INDUSTRY NEWS
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A newly published whitepaper
from Rittal shows the key role
IT plays in what is termed Industry
4.0 and explains how companies
can establish the infrastructure that
is required to bring the concept to
fruition. The document is aimed at
decision-makers as well as anyone
responsible for production and IT and
details the opportunities that Industry
4.0 is creating through new and existing
infrastructures. The whitepaper
shows how IT and production can be
effectively interlinked, and outlines the
interdependence of ‘back office’ and
‘factory’ functions. It also highlights
the similarity of the challenges faced
by production managers and system
administrators as well as the differences
that continue to exist between them.
To function effectively and maximise
the benefits afforded by Industry 4.0 the
differences between these two parts of
the business must narrow.
The concept of Industry 4.0 is
one where businesses can automate
their production processes to a greater
degree, and where machines can
network with each other, making
production processes more flexible.
The basis is underpinned by IT systems
that represent the entire value chain
across design and manufacturing. It
is a network of intelligent machines
that communicate with one another
creating self-regulating manufacturing
processes and providing highly efficient
volume production (even with small
batch sizes). The “IT infrastructure in
the context of Industry 4.0” whitepaper
can be obtained free of charge from the
Rittal website.
www.rittal.com/whitepaper
Corning has introduced its
latest optical cabling innovation
for data centres and storage area
networks, EDGE8 solutions.
EDGE8 is the industry’s first
modular, tip-to-tip optical cabling system
to feature an eight-fibre (Base-8) cabling
design that maximises per rack unit
density for better network scalability and
improved link performance. Driven by
increasing adoption of cloud computing
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NETCOMMS europe Volume V Issue 4 2015
and a growing demand for streaming
video, data centres and SANs are
migrating to faster transmission speeds
to find and send data back to consumers
as quickly as possible. Corning’s
EDGE8 is the most future-ready data
centre connectivity solution available
for simple, efficient and cost-effective
migration to transmission speeds up to
400 gigabits per second.
“The EDGE8 solutions help data
centre operators deliver an optimal enduser experience, while mitigating the
uncertainty associated with
ever-increasing transmission speeds and
continually evolving standards,” said
Stuart Hoiness, Senior Vice President of
Enterprise Networks, Corning Optical
Communications. “Installing a Base-8
cabling system like EDGE8 today
provides the simplest, most flexible path
to 40, 100, and 400 gigabits per second
in the future.”
EDGE8 solutions, with eight-fibre
MTP connectors, make it easy to
match the fibre count in the backbone
of data centre networks and SANs
with today’s Base-8 QSFP transceivers,
resulting in 100 per cent fibre utilisation,
streamlined 1:1 port mapping, and up to
50 per cent reduction in link attenuation
by eliminating the need for conversion
modules. EDGE8 furthers the benefits
of Base-8 design with pinned MTP
trunks that enable simple patch cable
deployment; optimised harness mapping
for no unused fibre/connectors; and
EDGE8 modules offer a 30 per cent
improvement in insertion loss resulting
in longer duplex link distances.
www.corning.com
New families of docking
stations have been released by
StarTech.com, creating the most
comprehensive line of universal USB
3 and Thunderbolt docking stations in
the industry. The families of docking
stations are categorized into Travel,
Essential, Professional, and Specialty
docks. “With laptops getting smaller
and thinner, there is a trend away from
old proprietary docking stations and
replicators in favor of more universal
designs with a longer life, better
compatibility, and easier large-scale
deployment. StarTech.com is at the
forefront with those products,” said
Carey Cline, Senior Product Manager
at StarTech.com. Docking Stations
Families: Travel – Ideal for mobility
and professionals that travel frequently
and need to connect while on the go.
Essential – Great for short-term set-ups
such as hot desk workstations in a
business setting.Professional – Intended
for permanent workstation set-ups in
an office and home setting. Specialty
– Unique, innovative and cutting-edge
docks intended for advanced, highperformance usage. StarTech.com’s
docking station families provide a broad
selection of products that service a wide
range of customer needs. Whether the
need is for a universal docking station
that works with almost all makes and
models of laptops, or docking stations
with Thunderbolt host connectivity, our
products provide full desktop capabilities
with a single cable.
www.startech.com
Vodafone published its third
annual Vodafone M2M
Barometer Report – the leading
global survey of the Machine-toMachine (M2M) sector – which reveals
continued strong growth in th