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Tips on Implementing the Perfect Data Center Cabling Infrastructure

Best practices to improve your data center cabling infrastructure.

By Shawn MikePublished 5 years ago 5 min read
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In most of the data centers, messy cables are the major issue. The cables hanging out of the cabinets not only block the flow of air, but also create an overall unprofessional look. In this article, we have provided some basic tips that will help you in implementing the perfect data center cabling infrastructure.

Basic topology of data center cabling

The topology of cabling in a data center is different from that inside a building. In the case of data centers, the length of cables is shorter, and the performance demands are high. In a single cabinet, there may be a requirement of 24, 48, 96, or even more than these connections in copper and optical fiber.

Below, we have listed three basic methods that are used for data center cabling:

  1. Point-to-point
  2. End-of-row consolidation
  3. Top-of-cabinet consolidation (using fiber and/or switches)

Point-to-point

For many years the data centers were wired using the point to point cabling method, which created a huge cabling mess. In this type of topology, the individual cables, or patch cords run under the floor, overhead, which may be with or without cable trays, or through the racks. In point to point topology, the old cables are not usually removed, or labeled. Hence, it becomes very difficult for the network administrators to find any cable. Cable chaos is created by the servers and patch panels. Moreover, when high-density network switches are installed in small cabinets, the mess becomes even more obvious. That is why point to point topology should be avoided if you want to prevent messed-up cabling.

End-of-row consolidation

End-of-row consolidation is also known as area clustering. In this type of consolidation, a rack is selected for patch and consolidation switching. This rack is usually present at the end of each cabinet row, or in the middle, so that it can provide services to a group of cabinets. In every cabinet, patch panels are installed. The permanent cable runs from patch panels to matching panels in the consolidation racks. From the consolidation racks to a core network location, which is also known as the main distribution frame or area. There is another more fiber intensive cable, which is installed between these points. Here, the server cabinets work like the offices, and consolidation racks are the intermediate distribution frames (IDFs) or telecom rooms (TRs).

In this type of consolidation, you can easily add new hardware. You just need to plug in short patch cords from each server to its cabinet patch panel. Then, plug short cords into the server access switch, which is present in the consolidation rack. For each connection, you only need to have two short patch cords. You can easily install these patch cords and also, they are easier to find later on. In the same way, fiber cable is used for patching the access switch to the core network. Hence, simple patching is used for completing the installation. Moreover, it also reduces the number of patch cord lengths that are required to be stocked. As you require few cord lengths, so you can easily remove the old and long cords. Hence, this prevents the use of incompatible patch cords that lower the performance of the system.

Top-of-cabinet consolidation

This approach is newer than the other two described previously, but this can be considered as a newer version of end-of-row. This consolidation is dependent on server configuration. As the cabinet is full because of the server, one option is that you can install smaller access switches in each cabinet, in duplicate in case, if the servers consist of dual network interface cards. In some cases, in order to get out-bound management connections, a third lower-grade switch is also installed. By using the fiber infrastructure, the switches are then patched back to the core network. This is the same as that of the end of a row, but the difference lies in scalability. You can add less expensive switches in each cabinet according to the requirements. Moreover, you can also move them with reconfigurations. As in this case, a small switch is used in case of failure, the effect is less than that of using a large switch for a whole row.

Which method you should pick for perfect data center cabling infrastructure:

As mentioned earlier, point to point is an old approach, which must not be used in order to avoid the cabling mess. Whereas, making a choice between end-of-row, or top-of-cabinet depends on the processing density, application throughput needs, and specifics of hardware connectivity. In the case of a large data center, any of these two consolidations can be helpful. Hence, you cannot choose one type, but the choice greatly depends on fiber.

Top-of-cabinet consolidation is better for those storage networks that are using fiber channel connectivity for longer times.

The Physical design and quantity of cabling

Below we have mentioned four important points which contribute to cabling challenges of data centers:

  1. More than one network connections from each server
  2. The network switches with a large number of port count densities
  3. The difference in storage topologies depending on the manufacturer as well as the protocol
  4. The changing cable standards in order to get better performance

Most of these requirements can be fulfilled by end-of-row consolidation, but it has two major drawbacks; the decision of how much cable should be installed in each cabinet, and the size as well, as the cost of the server access consolidation switches. For example, if you are installing the cat six cables, then it’s difficult to decide in this approach how much cable should be installed, and connected by using cat six connectors.

The top-of-cabinet consolidation is more flexible, as compared to end-of-row. As in this case, you need to put in empty fiber light boxes to fill only according to the requirement. So, this approach is more economical. Hence, in this case, there is no mess created while field installation and termination of individual fibers.

However, it is not easy to decide the data center cabling approach. You must execute a proper plan, before installing the cabling infrastructure. For more information related to cabling, keep visiting our website Shireen Inc.

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About the Creator

Shawn Mike

Shawn Mike has been working with writing challenging clients for over five years. He occasionally writes blog articles for Classic PDF.

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