Colocation Data Centers Structured Cabling Trends

By Tom Debiec and Lisa Huff

As companies look to embrace cloud computing or backup their existing data centers, many are evaluating colocation as an option.  With this increased demand, colocation data centers are popping up all over the world and becoming a larger part of the overall data center market.  In 2013, the colocation sector is expected to account for about 25-percent of the structured-cabling data center market. During the work to develop the structured cabling forecast for the soon to be released Bishop & Associates report, "Structured Cabling Technology and Market Assessment," we had the chance to talk to project managers that are responsible for implementing 10,000 - 20,000 sqft build-outs in colocation facilities. It was clear to us that a few key trends have emerged:

• Whenever possible contractors recommend the use of pre-terminated copper and fiber cabling.  The benefits of utilizing these components include cost reduction, on-time delivery and the project is easier to manage.
• Although they are installing MPO cassettes on some jobs the cost premium often scares customers away.
• More OM3 fiber is being installed than OM4.  The up-sell to OM4 is difficult since OM3 covers the distances that are typically seen in these facilities (300m at 10G).
• A majority of the copper cabling is being installed is Category 6. 

A typical colocation lease averages about eight years.  Since the clients don't know what their requirements will be in this timeframe, they are less likely to make decisions that "future-proof" the installation for reuse with upgraded active equipment.  Tight budgets further preclude the addition of higher performing cabling products.  They would prefer to re-cable in the future than to pay for it now.  Since many of these installations are based on Top-of-Rack (ToR) architecture, re-cabling is viewed as a much simpler thing to do than to install new equipment when the cabinets are stuffed full of cabling. In view of this, we project that Category 6A and Category 7 cabling will only see very slow growth and that OM3 will be the mainstay over the next few years.

Why Polarity Matters (Part 2)

If you’ve read my previous posts on the subject, you know that polarity can be a tricky matter and it’s even more complicated when you try to choose it for your data center cabling. You really have to choose based on several factors:

1. Patch cords – method A has two different patch cords that you have to stock, but the upside is that it’s pretty simple to follow where the signal is going and if you happen to be out of one type of patch cord, you can really take the one you have and just flip the fibers as a temporary fix until you can get the other patch cords. Of course this isn’t recommended, but if you’re in a bind and need to get up-and-running right away, it will work. With methods B and C you have the same patch cord on each end so no need to worry about this, but if you happen to have the wrong cassettes or backbone, nothing will work and you'll have to wait to get the correct ones.
2. Cassettes and backbone cables – you need to make sure you buy all of one method of polarity or your system won’t work. If you’re concerned about supply, all three polarity methods are available from multiple vendors, but Method A is “preferred” by most.
3. Upgradability – this is where it can get dicey. Typically your pre-terminated assemblies are running Gigabit applications today and a few may be running 10G. Any of the polarities will work at these data rates. But when you move to 40/100G, methods A and B have straight forward paths, while C does not. Also, you’ll want to make sure you use the highest grade of LOMF available, which is OM4 – this will give you the best chance of being able to reuse your backbones up to 125m. If you need something longer, you’ll need to go to SMF.

If you are thinking about installing pre-terminated cassette-based assemblies now for 10G with an upgrade path to 40 and 100G, you need to consider the polarity method you use. Unlike today's 2-fiber configurations, with one send and one receive, the standards for 40G and 100G Ethernet implementations use multiple parallel 10G connections that are multiplexed. While 40/100G equipment vendors will tell you that polarity is not an issue, care must be taken if you want to reuse this installed base.

40G will use four 10G fibers to send and four 10G fibers to receive, while 100G uses either four 25G fibers or ten 10G fibers in each direction. Because 40 and 100G will be using the MPO connector, if the polarity method is carefully chosen, you will be able to reuse your backbone cables. This is enabled by the fact that the IEEE took much care in specifying the system so that you can connect any transmit within a connection on one end of the channel to any receive on the other end.

Those selecting fiber to support 10G now and 40G in the near future need to understand what will be involved in transitioning and repurposing their cable plant. In order to upgrade using method A, you can replace the cassettes with MPO-to-MPO patch panels and MPO-to-MPO patch cords and it will enable flexibility to address moves, adds and changes as well as promoting proper installation best practices. The polarity flip will need to be accomplished in either an A-to-A patch cord or possibly with a key up/key down patch panel.

Method B multimode backbone cables can also readily support 40G applications. For a structured cabling approach, method B will still use a patch panel and patch cords, though as with current method B, both patch cords could be A-to-B configuration. While Method C backbones could be used, they are not recommended for 40G as completing the channel involves complex patch cord configurations.

It appears that 100G will use either the 12-fiber (4x25G) or the 24-fiber (10x10G) MPO connector. With transmits in the top row and receives in the bottom row, the connection will still be best made using a standardized structured cabling approach as described above.

There are many suppliers of pre-terminated optical assemblies including Belden, Berk-Tek, a Nexans Company, CommScope, Corning, Panduit, Siemon, Tyco Electronics NetConnect as well as many smaller shops that give quick-turn assemblies like Cxtec CablExpress and Compulink.

Why Fiber Polarity Matters ( Part 1)

Again, polarity is the term used in the TIA-568 standard to explain how to fiber (wire) to make sure each transmitter is connected to a receiver on the other end of a multi-fiber cable.

Many data center managers are opting to use pre-terminated fiber assemblies due to their higher-quality factory termination, ease of use and quick installation. And many are using 12-fiber MPO backbone cables with cassettes and patch cords to transition to active equipment. When doing this, they choose a polarity method that makes sense for their operation.

Polarity Method A: This is the most straight-forward method. It uses straight-through patch cords (A-to-B) on one end that connect through a cassette (LC-to-MPO or SC-to-MPO depending on what the equipment connector is), a straight-through MPO-key-up-to-MPO-key-down backbone cable and a “cross-over” patch cord (A-to-A) at the other end.

Polarity Method B: The “cross-over” occurs in the cassette. The keys on the MPO cable connectors are in an up position at both ends, but the fiber that is at connector position 1 in one end is in position 12 at the opposite end, and the fiber that is in position 12 at the originating end is in position 1 at the opposing end. Only one type of patch cord is needed – A-to-B.

Polarity Method C: This is the most complicated. There is pair-wise “cross-over” in the backbone cable in this method. A-to-B patch cords are used on both ends, the cassette uses MPO-key-up-to-key-down and the backbone cable is pair-wise flipped so 1,2 connects to 2,1; 3,4 connects to 4,3; etc.

There is a fourth propietary method that I won't go over here since it's proprietary and not standardized.

If the end user does not get this correct and use all of the proper pieces together, their systems will not work. If you don’t understand what I’ve just explained above, you're not alone. There are diagrams in the TIA-568 standard as well as many white papers from leading structured cabling companies explaining fiber polarity in arrayed cabling systems. Here’s a link to Panduit’s white paper that may help. In the next post, I’ll explain how to upgrade to 40/100G and reuse your pre-terminated backbone.