EDITOR’S QUESTION
are therefore making sound cabling
investments to significantly reduce the
possibility of data centre downtime.
Today, no one asks for a slower network
and while it is 25 Gigabit Ethernet
(GbE) that is being deployed, all new
implementations are factoring in the need
to include easy 100G and even 200G
migration as a part of their future. And for
this, higher value cabling systems such as
fibre are the way forward. Fibre systems
facilitate the setup of high-density
cabling systems for data networks with
parallel-optical connection technology.
Consequently, data centres can introduce
25 GbE or even 100 and 200 GbE as a
bandwidth to connect the fastest servers
and switches to each other. That being
said, copper is still a good option for
horizontal links (10G) and with the new
Cat. 8, it will be able to provide 40G for
30 metres. So, it remains cheaper and
sufficient for small distances.
NABIL KHALIL, EXECUTIVE
VICE PRESIDENT OF R&M
MIDDLE EAST, TURKEY
AND AFRICA
nternal data centre
traffic is expected to
I
grow by 80% over the
next three years. As a
result, there is a real risk
of networks becoming
bandwidth bottlenecks. As a standard
practice, organisations must now move
away from traditional low-density cabling
to high-density modular structured cable
solutions. By doing so, they can implement
physical network infrastructure in a far
more manageable and flexible manner.
Furthermore, these systems enable data
centres to easily migrate to 25, 100 and
200 Gb/s networks and solve some of the
most critical network challenges.
A data centre is an ever-expanding,
interdependent, difficult-to-understand
infrastructure that, once installed, is
there to stay. Data centre managers
must address constant demand for new
services and booming data growth.
When planning the installation or upgrade
of network cabling, it is vital to remember
that while the cost of cabling typically only
accounts for 4–5% of the total expense
of the data centre, reports have shown
that 65% of system outages are related
to cabling, and patching mistakes cause
28% of downtime in data centres. They
DATA CENTRE
MANAGERS
MUST ADDRESS
CONSTANT
DEMAND FOR
NEW SERVICES
AND BOOMING
DATA GROWTH.
In terms of design, the traditional
hierarchical network topology with core,
aggregation and access level can no
longer cope with today’s needs, resulting
in congestion along traffic routes.
To ensure data and applications are
available in real time at all times, latencies
have to be considerably reduced, calling
for single-mode or multi-mode fibre and
new kinds of network architecture. A
spine-leaf architecture can be adapted
to continuously changing needs and
reduces latency. A network mesh with
crisscrossing cabling guarantees that
switches at access level are no longer
more than a hop away from each other.
Between ever increasing fibre densities,
complicated fanout connections and
meshed leaf-spine architectures,
knowing the true state of the network
cabling at any time has been extremely
difficult. Changing network topologies
therefore also warrant the use of
Automated Infrastructure Management
(AIM) solutions. Using a single, current,
consistent database eliminates stranded
capacity and facilitates end-to-end
analysis, agile infrastructure management,
predictive analysis, capacity utilisation
and efficiency of operation and
administration, and can bring 30–50%
reduction in downtime.
30 Issue 18
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