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NETWORKING
Transceiver Shipments of
25 Gb/s and Greater
Current vs Future Network Configurations
Enterprise data centre network migration
Current enterprise data centres primarily use 10Gb/s
switches and 1Gb/s servers. These networks are migrating
to 25 or 40Gb/s uplinks and 1Gb/s servers. The majority of
enterprise data centres already have multimode cabling
installed, and 85% of these optic links are 150m long or less.
The migration path for enterprise data centres, as seen in
Figure 2, will take advantage of existing multimode cabling
while moving to 10, 40, and 100Gb/s in the future. With over
12 different 40Gb/s transceiver options and 10 different
100Gb/s transceiver options available on the market,
infrastructure engineers must design their networks to be
flexible and able to support any of these potential designs.
Cloud provider network migration
Cloud networks have operated at 40Gb/s uplinks and10
Gb/s at the server for several years. These networks will
move to 100Gb/s uplinks and 25Gb/s at the server in the
near future, as shown in Figure 2. We can also expect future
migrations to 200 and 400Gb/s uplinks and 50 and 100Gb/s
at the server. When comparing optical fibre systems for
these higher speeds, cloud service providers are increasingly
adopting single-mode over multimode systems.
In 2016, Microsoft Azure, a market leader in cloud
services, moved the vast majority of its data centre
fibre cabling to single-mode. In fact, Microsoft is now
99% single-mode, using parallel single-mode with MTP
connections more than any other fibre type. Also, Facebook
has undergone efforts to shorten their data centre cable
links to 500m or less. Actions like these from companies
with such major purchasing power have reduced the cost of
single-mode optics to the point where the cost for 100 Gb/s
single-mode optics dropped tenfold over the past two years,
bringing it in line with multimode fibre.
As this trend continues, the market, in general, will
find single-mode a more enticing option. For example,
100G-PSM4 single-mode technology, created in 2014 by a
multi-source agreement group, is currently the same price
as 100G-SR4 multimode transceivers. PSM4 transceivers
were specifically designed as a low-cost option for 500
metres or less, using an 8-fibre MPO/MTP connection. Just
as important, the price for long-reach single-mode solutions
such as 100G-LR4 has dropped and will continue to drop in
the coming years.
Smart migration
Regardless of the type or size of the data centre, IT
managers are looking for cabling systems that can weather
multiple generations of tech upgrades with minimal
disruption, dark fibres or changes. It’s recommended to use
a 24-fibre trunk cable backbone in these systems as a key
piece in establishing the most flexibility when migrating to
400G.
Some single and multimode cabling systems not only
meet current bandwidth requirements, but also provide
the flexibility needed to meet future network demands,
including 100G, 400G, and beyond. These systems include
high-density patching, solutions for fast deployment, and
customisable trunks and cable assemblies that give data
centre managers the exact solution they require and to
deliver it fast. n
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