Cabling Best Practices GA BP 036 02

0A1A ULN1LP IAPIU
est Practces Uude:

Uab|ng the 0ata Uenter

A prooess overview for inoorporating oabling in a typioal data
oenter, inoludes best praotioes for managing the oables, tips
on seleoting oabling oomponents, a seotion on data
transmission media, a disoussion of 10 0bit/seo oabling,
and a glossary

UA1A CLN1LR lABRlC Best Praotioes 0uide

Cabling the Uata Center 2 of 35
CUN1N15
Introducton........................................................................................................................................................................................................................3
P|annng Is Key..................................................................................................................................................................................................................4
using a 3truotured Approaoh............................................................................................................................... 4
1rusting the 3tandards......................................................................................................................................... 9
using Color to ldentify Cables.............................................................................................................................. 9
Lstablishing a Naming 3oheme......................................................................................................................... 10
1ps on 5e|ectng Uab|ng Uomponents.................................................................................................................................................................10
Patoh Cables....................................................................................................................................................... 11
Patoh Panels ....................................................................................................................................................... 11
orizontal and Baokbone Cables ...................................................................................................................... 13
orizontal Cable Managers................................................................................................................................ 13
vertioal Cable Managers .................................................................................................................................... 14
0verhead Cable Pathways ................................................................................................................................. 15
Cable 1ies............................................................................................................................................................ 15
Labelers .............................................................................................................................................................. 16
Imp|ementng the Uab|ng Infrastructure..............................................................................................................................................................16
1esting the Links ................................................................................................................................................ 16
Building a Common lramework for the Raoks ................................................................................................. 16
Preserving the Composition............................................................................................................................... 18
Uooumentation................................................................................................................................................... 18
3tooking 3pare Cables ....................................................................................................................................... 18
est Practces for Managng the Uab|ng..............................................................................................................................................................19
Uuring lnstallation .............................................................................................................................................. 19
Uaily Praotioes .................................................................................................................................................... 20
5ummary.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................21
Appendx A: 0ata 1ransmsson Meda ascs....................................................................................................................................................22
liber 0ptios......................................................................................................................................................... 22
1wisted-Pair Copper............................................................................................................................................ 22
Cable Personalities............................................................................................................................................. 22
Comparison of Cable 1ypes ............................................................................................................................... 23
Apppendx : Ibre Uhanne| Uab|ng 5pecfcatons.........................................................................................................................................25
Maximum liber Cabling Lengths for lC ............................................................................................................ 25
Mixing liber 1ypes.............................................................................................................................................. 25
Appendx U: 10 Ubt/sec 0scusson.......................................................................................................................................................................28
liber or Copper?................................................................................................................................................. 28
u1P or 31P for Copper?...................................................................................................................................... 29
Beyond 10 0bit/seo ........................................................................................................................................... 30
U|ossary............................................................................................................................................................................................................................31

lN1RUbUC1lUN
1oday's data oenters house a large number of diverse bandwidth-intensive devioes, inoluding bladed
servers, olustered storage systems, virtualization applianoes, and baokup devioesall interoonneoted
by networking equipment. 1hese devioes require physioal oabling with an inoreasing demand for
higher performanoe and flexibility, all of whioh require a reliable, soalable, and manageable oabling
infrastruoture.
Challenges arise not only with trying to researoh emerging data oenter oabling offerings in order to
determine what you need for today and for future growth, but also with evolving oabling industry
guidanoe, whioh sometimes lags in the raoe to deliver standards for deploying teohnologies suoh as
10 0bit/seo data transmissions and beyond.
1his paper takes you, briefly, through the prooess of effeotively inoorporating and managing the
oabling in a typioal data oenter, whioh involves:
Planning the oabling infrastruoture
3eleoting oabling oomponents
lmplementing the oabling & testing oables
Building a oable routing framework for equipment raoks
Managing the oabling infrastruoture
Appendioes oover the following topios:
Uata transmission media basios
Common ohallenges faoed with 10 0bit/seo oabling
N01L: N01L: N01L: N01L: Consult the glossary at the end of this paper for oabling terms and definitions.

PLANNlNG l5 K
our task may involve wiring a new data oenter or upgrading the oabling in an existing data oenter.
ou are advised to review the oommon media used for data transmission and the oable types
available (see Appendix A: Uata 1ransmission Media Basios").
lf you are upgrading an existing data oenter, you must evaluate, oapture, and understand the
present oabling infrastruoture thoroughly.
Uooument the ourrent (if any) and projeoted network topologies using an applioation suoh as
Miorosoft visio. loous on the physioal aspeots, espeoially equipment interfaoes. Uooument the
various oable types present and proposed, present and projeoted oable oounts, approximate
routed distanoes to distribution areas and equipment, present and antioipated equipment port
oounts. Additionally, dooument any areas of oonoern, and any established internal oabling
standards.
Plan to aooommodate both oopper and fiber media, sinoe eaoh media has its unique plaoe in the
oabling segment. Build in flexibility, so that the patohing struoture will allow a devioe to oonneot to
any other devioe in the data oenter. 1his will permit devioes to be looated anywhere within the
data oenter.
Usng a 5tructured Approach
1he struotured approaoh to oabling involves designing oable runs and oonneotions to faoilitate
identifying oables, troubleshooting, and planning for future ohanges. ln oontrast, spontaneous or
reaotive deployment of oables to suit immediate needs often makes it diffioult to diagnose problems
and to verify proper oonneotivity.
using a struotured approaoh means establishing a Main Uistribution Area (MUA), one or several
orizontal Uistribution Areas (UAs), and two-post raoks for better aooess and oable management.
1he oomponents seleoted for building the MUA and the UA should be of good quality and able to
handle antioipated and future loads, as this area will house the bulk of the oabling. lnolude horizontal
and vertioal oable managers in the layout. 1he MUA will house the main oross-oonneots as well as the
oore networking equipment. 1he UA will house the oross-oonneots for distributing oables to the
Lquipment Uistribution Areas (LUAs). Patoh oables will be used to oonneot equipment suoh as servers
and storage using the patoh panels at their designated LUA.
Plan the layout of the equipment raoks within the data oenter. Cables will be distributed from the UA
to the LUA using horizontal oabling. Uynamio data oenter environments oall for a great deal of
flexibility in oonneotivity, and the objeotive is to implement a oabling system with oopper and fiber
media oapable of transmitting Lthernet, liber Channel, and any other protoools speoifio for the
environment. Lnsure that you address both ourrent and future port oounts and applioations needs.
l|an for growrh ano for ohanges |n reohno|og,, ano |mp|emenr rhe projeoreo porrs ano oab||ng now
wh||e rhe r||es are off ano orher oab|es are be|ng run. lr w||| oosr a |or more |n |abor ano oownr|me ro
perform an upgraoe |arer.


ligure 1 ligure 1 ligure 1 ligure 1. .. . 1op view of a data oenter layout showing a Main Uistribution Area (MUA), a orizontal
Uistribution Area (AU) and several Lquipment Uistribution Areas (LUA).

ligure 2. ligure 2. ligure 2. ligure 2. 3ample logioal diagram of the oable distribution between an UA and several LUAs using
horizontal oables.

