For Immediate Release
19 May 2006
Datacentre managers embrace faster, fully shielded copper cabling
50% want category 7/class F cabling infrastructure for new datacentre projects
An independent survey has found that 8 in every 10 datacentre managers want 10Gb/sec-capable copper cabling for new datacentres, while half want fully shielded cable systems. The results highlight a broad shift in attitudes to cabling thanks to concerns over future proofing.
According to the survey of datacentre managers conducted at Data Centre Decisions, 81% of the 300 respondents indicated strong support for 10Gb/sec or better copper cabling systems when asked what cabling media they would specify for a new datacentre.
The survey also underlined a growing trend towards the adoption of shielded (S/FTP) copper systems in historically UTP markets. 50% of respondents preferred category 7/class F shielded copper cabling, such as Siemon's TERA™. Only 31% chose augmented category 6 UTP.
This shift in attitudes toward faster, shielded solutions is based on an increased need for future proofing. 93% of respondents expected their datacentres to last over 10 years, while 46% of the total planned for 20 years.
Datacentre managers are also focusing on installation issues. Traditionally easier and quicker to terminate, UTP solutions have been a favourite in many markets, but datacentre managers are becoming more familiar with S/FTP's installation practices and time-saving termination features, which make them as easy to install as category 6A UTP cabling. These developments, coupled with the increased noise immunity and decreased emissions contribute to their popularity.
While screened (F/UTP) and S/FTP copper cabling systems are gaining market share, augmented category 6 UTP solutions still represent a significant percentage of future datacentre projects. Customers need a choice of cabling systems and must understand the strengths of each. Beyond data throughput, organisations must consider factors such as infrastructure security, pathway space, cable management, initial cost, life cycle cost, noise immunity and global market preferences.
With fully compliant 10Gb/sec capable copper cabling options in UTP, F/UTP and S/FTP configurations, Siemon 10G ip offers enterprises the freedom to choose the cabling infrastructure that best supports their specific needs.
Siemon's TERA product family offers significant performance headroom and support for applications beyond 10GBASE-T. The fully-shielded Class F TERA solution is the highest performing copper cabling system recognised by ISO/IEC. Higher performance translates into longer functional lifecycles and lower total cost of ownership.
Thanks to its shielded construction, Siemon's TERA system exhibits excellent alien crosstalk performance and can reclaim pathway space with cable diameters of just 0.330 in (8.38 mm). This helps to solve the problem of strict alien crosstalk performance parameters in pending 10GBASE-T standards, which present difficulties for UTP cable. Although the pending standards permit larger UTP cable diameters of up to 0.354 in (9mm), it decreases pathway cable counts when using UTP.
For more information on Siemon's 10G ip product family, a comprehensive line of 10 Gigabit copper solutions including its 10G 6A UTP, 10G 6A F/UTP and TERA Category 7/Class F systems, visit www.siemon.com.
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- About Siemon
- Established in 1903, Siemon is an industry leader specialising in the manufacture and innovation of high quality, high-performance network cabling solutions. Headquartered in Connecticut, USA, with global offices and partners throughout the world, Siemon offers the most comprehensive suite of copper (unshielded and shielded twisted-pair) and fibre cabling systems available. With over 400 active patents specific to structured cabling, Siemon Labs invests heavily in R&D and development of industry standards, underlining the company's long-term commitment to its customers and the industry.
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