TRIDENT TECHNOLOGY SERVICES CABLING FOR THE FUTURE

CABLING FOR THE FUTURE

BASSEL ALHALABI, MANAGING DIRECTOR, TRIDENT TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, TALKS ABOUT THE LATEST TRENDS SHAPING DATA CENTRE CABLING IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

WHAT SOME OF THE BEST PRACTICES YOU RECOMMEND FOR CABLING THE DATA CENTRE?

When planning for a greenfield data centre, the key operational objective is to have a facility that will sustain efficiently over the longest possible period with an optimised performance. Since physical infrastructure is considered the data centre backbone, it is critical to plan for resiliency, future-proofing, and performance assurance.

As a general rule, data centre operational growth is linked to hardware and software capabilities, which are correlated to physical infrastructure capacity. For example, if your network growth plans are significant, you will need to make capacity provisions for racks, cabinets, structured cabling, and pathways to make the necessary infrastructure to support your IT plans. So, the message here is to design a scalable system and identify, reduce, or eliminate any potential bottlenecks impacting the performance of your cabling system. Following best practices regarding cable fill allowance and limits as well as including some redundancy will help alleviate these challenges.

It may be difficult for some data centre operators to know exactly what bandwidth they will need in the foreseeable future. However, in reality, things don’t slow down, and you have to make provisions for higher performance sooner than later. It would be the best practice to assess and evaluate a physical infrastructure system that can address your IT needs for a couple of technology refreshes. Yes, you might incur a little more CapEx initially as a result, but when you think of how disruptive an entire upgrade process is because an inferior physical infrastructure system was considered and installed on day one, along with the associated downtime, it quickly makes sense to implement the best solution that will perform well beyond what you need in day one and really consider this as an investment versus a pure expense.

WHICH CABLING TOPOLOGY SHOULD USERS PICK FOR DATA CENTRE CABLING?

There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all for selecting a data centre topology. The reason is that each data centre is so different and its requirements in terms of network design and architecture. For example, an on-premise, colocation or hyper scale facility varies tremendously, and the variations within each of these segments span a wide range of uniqueness. Regardless of the individual data centre function or requirements, a common theme is to remain as flexible as possible when it comes to topologies. A recommendation on this topic would be to look comprehensively at each element that may be impacted by the type of configuration/topologies that are ultimately deployed. For example, consideration should be given to the amount of space, power, cooling that will be required to operate the data centre well into the future. We often still hear about facilities that typically run out of one of these three elements. However, the other two characteristics may even have additional capacity to yield but cannot be based on a shortcoming of one interrelated feature. Data centres will remain very dynamic entities; therefore, deploying solutions that can sometimes scale up or down is hugely desirable. Consider solutions that are modular where elements or features can be added or subtracted with minimal disruptions.

IS FIBRE OPTIC NOW THE MEDIA OF CHOICE FOR A DATA CENTRE?

Fibre optics infrastructure has the highest data rates and longest reach. Twisted pair copper is limited to speeds of 10 Gb/s at lengths up to 100 meters, and while direct attach copper modules like SFP+ and QSFP+ can go faster, but they are typically limited in the distance to about five meters. There is no doubt that fibre optics infrastructure is becoming very desirable, popular and growing media of choice particularly in switch-toswitch connections and for data centres’ communications in general. Depending on the data centre’s function, fibre optics may encompass nearly 100% of the cabling infrastructure. The key message here is that although fibre optics do provide a tremendous amount of benefits, careful consideration will still be required to make the best decisions.

DO YOU SEE A FUTURE FOR COPPER IN THE DATA CENTRE?

There is such a large installed amount of copper in data centres around the world that an individual would find it difficult to think copper would not have a future, in some way, shape or form. We have heard the same claims for years that copper is dead within the data centre. That does not seem to be completely true. The amount of technological developments relative to copper structured cabling has been remarkable. There are clearly

some significant benefits of copper vs. fibre and fibre vs. copper, but the reality is that copper is still able to provide a reliable and cost-effective option to deliver shorter reach links within the data centre, when compared to fibre optics due to the fact they do not require expensive transceivers and can be deployed on servers with technologies like LAN on Motherboard (LOM). However, this will depend on the configuration/topology of each data centre.

ARE THERE WAYS TO EXTEND THE LIFE OF EXISTING FIBRE OPTIC CONNECTIONS?

You can do this using technologies like Cisco BiDi where modules allow you to get additional speeds over existing fibre optic connections. Panduit had confirmed that OM3 and OM4 fibre optic infrastructure would support 400G over multimode fibre. There are also conversion modules / cassettes that can utilise 100% of existing fibre even if you change transmission technologies. For instance, 3 Base 8 links can run over two previously installed Base 12 trunk cables.