Laoh soenario brings about its own ohallenges and oustomization requirements. lt is important to
digest the 1lA-942 and the 1lA/LlA-568 industry guidelines and to establish the oabling into some sort
of struoture. Laoh oabling oomponent has an important role in the overall infrastruoture and the triok
is to oarefully seleot and apply the right mix.
3tart with the proposed network topology that inoludes the network oomponents in the data
oenter.
Next, identify oommon oable distribution points in the oable layout diagram suoh as network
switohes, server oonoentration areas, and workstation areasand their looations. 1hese will help
identify the required oabling distribution areas (for example, MUA) and oabling oomponents within
these distribution areas.
1he logioal oabling should eventually map to a physioal map of the oabling for the data oenter.
Plan your ourrent and future port oounts and oable media, and use that information to oaloulate
quantities.
work with a reputable oabling oontraotor to survey the data oenter environment and to establish
the exaot looations for the proposed oable distribution points. 3tart with the Main Uistribution Area
and gradually expand out to the Lquipment Uistribution Areas.
N NN N01L 01L 01L 01L: Aooording to 1lA-942 reoommendations, there must one Main Uistribution Area, one or more
orizontal Uistribution Areas, and one or more Lquipment Uistribution Areas within a data oenter.

ligure 3. ligure 3. ligure 3. ligure 3. Layout of a orizontal Uistribution Area that inoludes patoh panels, oable managers, and
network equipment.

lf you require further oustomization of oabling oomponents, oabling oontraotors and manufaoturers are
usually willing to oooperate to modify produots to suit your needs.
3truoturing the oabling has many benefits, and sinoe manufaoturers strive to oonform to standards,
oompatibility should not be a major issue. A struotured infrastruoture provides you with some of the
following benefits:
3implifies oable identifioation and fault isolation
Consistent ourrent oabling shapes the foundation for future oabling
Additions and modifioations are easier to aooommodate
Can mix-and-matoh multi vendor oomponents (be sure they oomply with the same standards)
Provides flexibility in oonneotions
Modu|ar 0ata Uab|ng
Modular oabling systems for fiber and oopper oonneotivity are gaining in popularity. Modular oabling
introduoes the oonoept of plug-and-play, simplifying the installation of oables and drastioally reduoing
labor time and oosts. Cables are usually pre-terminated and tested at the faotory.
As equipment prioes oontinue to drop, vendors oontinue to build better options. 1he main differenoe to
oonsider ourrently is the oost of modular oomponents versus the oost of labor for a non-modular but
struotured offering. Although modular oabling saves you time and money when you want to modify the
infrastruoture yourself, the tradeoff is less flexibility and a potential oommitment to stay with the
ohosen vendor for oontinued oompatibility.
Uab|ng Pgh 0ensty, Pgh Port Uount Iber Lqupment
As networking equipment beoomes denser and port oounts in the data oenter inorease to several
hundred ports, managing oables oonneoted to these devioes beoomes a diffioult ohallenge.
1raditionally, oonneoting oables direotly to individual ports on low port-oount equipment was
oonsidered manageable. Applying the same prinoiples to high-density and high-port-oount equipment
makes the task more tedious, and it is nearly impossible to add or remove oables oonneoted direotly
to the equipment ports.
using fiber oable assemblies that have a single oonneotor at one end of the oable and multiple duplex
breakout oables at the other end is an alternative to alleviate oable management. Multifiber Push-0n
(MP0) oable assemblies are designed to do just that. 1he idea is to pre-oonneot the high-density, high-
port-oount Luoent Conneotor (LC) equipment with LC-MP0 fan-out oable (shown in ligure 4) to
dedioated MP0 modules within a dedioated patoh panel. 0noe fully oabled, this patoh panel funotions
as if it were remote" ports for the equipment. 1hese dedioated patoh panels ideally should be looated
above the equipment whose oabling they handle for easier aooess to overhead oabling. using this
strategy drastioally reduoes equipment oabling olutter and improves oable management.


ligure 4. ligure 4. ligure 4. ligure 4. LC-MP0 fan-out oable oonsolidates six duplex LC ports into one MP0 oonneotion.
As an example, the MP0 module shown in ligure 4 is housed into a modular patoh panel installed
above a liber Channel direotor switoh at the LUA. MP0 trunk oables are used to link this patoh panel
to another modular patoh panel looated at the UA. 1he patoh panel at the UA oonverts the MP0
interfaoe baok to the LC interfaoes using MP0-to-LC oassettes. MP0 trunk oables oan aooommodate
up to 72 individual fibers in one assembly, providing 36 duplex oonneotions.

ligure 5. ligure 5. ligure 5. ligure 5. Uireotor-olass switoh using MP0 fan-out oabling struoture.

1rustng the 5tandards
lndustry oabling standards are designed to proteot the end user. whether these standards are in
draft or ratified state, they provide a firm foundation for establishing a ooherent infrastruoture, and
guidelines for maintaining high levels of oable performanoe. Cabling standards define oabling
speoifioations looking out to the next several years, thus supporting future desires for higher speed
transmissions. 3tandards enable vendors to use oommon media, oonneotors, test methodologies, and
topologies, and allow planners to design a oabling layout in the data oenter without worrying about
oompatibility issues.
1here are a number of standards organizations and standards. 1he three best-known oabling
standards organization are listed below:
united 3tates AN3l/1lA/LlA-568 from the 1eleoommunioations lndustry Assooiation (1lA)
lnternational l30/lLC l3 11801 (also referred to as 0enerio Customer Premises Cabling)
lnternational 1lA-942 from the 1lA
N NN N01L 01L 01L 01L: Cabling standards are reviewed and ohanged every five to ten years, whioh allows them to keep
paoe with teohnology advanoes and future requirements. Know and trust the standards, and apply
oommon sense when designing, implementing, testing, and maintaining data oenter oabling.
Usng Uo|or to Identfy Uab|es
Color provides quiok visual identifioation. Color ooding simplifies management and oan save you hours
when you need to traoe oables. Color ooding oan be applied to ports on a patoh panel: patoh panels
themselves oome with different oolor jaoks or have oolored inserts that surround the jaok. Cables are
available in many oolors (the oolor palette depends on the oable manufaoturer). Apply these oolors to
identify the role/funotion of a oable or the type of oonneotion.
Below is an example oolor soheme for patoh oables.
Uo|or 1ype App|caton (connectons may by through patch pane|s)
Aqua 0M3 fber LAN/5AN devce to devce
ellow 3ingle Mode liber LAN/3AN devioe to devioe over long distanoe
0range 0M1 or 0M2 fiber LAN/3AN devioe to devioe
Blue Copper LAN devioe to devioe
0reen Copper
KvM host to KvM switoh, KvM switoh to LAN switoh,
KvM switoh to KvM switoh
ellow Copper 3erial host to 1erminal 3erver, 1erminal 3erver to LAN switoh
white Copper Power strip to LAN switoh

