A structured cabling system is the integrated cabling system for a building or group of buildings. It is a modular, highly flexible information-transmission system and the building's “information highway.”
Trends in data-center structured cabling:
1. Changes in cabling architecture
Traditional data-center rooms use End-of-Row (EOR) or Middle-of-Row (MOR) cabling, while newer data centers mainly use Top-of-Rack (TOR) cabling.
With TOR cabling, network equipment is installed at the top of each server rack, and patch leads inside the rack connect the equipment.
With EOR cabling, network equipment and patch panels are concentrated at one or both ends of each row.
With MOR cabling, network equipment and patch panels are concentrated in the middle of each row.
2. Higher bandwidth
Data-center network bandwidth continues to increase. Copper cabling has advanced from standard Category 6 to Category 6A, 7A and 8. Fiber has developed from single-mode to multimode, from OM2 through OM3, OM4 and OM5. Backbone links use 24- or 12-fiber MPO cable to support 100 Gbps or 40 Gbps. Horizontal links use Cat 6A, Cat 7A or Cat 8 copper cabling to support 10 Gbps or 25/40 Gbps connections to servers. As copper transmission rates increase, electromagnetic interference in the surrounding space—including interference at the same frequency—also becomes more serious. Shielded cabling and proper grounding are therefore needed to keep data transmission stable.
Structured cabling installation methods
Structured cabling acceptance testing