IS AUTOMATION NOW COMING TO CABLING MANAGEMENT IN DATA CENTRES?

The desire to automate just about anything can be boiled down to the desire to become more efficient and reliable. Data centres, in this sense are no different. Lights out data centres have been in circulation for many years, but still have not achieved mainstream adoption. This does not mean the intent to get there does not exist, it just means that certain issues and challenges take priority in the bigger picture. When it comes to the cable management function within the data centre, this may be a case where its time for mainstream will come as higher priorities are addressed. As artificial intelligence, machine-to-machine learning and the perpetual drive to become more efficient continue to grow and become more mature in regards to the data centre, it’s a natural belief that more day to day activities will move to a more seamless and intelligent workflow. For example, the increasingly large number of cross-connects within multi-tenant data centres pose a challenge to maintain and manage in a manual environment. The dynamic nature of this setting is a strong candidate for some level of intelligence / automation to help maintain accurate records for capacity and circuit management. Automation still might not be widely adopted across the various data centre cabling environments, but it may be closer now than ever before.

WHAT ARE THE TOP PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE TRENDS TO WATCH IN 2020?

In general, people are trying to do more with what they have - space optimisation in the telecommunications closet to accommodate more technology in the same amount of space and copper cabling continues to get smaller while increasing in bandwidth and power capabilities. We also see a trend towards longer reach applications, specifically for applications like security cameras, where people are trying to extend PoE and networking capabilities beyond the standard 100m channel. Wireless adoption is also increasing, meaning fewer wired ports at the workstation with WiFi 6, bringing truly groundbreaking performance akin to what is being touted for 5G. We continue to see more technologies adopt twisted pair cabling and Ethernet, and we expect this to continue as Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) becomes widely available. SPE is believed to be the technology that enables a seamless cloud to edge architecture.

OM5, optimised OM4 and single-mode are also gaining traction within the data centre for links longer than 100-meters. Higher density connectivity (144 LC fibres per RU) is also being mainstream versus previous densities of 96-fibres per RU, and new connectors such as CS will enable densities higher than 144F per RU later this year.

WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF INDUSTRY 4.0 AND IOT ON INDUSTRIAL ETHERNET?

Industry 4.0 and IoT are the catalysts that are driving Ethernet adoption at the edge of the network in industrial applications. The legacy protocols that have been used for 30 years are not robust enough to allow for the data capture and usage that is demanded by IoT applications. With Ethernet, there is no need for protocol gateways that diminish the quality of data being collected, allowing for better analysis and control capabilities all the way to the machine level. Single Pair Ethernet will be the technology that makes Ethernet an attractive option from cloud to edge, delivering data and power capabilities to the control network. SPE is cost-effective for industrial applications where 4-pair Ethernet has been overkill for years.

PRIMED FOR GROWTH

NABIL KHALIL, EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT OF R&M MIDDLE EAST, TURKEY AND AFRICA, ON HIS COMPANY’S GAME PLAN IN THE REGION AND THE FUTURE OF CABLING.

CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR RECENT EXPANSION IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS?

At R&M, we have always followed the strategy of investing in the region, for the region. Since our establishment in the Middle East, we have consistently strengthened footprint and market penetration, expanding not only our sales presence and partner network, but also bringing world-class structured cabling production facilities to the Middle East.

Our strategic move into a larger regional headquarters in Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, and our expansion into a new production facility - which consolidates our production and warehousing hubs - comes in direct response to the overwhelming demand for world-class cabling solutions in the region. Structured cabling is essential to the ambitious fibre-to-the-home rollouts, 5G deployments and smart city and giga-projects currently underway across the Middle East and R&M proudly supports the entities driving these transformation initiatives. Dubai is one of the most innovative cities in the world which makes it the ideal location for us to center and expand our regional presence in.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CABLING TRENDS TO WATCH IN 2020?

The current global challenges have highlighted the need for high speed connectivity even to home users and individuals in remote locations. The FTTH market can therefore be expected to gain the strongest momentum through this year.

There is an added benefit to this investment as service providers will find they can combine FTTx and 5G rollouts to benefit from a common infrastructure that supports both platforms. The vast bandwidth and latency performance potential of 5G can be realized by bringing FTTX networks closer to the wireless connection point. Radio links will be increasingly replaced by antennas integrated into fibre networks and connected to local or regional edge data centers.