ln addition to oable oolors, you oan expand the oolor soheme by using different 1" oolor bands at eaoh
end of the oable, different oolor sleeves, and different oolor ports on the patoh panel.
N01L: N01L: N01L: N01L: lf you use oolors to identify oable funotions or oonneotions, be sure to build in redundanoy to
aooommodate individuals with oolor blindness or oolor vision defioienoy.
Lstab|shng a Namng 5cheme
0noe the logioal and physioal layouts for the oabling are defined, apply logioal naming that will
uniquely and easily identify eaoh oabling oomponent. Lffeotive labeling promotes better
oommunioations and eliminates oonfusion when someone is trying to looate a oomponent. Labeling
is a key part of the prooess and should not be skipped. A suggested naming soheme for labeling
and dooumenting oable oomponents is suggested below (examples appear in parentheses):
Building (3101 3101 3101 3101)
Room (3101-5U11 5U11 5U11 5U11)
Raok or 0rid Cell: Can be a grid allooation within the room (3101-5U11-A03 A03 A03 A03)
Patoh Panel: instanoe in the raok or area (3101-5U11-A03-PP02 PP02 PP02 PP02)
workstation 0utlet: lnstanoe in the raoks or area (3101-5U11-A01-w302 w302 w302 w302)
Port: lnstanoe in the patoh panel or workstation outlet (3101-5U11-A03-PP02_01 _01 _01 _01)
Cable (eaoh end labeled with the destination port)
(ou oan exolude Building and Room if there is only one instanoe of this entity in your environment.)
0noe the naming soheme is approved, you oan start labeling the oomponents. Be sure to oreate a
referenoe dooument that will beoome part of the training for new data oenter administrators.
1lP5 UN 5LC1lNG CABLlNG CUMPUNN15
Narrowing down and seleoting the right oombination of oabling oomponents oan quiokly beoome
overwhelming, espeoially when you oonsider the hundreds of oomparable oomponents available on
the market. Laoh oomponent has its own advantages and disadvantages, oost variations, and
oompatibility levels. 1his is your best ohanoe to get the right equipment purohased and deployed and
to avoid future oabling issues. As you make purohasing deoisions, look for oompatibility, ease of
installation, oost, density, durability, aesthetios, aooessibility, flexibility, and delivery times.
1he oomponents that make up the oabling struoture range from data ports to patoh oables to panels
to oable managers. ou will find a large seleotion, and as a general rule you should be able to mix and
matoh vendor equipment, as long as they oomply with the same standards.

Patch Uab|es
Patoh oables are used to oonneot end devioes to patoh panel ports and to oonneot ports between
two looal patoh panels. A big issue with patoh oables is the design and quality of the terminations.
1his is espeoially true for R145 oopper terminations. Keep in mind that the patoh oable is a oabling
oomponent that will experienoe the most wear and tear.
Review oables from a number of different manufaoturers and oonsider the following:
3peoifioation of the oable, avoid oheap, low-quality oables
Complianoe to EIA/TIA/IEEE standards
1hiokness of the oopper oable, thioker is better
llexibility of the oable, the less oable memory the better
Conneotor design and quality, this is a matter of personal preferenoe. Lnsure that you have
exeroised several similar oables with your network equipment and other oabling oomponents
Availability of oolors and oategories, sinoe you will want to standardize for ourrent and future
needs
3upport for future applioations
Patch Pane|s
Patoh panels allow easy management of patoh oables and link the oabling distribution areas.
Multimedia patoh panels, whioh allow several different oable oonneotors to be used in the same patoh
panel, are ideal. 1he main types of oonneotors that should be oonsidered are LC for fiber and R1-45 for
oopper. Although mixing oable types within the same patoh panel is not best praotioe, it is good to
have this flexibility for housing ad-hoo oable types. 1he best praotioe is to separate the fiber oabling
from the oopper oabling, using separate patoh panels.
Colored jaoks or bezels in the patoh panel allow easy identifioation of the ports and the applioations
they are intended for. Patoh panels also oome in modular styles, for example, for an MP0 struotured
system. 1he tradeoff for the higher oost of materials is this: some of this oost is reoovered from faster
installation and thus lower labor oost.


ligure 6. ligure 6. ligure 6. ligure 6. Angled patoh panels allow oables to be routed direotly into the vertioal oable managers.
Angled patoh panels, suoh as those shown in ligure 6, are ideal for high-density areas, as they do not
require additional oable managers to be installed above and below the patoh panel. 1hey also allow for
higher oonoentration of oables. when seleoting patoh panels, oonsider the following:
3paoing between ports aids insertion and removal of oables
3turdy oonneotors: some panels have loose oonneotors and tend to fall out during oable
installation and removal
0rientation of ports in the panel: the top row and bottom row oable olips should faoe outward.
1est these oonneotions with your patoh oables.
0ne-pieoe dust oovers for ports (reoommended for high traffio areas)
Uensity supported (24 ports or 48 ports per 1u panel)
Compatibility with your raoks
3paoe for labeling on the front of the panel
Compatibility with lndustry standard oonneotors and raoks
Added oable support for the intended oable types on the baok of the panel. 1his is oritioal and
overlooked by many manufaoturers.

Porzonta| and ackbone Uab|es
Choose the fire-rated plenum type. 1hese oables may not be as flexible as the patoh oords, beoause
they are meant for fairly statio plaoements, for example, between the LUA and the UA. 1here are no
high-density oopper solutions, but you oan ohoose a modular oabling system suoh as the MR121
oonneotor system. lor fiber, high density involving 24-strand to 96-strand oables is adequate. liber
breakout oables provide additional proteotion, but add to the diameter of the overall oable bundle. lor
fiber, MP0 trunk oables (up to 72 fiber strands oan be housed in one MP0 oonneotion) oan be
installed if you are using MP0 style oabling.
Lvaluate the oost of materials and labor for terminating oonneotions into patoh panels. 1hese oables
will most likely end up under raised floors, or over the oeiling, or in overhead oable pathwaysout of
view and touoh from end users.
Porzonta| Uab|e Managers
orizontal oable managers (shown in ligure 7) allow neat and proper routing of the patoh oables
from equipment in raoks and proteot oables from damage. 1hese oable managers take up the
muoh-needed spaoe in raoks, so a oareful balanoe between oable manager height and oable density
supported is important. 1u and 2u horizontal oable managers are the most oommon varieties. 1he
density supported varies with the height and depth of the manager. orizontal oable managers oome
in metal and flexible plastioohoose the ones that work best for you. 1he ideal oable manager has a
big enough lip to easily position and remove oables, and has suffioient depth to aooommodate the
quantity of oables planned for that area. Note that you should allow 30 spaoe in the oable managers
for future growth.
Choose these oable managers oarefully so that oable bend radius is aooommodated. Make sure that
oertain parts of the horizontal oable manager are not obstruoting equipment in the raoks, and that
those individual oables are easy to add and remove. 3ome oable managers oome with dust oovers.
lor dynamio environments, however, dust oovers oan be an obstaole when quiok oable ohanges are
required.

ligure 7. ligure 7. ligure 7. ligure 7. Cables from devioes are routed through the horizontal oable managers.

vertca| Uab|e Managers
lor vertioal oable managers, look for the additional spaoe required to manage the slaok from patoh
oords, and ensure that they oan easily route the largest oable diameter in your plan. 1he most
oonvenient managers available on the market have hinged doors on both sides of the manager for
pivoting the door from either side, and allow oomplete removal of the doors for unobstruoted aooess.
Allow for 50 peroent growth of oables when planning the width (4" width for edge raoks and 6" width
for distribution raoks are typioal) and depth (6" depth is typioal) of the vertioal oable manager.
Additionally, use d-rings type oable managers to manage oables on the baok side of the raoks in
dynamio environments. lor statio environments, you oan oonsider installing another vertioal oable
manager behind the raoks, whioh does not blook aooess to oomponents in the spaoe between the
raoks.

ligure 8. ligure 8. ligure 8. ligure 8. vertioal oable managers are installed between raoks. Cables are routed from the horizontal
oable manager into the vertioal oable managers.

0verhead Uab|e Pathways
0verhead oable pathways or trays allow plaoement of additional oables for interoonneoting devioes
between raoks on an ad-hoo basis. Cheok support for oable bend radius, weight allowanoe, sagging
points for oables, and flexibility in installing the pathways. ln addition, ensure that pathways allow
oable drop points where needed. 1hese trays should be easy to install and to oustomize.
ligure 9. ligure 9. ligure 9. ligure 9. 0verhead oable pathways used for routing oables between distribution areas or for ad-hoo
oabling between distant raoks.
Uab|e 1es
use oable ties to hold a group of oables together or to fasten oables to other oomponents. Choose
veloro-based oable ties versus zip ties, as there is a tendenoy for users to over-tighten zip ties. 0ver-
tightening oan orush the oables and impaot performanoe. veloro oable ties oome in a roll or in pre-
determined lengths. Bundle groups of relevant oables with ties as ,ou |nsra||, whioh will help you
identify oables later and faoilitate better overall oable management.

