Using Optical Fiber Solutions for 10G to 40/100G Migrations

With the advent of data centers in communication infrastructure, various network protocols have evolved to meet the data rates necessary to handle the required amount of data transfer efficiently. Part of this evolution, of course, was installing fiber optics in more and more network interconnection scenarios in place of copper cable.

With end-user connectivity now possible through various user devices, fiber optic cables have become the ubiquitous transport medium in the data center network. The number and type of fibers, their long-term viability, and value to the user are paramount considerations to handle today’s rapidly increasing data rates and exponential growth of data traffic.

In this white paper from Sumitomo Electric, we examine and consider both how and why an optical fiber ribbon cabling solution should be deployed for new 40Gbs/100Gbs installations and upgrades of existing 1Gbs/10Gbs infrastructures.

Over the past decade, the movement of data has become crucial for businesses and individuals alike, particularly through the rise of social networking, big data, mobile communications and the infrastructure necessary to support them. As the demands on the network infrastructure continue to increase, more and more servers, routers and network switches will be added to individual data centers to handle the increased data traffic. As these increase, the amount of installed optical fiber will also increase and may be mitigated by a shift from multimode to single-mode fiber.

Because of the unique nature of the modern data center, the ultimate choice of which cable to deploy in the data center rests with the person responsible for the execution of a network’s infrastructure build plan. Many factors should be considered prior to purchasing, installing, terminating, and testing a fiber optic cable. When reviewing the major factors that typically are considered for a cable installation, it is clear that ribbon cable designs should be seriously considered for use in data center builds.

Download this white paper today to learn how the overall combination of ruggedness of the ribbon design, fiber density, size, and relative cost points to ribbon as being most suited to both new and retrofit installations in the data center.