily use category balanced four-pair copper Ethernet cabling in their horizontal infrastructure to connect wireless access points, laptops, phones, surveillance cameras, and a variety of …
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With emerging technologies like high-definition 4K video streaming, online gaming, IoT, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, 5G, and others requiring the transmission of more data at faster speeds, fiber optic cabling infrastructure has become the de facto standard for backbone switch-to-switch links in data center, LAN, campus, and outside plant environments. The …
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                          Supply chain issues are plaguing the information communications technology industry, resulting in limited access to components and lead times at an all-time high that are hampering the ability for companies and service prov …
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                                While large hyperscale and cloud data centers are now adopting 400 Gigabit applications, and large enterprise data centers are just beginning to evaluate their options to migrate to 400 G …
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                  Insertion loss (sometime referred to as attenuation) is the primary performance factor in fiber optic transmission. Measured in decibels (dB) using an optical loss test set that compares the power of the source signal to the power available at the far end, insertion los …
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                              There is no doubt that fiber connectivity has improved over the years with advancements like superior insertion loss, better alignment, gender and polarity field changes, shutters, and smaller form f …
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                          In out last blog on using duplex and MPO connectivity together , we talked about breakout applications and the advantages of supporting multiple lower-speed connections from a single port to maximize port utilization and switch density. …
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                          In last month’s blogs, we covered new high-density duplex connectors like Senko’s CS™ and SN™ connectors US Conec’s MDC™ and the role of MPO connectors on the road to 800 Gig and beyond. But did you kn …
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Multi-fiber MPO connectors have become a mainstay in the data center, originally deployed as a space-saving and cable management solution via  trunk cables used with MPO-to-LC cassettes to simplify and speed deployment in duplex applications and ultimately becoming the connector of choice for high-speed parallel optic applications. Now new developments in 400 and …
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                           While LC duplex connectors have dominated as the interface for duplex fiber applications, there are some new smaller form-factor duplex connector designs out in the market—and they are giving the LC a run for its mone …
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                            HD8² cassettes are rear entry loaded and can be “hard wired” utilizing terminated optic fiber cable and a Heyco® strain relief. A pulling eye cap facilitates the installation of the cassettes through ladder rack, inne …
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