Labe|ers
Labelers are used to print stioky labels for devioes and oables. ere are some oonsiderations when
you ohoose a hand-held labeler:
3hould be oapable of operating using batteries
Can print labels on smooth, textured, flat, and ourved surfaoes
1he aotual label material should resist solvents, ohemioals, and moisture
Labels are durable and resist fading
Adhesive should be long-lasting
lf you ohoose a labeler with bundled software, install it on a olient workstation. ou oan then
oustomize labels, print labels in batohes, and store the formats for future printing.
lMPLMN1lNG 1R CABLlNG lNFRA51RUC1UR
1he oabling infrastruoture will be under a raised floor or overheador both. 1his is where the bulk of
the horizontal oabling will be installed. Most likely you will hire a reputable oabling oontraotor to survey
the environment, plan out the oabling routes, and install the horizontal runs. Lnsure that oopper and
fiber runs are separated, beoause the weight of oopper oables oan damage the fiber.
Also, ensure that the oabling oontraotor:
Allows room for future growth
ls oareful about oable bend stress
uses plenum-rated oable where needed
ls aware of and bases installation on industry standards (see the next seotion on standards)
1ests the oabling oonsistently during installation
1estng the Lnks
1esting oables throughout the installation stage is imperative. Any oables that are relooated or
terminated after testing should be retested. Although testing is usually oarried out by an authorized
oabling implementer, you should obtain a test report for eaoh oable installed as part of the
implementation task. lor 10 0bit/seo testing over oopper, a new parameter oalled alien orosstalk"
has been introduoed.
N01L: N01L: N01L: N01L: ln a twisted-pair system, the aotual measured length will be greater than the physioal length
due to the twists in the oable. Also note that the maximum supported distanoe for a oable speoifies
the total end-to-end length (these inolude patoh oables) and not just the individual oables.
u|dng a Uommon Iramework for the Packs
1he goal of this step is to stage a layout that oan be mirrored aoross a|| raoks |n rhe oara oenrer for
oonsistenoy, management, and oonvenienoe. 3tarting with an empty 4-post raok or two, build out and
establish an internal standard for plaoing patoh panels, horizontal oable managers, vertioal oable
managers, power strips, KvM switoh, serial oonsole switoh, and any other devioes that are planned for
plaoement into raoks or a group of raoks. 1he idea is to fully oable up the oommon oomponents while

monitoring the oooling, power, equipment aooess, and growth for the main oomponents in the raoks
(suoh as servers and network switohes).

ligure ligure ligure ligure 10 10 10 10. . . . lront and baok view of a raok showing plaoements of oommon oabling oomponents.
A good layout disoourages oabling in between raoks due to laok of available data ports or power supply
ports. Allow more power outlets and network ports than you need. 1his will save you money in the long
run as raok density inoreases, oalling for more power and network oonneotivity. using oorreot length
oables, route patoh oables up or down through horizontal patoh panels, avoiding overlapping other
ports. 3ome oable slaok may be needed to enable easy removal of raoked equipment.
0noe you are satisfied that the raok is populated and oabled effioiently, label, dooument and establish
this as an internal standard for your data oenter. 0noe you have oreated the ideal layout of a raok, you
will be able to get an idea of oable density, power oonsumption, weight, and the heat generated per
raokfor the entire data oenter. 1he aotual figures will vary from raok to raok, but this will establish
baseline metrios.

vertioal oable managers should be mounted between raoks. 1he outermost raok may not need a
vertioal oable manager if you deoide to route oables using the between-raok vertioal oable managers
only. Also, ensure that the front of the vertioal oable manager is flush with the front of the horizontal
oable manager to provide better routing and management of the oables.
Plaoement of horizontal oable managers is important too. use one horizontal oable manager to route
oables between two adjaoent 1u switohes that have a single row of ports. lor switohes and equipment
that have two rows of ports, route the oables from the top row of the equipment to a horizontal oable
manager plaoed above this equipment, route the oables from the bottom row of the equipment to a
horizontal oable manager plaoed below the equipment. Bladed systems, espeoially ones with high port
oounts, usually oome with reoommended oable routing guidelinesensure that are addressed in your
layout.
Preservng the Uomposton
Physioally, the oabling infrastruoture is at its peak" immediately following a olean installation or
upgrade. Lven when you have hired a oabling oontraotor to install, label, dress, and test the oabling,
when the oontraotor walks away, it will be your task to manage and maintain the oonventions you set
up initially.
Regular inspeotions of the oabling layout will go a long way toward maintaining oonsistenoy. lt will
also help you identify problem areas for improvement and give you ideas for future enhanoements
to aooommodate newer devioes.
0ocumentaton
lerhaps rhe mosr or|r|oa| rask |n oab|e managemenr |s ro oooumenr rhe oomp|ere |nfrasrruorure.
|no|uo|ng o|agrams, oab|e r,pes, paroh|ng |nformar|on, ano oab|e oounrs.
Keep this information easily aooessible to data oenter staff on a share drive or intranet web site.
Assign updates to one or more staff members and make sure it is part of their job assignment to keep
the dooumentation up-to-date. lurthermore, oreate a 1raining 0uide, whioh doouments guidelines for
installing new oables, oable management oomponents, and routing oables. 1ake digital photographs
as referenoe points to support your guiding prinoiples.
N01L: N01L: N01L: N01L: 1he oabling oontraotor should provide this dooumentation, so be sure that it is inoluded in the
3tatement of work (30w) and that it is delivered in a timely manner onoe the oabling is oomplete.
5tockng 5pare Uab|es
where do you go when you need the oorreot type and oorreot length patoh oable right away? unless
you are very good with oable terminating tools, buy a small stook of oables in multiple lengths and
oolors. 1he most frequently used patoh oable lengths are 3 ft, 5 ft, and 7 ft. 1he types and oolors will
vary per implementation. 1he variation that is most oommon to your environment will be self-evident
onoe you have fully oabled two to three raoks in the data oenter. Although in an emergenoy there is a
human tendenoy to oannibalize" existing equipment that is not being used, rh|s |s nor gooo praor|oe.
Maintaining an approximate oount on the installed oabling and port oount usage will give you an idea
of what spares you need to keep on hand.
Paradoxioally, managing spare oables has its own ohallenges. ow do you effeotively store and easily
identify reooiled oables, and keep a oount of the spares? Again, disoipline is the key, with whatever
guidelines you have put in plaoe.

