INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cabling
R&M cabling system delivers high
standard in copper cabling
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generations. After the installation of a basic
Cat. 8.1 infrastructure, faster switches and
servers can be integrated seamlessly.
R&M expects the solution to be widely
deployed in data centres, particularly in top-of-
rack and end-of-row cabling. The Swiss cabling
specialist guarantees 40GbE performance for
24-metre permanent links and up to 30-metre
channel depending on the patch cords used.
This is in line with the specifications of the
ISO/IEC and TIA standards.
Conforming to the latest industry standard,
R&M’s Cat. 8.1 solution for data centre and office
LAN applications supports up to 40GbE while
maintaining backward compatibility.
M
arking a significant advancement
for the cabling industry, R&M,
the globally active developer and
provider of cabling systems for high-quality
network infrastructures, has launched its
universal Cat. 8.1 cabling system. The
company’s new Cat. 8.1 connection module
is based on the design of its Cat. 6A module,
a top product which has won the iF Award.
This solution for data centres and office
LANs supports up to 40 Gigabit/s Ethernet
(GbE), the fastest data transmission rate that
local networks with structured copper cabling
can currently achieve.
“Cat. 8.1 is an excellent, future-proof solution
for current and upcoming generations
of active equipment, with 10G and 40G.
Network planners can make a cost-effective
choice and reduce CapEx without increasing
OpEx, and without sacrificing ease of use,
flexibility and reliability,” said Nabil Khalil,
Executive Vice President of R&M Middle East,
www.intelligentcio.com
Turkey and Africa. “Outside of its obvious
application in data centres, it is highly
suitable to office cabling as well where it
allows the introduction of three different
speed zones depending on the length of
the permanent link. And thanks to future-
proofing, a Cat. 8.1 installation today serves
as preparation for future demands with
today’s usability thanks to the RJ45 format.”
This backwards-compatibility of the Cat. 8.1
cabling system is possible because of the use
of the standard RJ45 plug-in format.
That means that Cat. 6A patch cords, which
are still widely used, can be deployed, and
networks built on the new Cat. 8.1 solution
can still be operated with 10GbE which
is standard today. R&M has ensured that
data centres and LAN operators do not
need any additional adapters, transmission
cables or fibre optic interfaces if they are
soon migrating to the faster 25 and 40GbE
The solution is also ideally suited to buildings
which require extremely fast local data
networks. Here the Cat. 8.1 system from
R&M supports the new performance level
of 25 GbE (25GBASE-T). The proposed 50m
distance in the draft technical report ISO/IEC
TR11801-9909 for this bandwidth covers
roughly two thirds of all typical link lengths in
office buildings.
Furthermore, the Cat. 8.1 cabling system is
suitable for four-pair Power over Ethernet
(4PPoE) and features R&M’s PowerSafe
quality seal. R&M PowerSafe products
exclusively feature IDC terminations and are
specifically designed and tested to ensure
they can continuously transmit high currents
in local data networks.
The basic Cat. 8.1 Permanent Link consists
of two RJ45 connection modules and a
shielded Cat. 8.2/8.1 S/FTP installation cable.
The system complies with both standard
families: ISO/IEC 11801, Class I, and ANSI/
TIA-568.2-D. In the Cat. 8.1 module, the
copper conductors are terminated using
insulation displacement contacts (IDC).
R&M supplies an optional termination
tool which installers can use to quickly and
correctly press the wires into the IDC and
also cut off overlengths. n
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