How to Create More Capacity in Data Center

With the ever-increasing demand for more computing power and data center servers, data center manager have the responsibility to chart a data center capacity plan and determine what strategy will accommodate business needs best. Of course, they could just expand to large facilities (upgrading to the advanced switch and fiber enclosures). However, not all IT budgets are increasing, and many users just cannot afford the extra money. Therefore, people are turning to high-density and cost-effective infrastructures. To support these applications, this article will introduce a broad selection of high-density connectivity and high capacity cable management devices.

• High-Density Patch Panels

High-Density (HD) fiber patch panel solution is the most convenient approach for solving the problem of limited capacity in a data center environment. And it provides a flexible way to connect devices of different generations of equipment quickly and easily. HD patch panels consist of a panel enclosure and modular HD cassettes, which can connect a fiber network feed (via multi-strand or MTP cable) and segment it into standard LC connections in order to interface with 10Gbps devices. The following image shows a fiber adapter panel with 12 LC duplex single-mode adapters.

HD fiber patch panels feature the following advantages:
Flexibility: They can connect different generations of equipment such as 10Gb, 40Gb, 100Gb in a simple panel-cassette system with different connector types.

Ease of Installation: No tools are required to install the cassette in the panel enclosure. Each cassette features factory terminated connectors that reduce the time and labor required of field connector terminations.

Cost-Effectiveness: High-density and ease of installation provide a low initial investment cost. Flexibility, adjustability and reliability provide a high ROI. What’s more, network reconfiguration is highly adjustable due to the modular cassette system.

• High-Density Patch Cords

As cabling density increases along with the deployment of higher network speeds, HD patch cords deliver a robust design to withstand the rigorous of daily use. Cables that can offer a smaller overall diameter improve cable management by installing in dense patch cord trays that take up less space. They also provide better airflow to maintain consistent operating temperatures, reducing the likelihood of failure or downtime.

Finger access to each patch cable, furthermore hinder the cable management and makes the cable installation become more difficult. To ensure easy access, high-density patch cords are easy to remove through the use of a flexible pull-tab fiber optic cable just as seen in the above picture. This cable type has the same component and internal structure as the traditional patch cords (e.g.SC FC patch cord), except the a tab attached to the connector, which makes it easy for cable management. These tabs can help increase cabling density and maintain reliability, preventing you from accidentally loosening surrounding connectors as you access the patch cord you need.

MPO/MTP trunk cable is the another example of the HD patch cords. These cables are the foundation of easier, faster and better pre-terminated fiber connectivity solutions, as it allows tighter trunk cable bends for slack storage and routing. With the high-density trunks in your data center solution, less space is consumed and installation is easier.

• High-Density Fiber Enclosures

Fiber enclosure makes full used of the spaces in data center by combining most of the fiber optic connections in strong standards modules, providing solid protection of data center links and increasing cabling density. Therefore, data center managers can get easy access to fiber connections and easy cable management. Accordingly, the cost for data center installation and maintenance can be effectively reduced.

Fiber enclosures are usually available in 1U, 2U, 3U, 4U. The 1U rack mount fiber enclosure is the most commonly used one on the market. Now 4U or larger rack mount fiber enclosures are also becoming popular driven by the increasing of fiber counts in data center. Except standards rack mount fiber enclosures, a lot of data centers or server rooms use customized fiber enclosures for their special requirements.

FS.COM FHD Series rack mount fiber enclosures are available in 1RU, 2RU and 4RU rack unit options. With optional FHD cassette modules or adapter panels in single-mode, multimode, or 10G multimode versions, users can install, maintain, and upgrade their cabling systems in a more flexible and cost-effective way. In addition to rack mount solution, our FHD series products also support wall mount type which can meet the cabling demands on fiber industrial environments.

Conclusion

High-density optic solutions enable data center operators to maximize the amount of active equipment and cables in a data center by minimizing the foot print of the networking infrastructure. Besides the above HD optical products, there are also a range of HD products including the high speed interconnect optics, cable assemblies, cable management hardware. If you want to know more about the HD products from FS.COM, please have a look at our website.