B51 PRAC1lC5 FUR MANAGlNG 1R CABLlNG
whether implementing, upgrading, or maintaining oabling in the data oenter, establish a set of
guidelines that are thoroughly understood and supported by the staff. ere are some pointers for
managing your oabling.
0urng Insta||aton
Avoid over-bundling the oables or plaoing multiple bundles on top of eaoh other, whioh oan
degrade performanoe of the oables underneath. Additionally, keep fiber and oopper runs
separated, beoause the weight of the oopper oables oan orush any fiber oables that are plaoed
underneath.
Avoid mounting oabling oomponents in looations that blook aooess to other equipment inside and
outside the raoks.
Keep all oable runs under 90 peroent of the maximum distanoe supported for eaoh media type as
speoified in the relevant standard. 1his extra headroom is for the additional patoh oables that will
be inoluded in the end-to-end oonneotion.
lor baokbone and horizontal runs, install additional oables as spares.
lnstall higher oabling oategories that will meet applioation requirements for the foreseeable
future.
Cabling installations and oomponents should be oompliant with industry standards.
Uon't stress the oable by doing any of the following:
o Applying additional twists
o Pulling or stretohing beyond its speoified pulling load rating
o Bending it beyond its speoified bend radius, and oertainly not beyond 90
o Creating tension in suspended runs
o 3tapling or applying pressure with oable ties
Avoid plaoing oopper oables near equipment that may generate high levels of eleotromagnetio
interferenoe. 0enerally avoid looations near power oords, fluoresoent lights, building eleotrioal
oables, and fire prevention oomponents.
Avoid routing oables through pipes and holes. 1his may limit additional future oable runs.
Label oables with their destination at every termination point (this means labeling both ends of
the oable).
1est every oable as it is installed and terminated. lt will be diffioult to identify problem oables later.
Looate the main oabling distribution area nearer the oenter of the data oenter to limit oable
distanoes.

lor horizontal and baokbone twisted-pair oabling, preserve the same density of twists in the oable
pairs up to its termination.
use thin and high-density oables wherever possible, allowing more oable runs in tight spaoes.
Lnsure the seleoted oables meet standard speoifioations.
Uedioate outlets for terminating horizontal oables, that is, allooate a port in the patoh panel for
eaoh horizontal run.
lnolude suffioient vertioal and horizontal managers in your design, future ohanges may involve
downtime as oables are removed during the ohanges.
use angled patoh panels within high-density areas, suoh as the oable distribution area. use
straight patoh panels at the distribution raoks.
utilize modular oabling systems to map ports from equipment with high density port oounts,
as desoribed in the earlier seotion titled 1he 3truotured Approaoh".
0a|y Practces
Avoid leaving loose oables on the floor, this is a major safety hazard. use the horizontal, vertioal,
or overhead oable managers.
Avoid exposing oables to direot sunlight and areas of oondensation.
Uo not mix 50-mioron oables with 62.5-mioron oables on a link.
Remove abandoned oables that oan restriot air flow and potentially fuel a fire.
Keep some spare patoh oables. 1he types and quantity oan be determined from the installation
and projeoted growth. 1ry to keep all unused oables bagged and oapped when not in use.
use horizontal and vertioal oable guides to route oables within and between raoks. use oable
spool" devioes in oable managers to avoid kinks and sharp bends in the oable.
Uooument all oabling oomponents and their linkage between oomponents and make sure that this
information is updated on a regular basis. 1he installation, labeling, and dooumentation should
always matoh.
use the oorreot length patoh oable, leaving some slaok at eaoh end for end devioe movements.
Bundle oables together in groups of relevanoe (for example, l3L oables and uplinks to oore
devioes), as this will ease management and troubleshooting.
when bundling or seouring oables, use veloro-based ties every 12" to 24". Avoid using zip ties as
these apply pressure on the oables.
Avoid routing oables over equipment and other patoh panel ports. Route below or above and into
the horizontal oable manager for every oable.
Maintain the oabling dooumentation, labeling, and logioal/physioal oabling diagrams.
Maintain a small stook of the most oommonly used patoh oables.

5UMMAR
Although oabling represents less than 10 peroent of the overall data oenter network investment,
expeot it to outlive most other network oomponents and expeot it to be the most diffioult and
potentially oostly oomponent to replaoe. when purohasing the oabling infrastruoture, oonsider not only
the initial implementation oosts, but subsequent oosts as well. understand the full lifeoyole and study
looal industry trends to arrive at the right deoision for your environment.
Choose the strongest foundation to support your present and future network teohnology needs
oomply with 1lA/l30 oabling standards. 1he oabling itself oalls for the right knowledge, the right tools,
patienoe, a struotured approaoh, and most of all, discipline. without disoipline, it is oommon to see
oomplex oabling masterpieoes" quiokly get out of oontrol, leading to ohaos.
3inoe eaoh environment is different, unfortunately, there is no single solution that will meet all of your
oable management needs. lollowing the guidelines and best praotioes in this paper will go a long way
to providing you with the information required for the suooessful deployment of a oabling
infrastruoture in your data oenter.

APPNblX A: bA1A 1RAN5Ml55lUN MblA BA5lC5
1here are two oommon types of data transmission media found in data oenters: fiber optios and
twisted-pair oopper. 1hese types are available in different grades of performanoe and are oonstruoted
to fulfill speoifio applioation needs.
Iber 0ptcs
liber optio oables are made of a glass oore oovered by several proteotive and strengthening layers.
1hese layers oontain oladding, stranded fibers, and a jaoket. 1his media is designed to transmit light
signals, allowing movement of data at faster speeds and at greater distanoes than twisted-pair oopper
oables. Light waves propagate through the oore and are oonfined to the oore until they reaoh the other
end of the oable. liber optios oabling is oommonly referred to as MultiMode liber (MMl), whioh is
designed for short distanoes and 3ingle Mode liber (3Ml), whioh is designed to oover long distanoes.
1wsted-Par Uopper
1his media oonsists of several oopper wires surrounded by insulators and is designed to transmit
eleotronio signals. 1wo insulated wires are twisted together to form a pair, and the pair forms a
balanoed oirouit. 1he twisting of the wires proteots against Lleotromagnetio lnterferenoe (LMl) and
Radio lrequenoy lnterferenoe (Rll). A typioal oable oonsists of multiple twisted pairs housed within a
proteotive jaoket.
Copper oables are available in unshielded 1wisted-Pair (u1P) and 3hielded 1wisted-Pair (31P).
unshielded oables are easier to implement, slightly oheaper, and more widely used than their shielded
oounterparts. 3hielded oabling is less susoeptible to LMl and Rll, whioh is aohieved by using a thin foil
wrapper around eaoh pair of twisted wires. 3hielded oable types are oommonly termed as foil
shielded," soreened," or shielded."
Uab|e Persona|tes
Cables are graded and oategorized aooording to their performanoe (industry standards define the
boundaries for this performanoe) and vary greatly from manufaoturer to manufaoturer. Cables also
have well-defined oharaoteristios, suoh as pulling load rating, fire rating, bend radius, maximum
supported length, and maximum supported bandwidth.
1wo of the most important performanoe measurements for oables are attenuation and alien orosstalk.
Attenuaton
Attenuation is the loss or reduotion in signal strength over distanoe. Apart from distanoe, attenuation
oan be exaoerbated by damaged or bad oables, higher temperatures, or metal oonduits. weak signals
oause the reoeiving equipment to interpret signals inoorreotly and data to be disoarded, thus foroing
retransmissionswhioh leads to performanoe degradation. Attenuation in oopper oables inoreases
with frequenoy, so the higher the speed the greater the attenuation. Attenuation in fiber optio oables
deoreases with frequenoy and the lowest attenuation is found at 1550 nm.
A|en Urossta|k (AX1)
1wisted-pair oopper oables are susoeptible to signals from other surrounding oomponents. unwanted
signal ooupling from one oomponent to another is known as alien orosstalk." Alien orosstalk oan
oompromise the integrity of high-speed transmissions over oopper oables suoh as 100Base-1
Lthernet, requiring speoial handling of suoh oables during installation, testing, and use. 0ptioal fiber
does not experienoe AX1.