The infrastructure supporting Smart City services consists of IoT-linked sensors connected by fibre extending deep into the network. R&M offers several unique, integrated and flexible products and services for safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly Smart Cities, and has developed several Smart City projects around the world, including Egypt, India, and Brazil. We have built up considerable experience in developing and customising products according to the needs of customers, ensuring they are ready to be installed without hassle or delays.

WHAT WILL BE THE IMPACT OF EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS EDGE COMPUTING AND IOT ON STRUCTURED CABLING?

Owing to the growing utilisation of IoT, especially in smart cities, fibre will play an increasingly prominent role as it enables billions of IoT sensors to be connected with extremely high, uninterrupted, lowlatency symmetrical bandwidth. These new data transmission and processing requirements are driving the creation of edge infrastructures that extend and support centralized structures with computing power at the edge of the network.

Applications will rely on 5G’s ability to enable edge computing, which will allow for greater reliability, better use of bandwidth, and lower latency. IDC predicts that in three years, 45% of all IoT-generated data will be stored, processed, analysed, and acted upon close to or at the edge of networks.

The installation and operation of cabling infrastructure at the edge will have to be made as simple as possible with the ‘plug & play’ principle applied to connectivity and IT. Micro-data centres will require the ability to be connected directly to fibre optic or broadband networks everywhere, and will require integrated cooling, sound insulation, UPS, access control, and remote monitoring. Given the likely locations for their deployment, they would have to be climate-resistant, closed and shielded and designed for maximum density and compactness. Cabinets and containers should be able to be linked and stacked to be able to scale the infrastructure as required. And finally, the system should be Automated Infrastructure Management (AIM) enabled so that monitoring and documentation of cabling and IT assets can be centralized. For this purpose, we offer R&M inteliPhy net, our easy-to-use Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software that lets organizations maintain an accurate inventory of their data center assets. It includes equipment in racks like servers, storage, networking equipment, rack PDUs, patch panels, and also software applications.

WHEN IT COMES TO COPPER, IS CAT8 THE FUTURE OF LAN AND DATA CENTRE CABLING?

Fibre optic cabling offers several advantages over copper such as greater throughput, space savings, better security and future proofing. However, one reason organizations still favor copper is cost as these tend to be cheaper than fibre alternatives. Of course, copper cabling can only be deployed when it can reliably meet the requirements of a specific application. We have seen this to be the case in horizontal links which connect servers to switches. Copper is still widely used in this case as is evident when you see the type of 10G ports shipped worldwideCopper is still used more.

Cat. 8.1 seems set to become the mainstream technology for rack-level interconnects in the data centre. Unlike copper cabling for earlier 1G and 10G technologies, Cat. 8.1 will not have a 100-meter range. For most data centre purposes, however, this limitation is not a problem so Cat. 8.1 copper is an excellent, future-proof solution for the connectivity of current and upcoming generations of active equipment, with 10G and 40G.

From the perspective of LAN cabling, Cat 8.1 is even more relevant. Using Cat. 8.1 for office cabling allows the introduction of three different speed zones depending on the length of the permanent link. Thanks to the use of the RJ45 format, a Cat. 8.1 installation delivers the usability organizations currently require, while ensuring future demands can also be effectively provisioned for. This compatibility with the RJ45 is key as, for the time being, RJ45 will remain the preferred standard– for 40GBASE-T, too.

WHAT ARE THE NEW INNOVATIONS YOU ARE BRINGING TO SINGLE PAIR ETHERNET TECHNOLOGY?

Experts agree that Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) is becoming a key technology in the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). However, no one is yet able to say exactly how and where SPE will be used. For example, to date the standardization committees have not dealt sufficiently with the influence of remote power supply (Power over Data Line, PoDL) or the implementation of multi-drop capability.

To save time, they are focusing almost exclusively on point-to-point connections without remote power supply. And that results in the following situation: The standards for the SPE cabling link are today at the same level as those for existing cabling (Cat. 5, 6, 6A or 8.1). But that does not mean that SPE should replace the tried and tested RJ45 interface.

One specific operational area is building automation. R&M is convinced that SPE is perfect for connecting a large number of applications in building automation to the data network. SPE components are much smaller than RJ45 adapters. Therefore, the connection density on network devices can be increased. The connectors on sensors and actuators can be downsized. The cabling will become comparatively inexpensive.

However, SPE does not support the bandwidths which classic structured cabling with the tried and tested RJ45 interfaces enable. Applications such as WiFi6 and 5G DAS require bandwidths over 10 Gbit/s. Currently, SPE can only provide 10 Mbit/s on the required distances of up to 100 m. This means that initially SPE is not suitable as cabling for an application-neutral infrastructure in a building or on a campus.