How to Choose Fiber Enclosure for Your Data Center

The data center is the heart of a fiber optic network. To ensure its long-term reliable network performance, all the optical equipment within data center should be well organized. However, the current multi-fiber counts and high-density optical cabling put strain in the cable management. Fiber patch enclosure provides solid fiber-optic-link protection and space-saving cable management, which is becoming a must-have component in data center. There are several fiber optic enclosures available on the market that are widely utilized in data center or server room. This article will briefly introduce the commonly used fiber enclosure designs to better meet your data center requirement. LC to LC fiber cable and patch panels are mounted in a fiber enclosure in the following picture.

Fiber Enclosure Designs

Rack mount fiber enclosure is the commonly used type in data center as it provide a convenient and rugged termination point for fiber jumper cables. This rack mount enclosures offer a flexible connectivity system using a variety of adapter plates and MPO cassettes. The enclosures work equally as well with armored cable as they do with multiple trunk cables and are available in 1U-4U versions.

1U enclosures fit standard 19-inch racks and have rear cable management rings. 2U, 3U and 4U enclosures are designed for side or rear trunk cable entry, have removable front and rear covers, edge guards on the front for cable assembly protection and front and rear cable management rings. 2U, 3U and 4U enclosures also fit standard 19 and 23-inch racks and have a clear plastic, removable front door that can be outfitted with a label for easy identification of connections.

Except for different size, there are two types of rack mount enclosures: fiber enclosure with a removable lid and slide-out fiber enclosure (see in the following figure). The slide-out version is typically more expensive than the other version. But slide-out fiber enclosure can allow customers to remove the whole enclosure from the rack, thus, it can provide easier internal fiber connection access.

As for the design of the fiber enclosure front panel, two commonly used types are fixed front panels and removable front panel. The fixed front panel can be loaded with appropriate fiber optic adapters, while the removable front pane can accommodate several fiber optic adapter panels or cassettes just as seen in the following image.

How to Select the Fiber Enclosure

If this is your first time to install a fiber optic network, you should follow the instructions below. Only in this way can you satisfy your installation requirement, and matched your budget as well.

• Physical requirement

First, list all the requirement that will be mounted in the enclosure and their complete measurements:height, depth, width, weight. All of these figures will ultimately determine what type of fiber enclosure you will need. Note that always select a bigger fiber enclosure for all your existing equipment as well as for future proof.

• Critical accessories

A fiber enclosure should provide plenty of grommeted access points through the rear and top of the cabinet, as well as through the bottom for raised floor installations. Not only are the fiber optic cables mounted in the fiber enclosure, but devices like hubs, routers, patch panels, and monitors are needed to be mounted in the enclosure-network.

All servers should be protected by an uninterruptible power supply(UPS) system, available in a variety of rack-mount configurations. Thus power protection is needed. Remember that any accessories that are not rack-mountable will require additional trays, shelves and mounting accessories.

• Budget

Money is always a main considerations. Thus choose the fiber enclosure that can meet your premium features at a very competitive price is the number one task. People are usually in a dilemma about whether to choose a equipment that are suitable for now or the expensive one for future proof. It is hard to say, but a premium enclosure is a durable item that will provide services for years to come.

Summary

High density fiber enclosures can maximize the amount of active equipment in a data center by minimizing the footprint of the networking infrastructure, but there’s a problem—all that fiber in a small amount of space creates problems when changes need to be made. Therefore for easiest access, quick-release side panels should be a top priority when selecting an enclosure.

With several years of experience in fiber optic cabling solutions, FS.COM offers the world-class optical products and services to maximize the performance and scalability of your data center applications. Our fiber enclosures provide the highest fiber densities and port counts in the industry contributing to maximizing rack space utilization and minimizing floor space. For more detailed information, you can directly contact us.