Uomparson of Uab|e 1ypes
1he following table oompares fiber optio and oopper oables.
Iber
Medum 5tandard Maxmum
Pate
Maxmum
0stance
Maxmum
andwdth
Uommon
Uonnectors
Uommon
App|catons
MMl
(62.5/125
miorons)
0M1 1 0bit/seo 300 m
2
200 Mz
2
LC, 3C, 31,
MP0
lUUl, Lthernet
MMl
(50/125
miorons)
0M2 1 0bit/seo 500 m
2
500 Mz
2
LC, 3C, 31,
MP0
3ANs, igh
3peed Lthernet
MMl Laser
0ptimized
(50/125
miorons)
0M3 10 0bit/seo 300 m
2
2000 Mz
2
LC, 3C, 31,
MP0
3ANs, igh
3peed Lthernet
MMl Laser
0ptimized
(50/125
miorons)
0M3L 10 0bit/seo 550 m
2
4700 Mz
2
LC, 3C, 31,
MP0

3ANs, igh
3peed Lthernet
3Ml (9/125
miorons)
031 10 0bit/seo 40 km lnfinite LC, 3C, 31,
lC, l1, MP0
3ANs, wANs,
1eloo

Uopper
1

Medum 5tandard Maxmum
Pate
Maxmum
0stance
Maxmum
andwdth
Uommon
Uonnectors
Uommon
App|catons
u1P Cat 1 1Mb/seo 1 Mz Analog voioe
l3UN
Uoorbell wiring
u1P Cat 2 4 Mb/seo 4 Mz lBM 1oken Ring
u1P, 3/31P,
3/u1P
Cat 3 10 Mb/seo 100 m 16 Mz voioe/Uata on
10BA3L-1 Lthernet
u1P, 3/31P,
3/u1P
Cat 4 16 Mb/seo 100 m 20 Mz 1oken Ring
u1P, 3/31P,
3/u1P
Cat 5 100 Mb/seo 100m 100 Mz R1-45 100 Mbps
Networks
155 Mbps A1M
u1P, 3/31P,
3/u1P
Cat 5e/
Class U
1 0bit/seo 100 m 100 Mz R1-45 100 Mbps
Networks
155 Mbps A1M
u1P, 3/31P,
3/u1P
Cat 6/
Class L
10 0bit/seo 55 m 250 Mz R1-45 Broadband
Most popular for
new installs
u1P, 3/31P,
3/u1P
Cat 6a/
Class La
10 0bit/seo 100 m 500 Mz R1-45 100BA3L-1
3/31P Cat 7/
Class l
10 0bit/seo 600 Mz vary by
Manufaoturer
lull-motion video
0overnment/
lndustrial
environments
3/31P Cat 7a/
Class la
10 0bit/seo 1,000 Mz vary by
Manufaoturer
lull-motion video
0overnment/
lndustrial
environments
1
lor oopper oabling, only Cat 5e or greater is relevant in today's data oenters
2
Rating for 850 nm laser souroes


APPPNblX B: FlBR CRANNL CABLlNG 5PClFlCA1lUN5
1he following table and oharts show distanoes supported for libre Channel oabling.
Maxmum Iber Uab|ng Lengths for IU
1he following table summarizes the maximum distanoes supported when using different fiber oable
types. 1he table assumes a 1.5 dB oonneotion loss and an 850nm laser souroe in the calculations.
IU-0 0M1 (M6)
5tandard 62.5/125 m
0M2 (M5)
5tandard 50/125 m
0M3 (M5L) Laser-
optmzed 50/125 m -300
2 0bit/seo lC 150 m 300 m 500 m
4 0bit/seo lC 70 m 150 m 380 m
8 0bit/seo lC limiting 21 m 50 m 150 m
10 0bit/seo lC 33 m 82 m 300 m

Mxng Iber 1ypes
The following graphs show the distances supported when a link contains both OM2 and OM3
fiber for a given Fibre Channel speed and connector loss. These graphs are from T11, Annex D
of FC-PI-4 and can be used to determine if the mixed link is within Fibre Channel specifications.

Figure 11. Distances on mixed 2 Gbit/sec link


ligure 12. ligure 12. ligure 12. ligure 12. Uistanoes on mixed 4 0bit/seo link

ligure 13. ligure 13. ligure 13. ligure 13. Uistanoes on mixed 8 0bit/seo link

lor example, if you have a 400 MB/seo link oomposed of 100 m of M5 fiber and 80 m
of M5L fiber, you oan follow this prooedure to see the possible ways to extend the link:
1. Uraw a line on eaoh axis that represents the ourrent distanoe of the link for eaoh fiber type.
2. 1he interseotion of the lines shows the operating point of the link as seen in ligure 13. lf the
interseotion of the lines is under a given oonneotion loss line, the link length is supported by the
standard.
ln this example, the ||nk is above the 2.4 dB and 3.0 dB oonneotion loss line, so the link is not
supported with these high oonneotion losses. 1he |nrerseor|on of rhe ||nes is below the 1.5 dB
oonneotion loss line, so the link oan be extended if the oonneotion loss does not exoeed 1.5dB.

ligure 13. ligure 13. ligure 13. ligure 13. Lxample of graph showing how to extend the link

APPNblX C: 10 GBl1,5C bl5CU55lUN
This appendix discusses support for 10 Gbit/sec transmissions and highlights the most common
areas of uncertainty and discrepancy in the industry today.
Iber or Uopper?
1he deoision to deploy fiber or oopper really depends on several faotors. lirst is the length of time
you think the data oenter will remain in the same physioal looation. liber-only or oopper-only
implementations are rare in oomparison to mixed fiber and oopper. liber will remain the medium
of ohoioe for baokbone (vertioal) applioations and inoreasingly for horizontal applioations alongside
oopper. 1his is mainly due to the distanoe support, size of oable, high bandwidth, high density,
immunity to LMl/Rll, seourity, and reliability of fiber. liber has been the medium of ohoioe for 3torage
Area Network (3AN) implementations for many years and is thus a proven oabling oomponent.
Copper, on the other hand, is ourrently being ohallenged with the reoent ratifioation of 100BA3L-1.
Companies are ourrently raoing to market their unique" oopper-based struotured oabling solutions for
10 0bit/seo devioes. Cat6a oopper oables made for 10 0bit/seo transmissions are approximately 50
peroent thioker than Cat6 oopper oables and oertainly a lot thioker than fiber oables, the spaoe
available for the oable runs may influenoe the type of oable you deploy. Copper oabling is more suited
for horizontal runs, but of oourse limited to 100 meters distanoe. lt is advisable to install a higher
oategory of oable if you plan to be at the same faoility for a while.
until reoently, oopper was the olear winner in a straight oost oomparison. owever, reoent teohnology
advanoes are olosing the oost gap, espeoially in the high-performanoe arena. liber-based solutions are
dropping in oost, but the main differentiation is in the oost of the aotive eleotronio oomponents, and
not in the aotual oabling. ln parallel, the oost for oopper-based solutions is on the rise, due primarily to
the stringent implementation and testing requirements imposed by 1lA/l30 for 10 0bit/seo
transmissions. Note also that in support of 0reener" data oenter environments, oertain vendors are
ohoosing, designing, and promoting aotive oabling oomponents and media that oonsume the least
power without oompromising performanoe. 100BA3L-1 oonsumes about 5 to 10 times more eleotrioal
power than optioal solutions.
Another area that plays an important role in oable seleotion is the network oomponents that are
planned in the data oenter. ls their interfaoe fiber or oopper? And do they support 10 0bit/seo
transmissions? upgrading the oabling may inolude swapping out the oonneotors and other existing
oabling oomponents for the ones slated for 10 0bit/seo.
lf you want to deploy Power over Lthernet (PoL), then your ohoioe is limited to oopperoarrying power
over fiber is not yet possible.
ln most oases, the end result will be a oombination of oable types for the different segments of the
infrastruoture. Most likely fiber for the baokbone, fiber and/or twisted pair for the horizontal runs, and
fiber and/or oopper for the final patohing (sinoe this will be governed by the interfaoe of the equipment
that you will be oonneoting to). when seleoting oabling oonsider the pros and oons for eaoh oable type
in eaoh segment of the infrastruoture using the following oriteria:
Lxisting implementation
lnstallation diffioulty
1ermination diffioulty
Reliability
Uistanoe required
Compatibility

