Finding cabling technologies that deliver the best pre-terminated cabling systems for 10G networks

WHILE SOLUTIONS to each of these needs have an impact on cost, nothing has a more direct impact than maintaining network availability. Downtime of the network is the most costly situation of any business, averaging anywhere from a few thousand dollars to more than $500,000 for every hour of downtime. Network downtime not only impacts staff productivity and the ability to conduct business, but it also has a severe long-term effect on overall customer satisfaction.

Not all pre-terminated cabling systems
are created equal
Downtime can be caused by many issues, however, studies show that, overwhelmingly, they relate to the Data centre cabling infrastructure. They include poor network
transmission performance, inadequate cabling management, and maintenance and upgrades that require network reconfigurations.
To minimize downtime, many Data centres perform installation, upgrades, and system maintenance during off-peak hours under strict deadlines and budgets. Extremely critical environments like a healthcare facility, trading floor or call center may even require that these tasks be completed in a single overnight operation.
Cable termination is one of the most time-consuming and labor intensive processes of any installation, upgrade or reconfiguration. While field-terminated connectivity systems are generally less costly to purchase, they carry much higher installation costs. Many Data centres are investing in copper and optical fiber pre-terminated cabling solutions that reduce downtime and the need for on-site field termination and electrical verification testing while providing better performance and sustainability.
Pre-terminated cabling systems are like building blocks for the Data centre. Following planning to determine cable lengths, these systems are delivered, unpacked, prepared for deployment and connected extremely quickly—in the same location where they will be installed and without the need for special tools or field termination. They are the ideal solution for Data centres, storage area networks (SANs), disaster recovery locations, or any networking environment where downtime is not an option and where rapid deployment, reliability and performance are critical.
When it comes to evaluating, selecting, and specifying pre-terminated copper cabling solutions, Data centre managers are faced with a variety of choices from proprietary, cassette-based systems, to cabling assemblies terminated with either modular jacks or modular plugs. It is therefore essential to understand the key technological differences between available solutions for effectively determining which offers the fastest and easiest installation, best overall performance, maximum flexibility and scalability, and long-term sustainability.
Fast, easy installation
Since the main benefit of pre-terminated copper solutions is to reduce the time and cost associated with Data centre installations, maintenance, and upgrades, determining the solution that offers the fastest, easiest, and most reliable installation is a key factor in product selection. The deployment speed of a pre-terminated system can be impacted by the design and intuitiveness of the plug-and-play method; the ease with which cables can be routed in pathways and spaces without disturbing the terminations; patch panel configurability and cable management; and the availability of the product and ease of ordering process.
Many pre-terminated copper solutions are available with factory-terminated 8-pin modular RJ45 jacks. In the field, these jacks need to be individually snapped into a patch panel. Other termination options include plug-and-play cassette-based systems where 6 or 12 jacks are pre-installed in cassettes that also need to be snapped into a patch panel. While these solutions eliminate the need for termination, snapping the jacks or cassettes into the patch panels adds an extra step in the process. Furthermore, more time is required to remove jacks or cassettes from patch panels during reconfiguration or
redeployments. The jacks or jack assemblies are also more prone to be dislodged or disconnected due to manipulation of the cable assembly during installation or removal.
A Belden 10GX Pre-Terminated Cabling System features cable assemblies that are pre-terminated using an RJ-45 plug interface. These cable assemblies simply plug into the back of a patch panel pre-loaded with RJ-45-to-RJ-45 in-line couplers that position an RJ-45 jack on both the front and back of the patch panel.

