INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cabling
Cabling design for traditional
enterprise data centres
Data centres come in many
different shapes and sizes
and with that there are vast
differences in how cabling is
used. Arafat Yousef, Managing
Director – Middle East and
Africa, Nexans Cabling
Solutions, focuses on the
traditional enterprise data
centres, what its needs are and
how these impact the cabling
infrastructure.
For the sake of simplicity let’s say
there are three types of data centres:
enterprise, hyperscale and cloud type
data centres. All of them fall under the
same cabling standards. The international
standard ISO/IEC makes a split between
ISO/IEC 11801-5 (cabling) and ISO/IEC
14763-2 (pathways, spaces). The American
TIA standard groups are all under TIA-942-B.
The waning of enterprise
data centres?
The enterprise data centre is one of the most
varied as well as smallest out of the three types
highlighted above. Millions exist worldwide
and they are typically designed to be used
by one single owner. We do see a trend
developing where enterprise data centres are
moving towards a hybrid cloud model.
Part of their non-mission critical applications
are transferred to a private or public cloud,
while the critical applications remain in the
enterprise owned data centre. Examples are
dedicated servers with their own protocols
or systems which cannot be moved off their
premises for security, maintenance or other
business reasons.
Key issues
As the enterprise data centre is only one
stage removed from traditional structured
cabling, its needs are somewhat similar. The
key issues for most of these customers are:
• Ease of installation so they can use a
variety of technicians
• Ease of maintenance to facilitate regular
moves, adds and changes (MAC)
• Plans for migration since the data centre
is typically a cost centre that needs a
strong ROI
• Cost minimisation to avoid having to
move to the cloud
Cabling for enterprise data centres
The reach inside enterprise data centres
tends to be shorter compared to the cloud
or hyperscale ones, favouring copper and/or
multimode fibre connections.
The data rates are also the lowest as it
is typically used to connect to dedicated
servers and switches.
WE DO SEE A
TREND DEVELOPING
WHERE
ENTERPRISE DATA
CENTRES ARE
MOVING TOWARDS
A HYBRID CLOUD
MODEL.
Arafat Yousef, Managing Director – Middle
East and Africa, Nexans Cabling Solutions
In the larger enterprise data centres, space
constraints can be a significant problem as
MAC work is considered the norm. Therefore,
Ultra High Density (UHD) patch panels are
common to allow for periodic maintenance
and cabling evolution. A UHD panel is
typically defined as one that contains an
average of 144 LC connectors in 1U.
These facilities must be designed with the
intent to last through multiple generations
of equipment, and this is one of the
primary reasons that structured cabling
was developed in the first place. It is also
important to recognise the on-going work
that will be done by the operators (normally
at the front of the rack) versus that done
by the installers (normally done at the rear
of the rack). Each have their own set of
accessibility requirements. •
www.intelligentcio.com INTELLIGENTCIO 63