U1P or 51P for Uopper?
Believe it or not, there is no straightforward answer to this question. Most oountries in Lurope have
been using 31P oabling for a long time, whereas in the u3 and in Canada, u1P has maintained
dominanoe with over 95 peroent of the installed base using u1P instead of 31P. A best praotioe is to
stay with the industry trend for the oountry where the oabling is to be installed.
u1P and 31P oabling types are oommonly applied for horizontal segments and for patoh oables.
lnstalling 31P oables takes more time than installing u1P oables, primarily due to the stringent
grounding requirements for shielded systems. Badly grounded or ungrounded 31P oables or
oomponents oan perform worse than u1P oabling. An ungrounded oable oan aot like a magnet
for attraoting noise on the wire. 3oreening and shielding teohnologies are oommonly available, many
aotive eleotronios today use shielding.
1he following table oompares u1P and 31P oables.
Advantages 0sadvantages
Lasier to implement Requires more spaoe due to a larger oable diameter
Better performanoe for PoL plus Lxternal noise suppression
Better suited for dynamio environments Category 6a is not a ratified standard yet
U1P
3lightly oheaper
3maller diameter Cost of labor is higher
Better internal and eternal noise
suppression
Low aooeptanoe in North Amerioa
Better suited for statio or noisy (LMl/Rll)
or seoure environments
lnstallation has to be preoise, more time oonsuming
3ome exoeed performanoe 3triot grounding requirements
AX1 minimized by shielding rather than by
spaoe

51P
(5/U1P,
5/51P,
51P)
Better resistanoe to LMl and Rll


lor oopper, future speeds beyond 10 0bit/seo may oall for Category 7 variations, whioh means
inolusion of 31P. 1his type of oabling is expensive sinoe it will involve new oonneotors. with the gradual
drop in oost of fiber and its aotive oomponents, it would not be surprising if fiber beoomes a viable
oontender for Category 7.
3eleotion of u1P or 31P depends on your environment and on your personal preferenoe. Cabling
systems usually are built to support applioations for the next 10 years, after this period of time the
oabling is outlived by teohnology demands, whioh will foroe you to replaoe your oabling infrastruoture.
eyond 10 Ubt/sec
while 10 0bit/seo Lthernet has oome into the mainstream, standards development for speeds beyond
10 0bit/seo has not yet begun. 1he next leap oould be to 40 0bit/seo but even this level may not be
suffioient to keep up with the bandwidth demands imposed on servioe providers. 3ervioe providers are
looking into even higher transmission speeds that oan travel longer distanoes to handle video and
multimedia applioations. while servers will not need more than 40 0bit/seo for several years, the oore
network may need 100 0bit/seo in the wAN spaoe. owever, due to its high oost, the aotual
implementation for speeds greater than 10 0bit/seo is expeoted to be limited.
N01L N01L N01L N01L: :: : lLLL is planning to support both 400bit/seo and 100 0bit/seo for the next step in Lthernet.
1hese higher speeds will not be standardized until 2010, but pre-standard parts should begin to
appear in 2009. liber is the media expeoted to oarry this speed by using MMl up to 100 meters and
3Ml up to 10 kilometers.

GLU55AR
1he following web sites were oonsulted to oreate this glossary:
http://www.siemon.com
http://www.techfest.com/networking/cabling/cableglos.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.brocade.com
http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com
A|en Urossta|k (AX1) Lleotromagnetio noise that oan ooour in a oopper oable that runs beside
one or more other signal-oarrying oables. 1he term 'alien' arises from the
faot that this form of orosstalk ooours between different oables in a group
or bundle, rather than between individual wires or oirouits within a single
oable.
AN5I Amerioan National 3tandards lnstitute.
Attenuaton 1he deorease in magnitude of a signal as it travels through any
transmission medium, suoh as a oable or optioal fiber. Measured in
deoibels per unit of length.
ackbone cab|ng A oable oonneotion between teleoommunioation or wiring olosets, floor
distribution terminals, entranoe faoilities, and equipment roomseither
within or between buildings. ln star networks, the baokbone oable
interoonneots hubs and similar devioes, as opposed to oables running
between hub and station. ln a bus network, it is the bus oable.
a|anced cab|e A oable with two identioal oonduotors that oarry voltages of opposite
polarities and equal magnitude with respeot to ground. 1he oonduotors are
twisted to maintain balanoe over a distanoe.
a|anced transmsson A mode of signal transmission in whioh eaoh oonduotor oarries the signal
of equal magnitude, but opposite polarity. A 5-volt signal for example,
appears as a +2.5 volts on one oonduotor and -2.5 volts on the other.
andwdth 1he range of frequenoies required for proper transmission of a signal.
Lxpressed in hertz (oyoles per seoond). 1he higher the bandwidth, the
more information that oan be oarried. A oontinuous range starting from
zero is said to be 'baseband,' while a range starting substantially above
zero is 'broadband.'
end |oss A form of inoreased attenuation in an optioal fiber oaused by an
exoessively small bend radius. 1he attenuation may be permanent if
miorofraotures oaused by the bend oontinue to affeot transmission of
the light signal.
end radus Radius of ourvature that a fiber optio or metallio oable oan bend before the
risk of breakage or inoreased attenuation.
ondng A method used to produoe good eleotrioal oontaot between metallio parts.
Also refers to the grounding bars and straps used in buildings to bond
equipment to an approved ground.

Uab|e A group of insulated oonduotors enolosed within a oommon jaoket.
Uab|e sheath A oovering over the oonduotor assembly, whioh may inolude one or more
metallio members, strength members, or jaokets.
Uab|ng A oombination of oables, wire, oords, and oonneoting hardware used in the
teleoommunioations infrastruoture.
U|addng 1he material surrounding the oore of a fiber optio oable that has an outer
diameter of 125 um. 1he oladding must have a lower index of refraotion
than the oore in order to oontain the light in the oore.
Uoatng Material surrounding the oladding of the fiber for proteotion.
Uross connecton A oonneotion soheme between oabling runs, subsystems, and equipment
using patoh oords or jumpers that attaoh to oonneoting hardware at eaoh
end.
Urossta|k 1he ooupling of unwanted signals from one pair within a oable to another
pair. Crosstalk oan be measured at the same (near) end or far end with
respeot to the signal souroe.
0ecbe| (d) A unit for measuring the relative strength of a signal. usually expressed as
the logarithmio ratio of the strength of a transmitted signal to the strength
of the original signal. A deoibel is one tenth of a bel.
0strbuton frame A struoture with terminations for oonneoting the permanent oabling of a
faoility in a manner that interoonneotions or oross-oonneots may be readily
made.
LUA Lquipment Uistribution Area.
LIA Lleotronio lndustry Assooiation (formerly RMA or RL1MA). An assooiation of
manufaoturers and users that establishes standards and publishes test
methodologies.
L|ectromagnetc nterference An interfering eleotromagnetio signal. Network wiring and equipment may
be susoeptible to LMl as well as emit LMl.
Lthernet A Looal Area Network (LAN) protoool defined in the lLLL 802.3 standard
in whioh oomputers aooess the network through a Carrier 3ense Multiple
Aooess/Collision Ueteot (C3MA/CU) protoool.
Iar Lnd Uross 1a|k (ILX1) Crosstalk that is measured on the quiet line at the opposite end as the
souroe of energy on the aotive line. lLX1 is not typioally measured in
oabling, with Near Lnd Cross 1alk (NLX1) the preferred orosstalk
measurement.
Ibre Uhanne| (IU) 1he primary protoool for building 3ANs. unlike lP and Lthernet, libre
Channel was designed to support the needs of storage devioes of all types
by providing a lossless network via flow oontrol.
Irequency 1he number of times a periodio aotion ooours in a unit of time.
Lxpressed in hertz (z). 0ne hertz equals one oyole per seoond.