This eliminates the time needed to position and insert any jacks or cassettes into the patch panel. Because of the FlexPCB enabling technology that is built into Belden’s 10GX in-line coupler, a “plug-coupler-plug” connection provides additional performance margin compared to Category 6A requirements for a single “plug-jack” connection.
Moreover, plugging into a jack interface is a well-known, intuitive connection method for data connectivity used throughout the LAN. Plugs have an overall smaller footprint compared to jacks. When pre-terminated cable assemblies are terminated with RJ-45 plugs, they are inherently easier to pull and route from one patch panel to another. This is especially beneficial in the Data centre environment where
the density of cables is much higher. Cassettes feature a larger footprint than jacks, making them even more difficult to pull and
route, and, requiring more pathway space and more room in the cabinet.
Belden pre-terminated cable assemblies are designed with a smaller 6-cable bundle terminated to individual plugs These cable assemblies can be easily plugged into the back of the patch panel in a straight alignment for either center, left, or right-entry cable dressing, offering more flexible configurability and cable management. This makes it easy for Data centre managers to stock standard lengths, reconfigure connections, and adapt to cable routing constraints in the rack or cabinet.
In contrast, pre-terminated solutions that use more than a 6-cable bundle may need to be staggered to ensure that each cable is able to reach its specific patch panel port. This requires more detailed and careful planning and ordering of pre-terminated systems, increasing the potential for errors and ending up with some cables that are too short or others that have too much slack. While all pre-terminated solutions require up-front planning to determine the required length of cables, smaller bundles of 6 cables terminated with individual plugs do not require staggered lengths. This allows Data centre managers to order one style of cable assembly without concern of where in the patch panel they will be plugged in—left, right, or center.
Further labor savings are gained because pre-terminated solutions eliminate the need for time-consuming transmission performance testing—only continuity testing is recommended to ensure that ports are active. Each cable assembly comes with a comprehensive test report and is labeled with its part number, length, and unique serial number for requesting specific test reports directly from the manufacturer. The cable assembly labels can also be customized to identify the assembly’s specific cabinet, patch panel, and/or port location. This significantly speeds deployment and saves labor, especially for customers who utilize standard configurations throughout the data centre. In fact, as has been seen in large installations that include thousands of ports, installation time has been reduced from weeks to days.
Performance and reliability
Because pre-terminated solutions are factory terminated, they offer more reliable, consistent performance than field terminations that are prone to installation variance and inconsistencies. Pre-terminated cables with RJ-45 plugs offer assured performance and reliability over solutions that use terminated using jacks. In general, RJ-45 plugs are more robust than jacks because they are designed with integrated cable strain relief and boots that protect the conductors within the cable, preventing them from moving at the termination point.
Pre-terminated solutions using standard form factor RJ-45 plugs and jacks on the back side of the patch panels offer maximum flexibility and scalability. In contrast, proprietary, cassette, or jack-based systems cannot be easily reconfigured as needs change. Proprietary terminated solutions will lock Data centre managers into always having to use that vendor’s technology for the life of the system.
Proprietary vendors also often cease supporting older versions of their products, or they may disappear from the marketplace altogether. Jack and cassette-based systems are not readily removed from patch panels, making it difficult to reconfigure Data centre connections.
Long-term sustainability
Pre-terminated solutions are a more environmentally-conscious choice for today’s Data centre. Because there are no field terminations, cable waste and packaging are significantly reduced, providing up to a 50% material reduction in Data centre cabling topology. In fact, the simplicity of a factory-terminated solution means energy savings and less waste throughout the entire supply chain process.
The use of components that can be easily re-deployed and reused makes for a more sustainable Data centre and reduced long-term costs. Systems can be easily reconfigured and upgraded without having to replace the cables and connectivity. Because plug-based cabling assemblies are much more robust than jack- or cassette-based solutions, they can be easily unplugged, rerouted, and plugged back into another location within the Data centre or even used elsewhere in the LAN. In contrast, jack- and cassette based solutions that have to be popped out of a patch panel are more easily damaged during reconfigurations, possibly rendering them useless and requiring replacements.
Pre-terminated cable assemblies comprised of more than 6 cables that are staggered for right and left entry are not as easily reused in other areas of the Data centre. A smaller, more flexible cable
assembly like the Belden 10GX Pre-Terminated Cable Assembly
used in a high-performance pre-terminated system means less cable needs to be deployed and less slack cable, making for a greener more sustainable Data centre.
The Belden advantage
Belden 10GX Pre-Terminated Cable Assemblies deliver guaranteed performance and headroom above other solutions. They bring Belden’s 10GX Cabling System brings plug-and-play connectivity to a whole new level while ensuring performance and reliability, flexibility and scalability, and overall long-term sustainability with no compromise.