The modern data centre - the ‘brain’ of business economy

Today’s business managers are confronted by complex financial situations that require reliable, robust communication infrastructures to support successful decision making processes. Though there are various types of data centres, each needs to deliver goals set by the business plan. As we know, these plans change to suit the altering business climate over time. This requires a versatile, highly adaptable communications cabling system, supported by the other services such as air-conditioning and electrical systems.

Data centres are the ‘brain’ of the new business economy - special environments that feature the new technology and computing processes. Designed to offer around the clock business continuity and uninterrupted services for mission critical data operations, they often have different requirements to those of traditional office network physical layer systems.

Efficiency of data centres is measured in various ways. All of these measures enable data centre managers to monitor constantly the operational performance. Decisions taken at the design stage of data centre construction will have a lasting effect on the operating efficiency of the infrastructure and ultimately, the success of the business. From a CEO’s perspective, the purpose of the data center is to centralise and consolidate IT resources, thereby giving business the infrastructures that offer 24/7 availability, 365 days a year. The data centre must be “a set and forget” component of the business, where the essential criteria is ideally 99.99999Â…% reliability. This is the ultimate goal of data centres.

The communications cabling infrastructure is the main reason for setting up a data centre in the first place. Therefore it is the foundation of such an environment. The importance of the communication cabling system cannot be emphasised enough. Once this is realised by senior management, long term commitment must be provided to the design, construction, implementation, operational and organisational requirements of the data centre.

The data centre physical layer

Cabling is often taken for granted - but, making the right investment initially will save time, money and frustration in the short term and minimise disruptive upgrades in the future. The requirements for data centre networks and associated storage area network (SAN) cabling differ from those of traditional structured office cabling networks.

These various networks must be capable of handling huge data streams at extremely fast speeds - as much as 10 gigabits per second, rising to 40G and 100G in the future. The cabling system must enable fast deployment of equipment and changes to the original layout, without compromising data centre performance. The communication cabling must provide high density capabilities to minimise cabinet count, pathway sizes and enable efficient air movement, which in turn reduces electrical energy demand.

High reliability (zero downtime), is a hallmark of first-rate cabling technologies developed with these characteristics in mind. To meet these requirements Tyco Electronics has developed an application specific cabling system - specially designed for data centre and SAN. This system covers both balanced pair and optical fibre technologies.

Tyco Electronics offers copper and optical fibre cabling solutions needed for quick and easy installation of high-performance data centres and SANs. These consist of factory terminated cable assemblies and compact break-out cassettes, patch panels that turn labour intensive installations into simple ‘plug-and-go’ events. All cables and cassettes are factory tested, guaranteeing that high-performance is built into the products.

Copper plug-and-go solutions

The MRJ21system is a high-density, high-performance, balanced pair modular cabling system. This Tyco Electronics solution is designed to deliver multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports in a high-density package that fully supports Power of Ethernet. The 24 pair cabling and connector solution supports any plug and play environment including Data Centers. MRJ21 trunk cables, cassettes and cable assemblies are the basic components of this modular connectivity solution.

In addition to MRJ21 PLUG&GO copper offering, Tyco Electronics has just released Sigma-Link System. It’s a unique pre-terminated, performance guaranteed by 100% factory tested Sigma cable assemblies. System is available in Cat7A, Cat7, Cat6A, Cat6 and Cat5E. Trunks are available in standard and ‘customised’ lengths in order to minimise unwanted cable wastage.

Fibre plug-and-go solution

The MPO system is an excellent choice for many optical fibre applications. Modular components are the key to fast deployment, simple installation, capital effectiveness and network flexibility. Pre-terminated trunk cables, breakout cassettes and cable assemblies make up the basic modular components needed for a complete optical fibre network.

Networks can be up and running in minutes, rather than hours or weeks. No tool kits or consumables are necessary, no cable termination and no training is required - all this results in minimised overall cost. Only minimal field-testing is carried out to insure against damage in transit or installation.

Design for LAN Electronics connectivity and cabling systems

Tyco Electronics is a worldwide manufacturer of electrical and electronic connectors. With our offices, warehousing, engineers and technical support in just about every country, we are able to develop and engineer any visionary connectivity technology.

While Tyco Electronics is integrating advanced connectors into products to offer excellent cabling systems, the company also collaborates closely with manufacturers of IT devices that connect directly to our cabling systems. Consequently, Tyco Electronics supplies the same high-tech connectivity to various switch and server manufacturers to provide really seamless End-to-End System solutions to data centre users around the globe.