Ubt/sec 0igabits per seoond.
Uround A oommon point of zero potential suoh as a metal ohassis or ground rod.
Uround |oop A oondition where an unintended oonneotion to ground is made through an
interfering eleotrioal oonduotor.
UA orizontal Uistribution Area.
Pertz (Pz) 1he unit of frequenoy, one oyole per seoond.
Porzonta| cab|ng Part of the oabling system that extends from the teleoommunioations outlet
in the work area to the horizontal oross-oonneot in the teleoommunioations
room. lt inoludes the teleoommunioations outlet, an optional oonsolidation
point or transition point oonneotor, horizontal oable, and the meohanioal
terminations and patoh oords (or jumpers) that make up the horizontal
oross-oonneot.
orizontal oross-oonneot A oross-oonneot of horizontal oabling to other oabling for example,
horizontal, baokbone, or equipment.
I0I lntermediate Uistribution lrame. 1his is usually looated on eaoh floor within
a building. lt is tied direotly to the Main Uistribution lrame via oables.
ILU lnternational Lleotro teohnioal Commission.
ILLL lnstitute of Lleotrioal and Lleotronios Lngineers. A professional organization
and standards body. 1he lLLL Projeot 802 is the group within lLLL
responsible for LAN teohnology standards.
Infnand A switohed fabrio oommunioations link primarily used in igh-Performanoe
Computing (PC). lts features inolude quality of servioe and failover.
Interconnecton A oonneotion soheme that provides for the direot oonneotion of a oable to
another oable or to an equipment oable without a patoh oord or jumper.
Intermedate cross-connect A oross-oonneot between first-level and seoond-level baokbone oabling.
Inserton |oss A measure of the attenuation of a devioe by determining the output of a
system before and after the devioe is inserted into the system. lor example,
a oonneotor oauses insertion loss aoross the interoonneotion (in
oomparison to a oontinuous oable with no interoonneotion).
I50 lnternational 3tandards 0rganization.
Jacket 1he outer proteotive oovering of a oable.
Jtter 1he slight movement of a transmission signal in time or phase that oan
introduoe errors and loss of synohronization. More jitter is enoountered in
longer oables, oables with higher attenuation, and signals at higher data
rates. Also, oalled phase jitter," timing distortion," or intersymbol
interferenoe."
MUA Main Uistribution Area.
Meda wire, oable, or oonduotors used for transmission of signals.

Mu|tMode Iber (MMI) A fiber optio oable whioh supports the propagation of multiple modes.
Multimode fiber may have a typioal oore diameter of 50 to 62.5 m with a
refraotive index that is graded or stepped. lt allows the use of inexpensive
vC3LL light souroes and oonneotor alignment and ooupling is less oritioal
than single mode fiber. Uistanoes of transmission and transmission
bandwidth are less than with single mode fiber due to inter-modal
dispersion.
Near-end crossta|k Crosstalk between two twisted pairs measured at the same end of the
oable as the disturbing signal souroe. NLX1 is the measurement of interest
for orosstalk speoifioations.
Network An interoonneotion of oomputer systems, terminals or data oommunioations
faoilities.
0M3 fiber Laser 0ptimized MultiMode liber.
0ptca| fber cab|e An assembly oonsisting of one or more optioal fibers.
Patch cab|e A flexible pieoe of oable terminated at both ends with oonneotors. used for
interoonneoting oirouits on a patoh panel or oross-oonneot.
Patch pane| A passive devioe, typioally flat plate holding feed-through oonneotors, to
allow oirouit arrangements and rearrangements by simply plugging and
unplugging patoh oables.
Pathway A faoility for the plaoement of teleoommunioation or networking oables.
P|enum cab|e A oable that is rated as having adequate fire resistanoe and low smoke
produoing oharaoteristios for use in air handling spaoes (plenum).
Paceway Any ohannel designated for holding wires or oables. Raoeways oan be
metallio or nonmetallio and oan totally or partially enolose the wiring. (for
example, oonduit, oable trough, oellular floor, eleotrioal metallio tubing,
sleeves, slots, underfloor raoeways, surfaoe raoeways, lighting fixture
raoeways, wireways, busways, auxiliary gutters, and ventilated flexible
oableways).
Pser cab|e A type of oable used in vertioal building shafts, suoh as teleoommunioations
and utility shafts. Riser oable typioally has more meohanioal strength than
standard oable and has an intermediate fire proteotion rating.
5creened 1wsted Par (5/U1P) lour pair u1P (also known as 3o1P, l/u1P, and l1P), with a single foil or
braided soreen surrounding all four pairs in order to minimize LMl radiation
or susoeptibility. 3/u1P oan be thought of as a shielded version of the
Category 3, 4, & 5 u1P oables.
5creened/5he|ded 1wsted Par(5/51P)
lour pair oabling, with eaoh pair having its own individual shield, in addition
to an overall shield surrounding all four pairs. 331P offers similar
performanoe to 1ype 1 31P exoept with four pairs (rather than two) and
in a 100 (rather than 150) ohm impedanoe.
5he|d A metallio foil or multiwire soreen mesh used to prevent eleotromagnetio
fields from penetrating or exiting a transmission oable. Also referred to
as a soreen.

5he|ded 1wsted Par (51P) A type of twisted-pair oable in whioh the pairs are enolosed in an outer
braided shield, although individual pairs may also be shielded. 31P most
often refers to the 150 ohm lBM 1ype 1, 2, 6, 8, and 9 oables used with
1oken Ring networks.
5ng|e Mode Iber (5MI) An optioal fiber that will allow only one mode to propagate. 1he fiber
has a very small oore diameter of approximately 8 m. lt permits signal
transmission at extremely high bandwidth and allows very long
transmission distanoes.
5tructured cab|ng 1eleoommunioations oabling that is organized into a hierarohy of wiring
termination and interoonneotion struotures. 1he oonoept of struotured
wiring is used in the oommon standards from the 1lA and LlA.
vC3LL vertioal-Cavity 3urfaoe-Lmitting Laser. A light souroe for use in an
infrared data-assooiation data link devioe.
1IA 1eleoommunioations lndustry Assooiation. Authored the 1lA/LlA 568-A
'Commeroial Building 1eleoommunioations wiring 3tandard' in oonjunotion
with LlA.
1opo|ogy 1he physioal or logioal interoonneotion pattern of a network.
1ransmsson meda Anything used to oarry a signal, suoh as wire, ooaxial oable, fiber optios, air,
or vaouum.
1wsted par A multiple oonduotor oable whose oomponent wires are paired together,
twisted, and enolosed in a single jaoket. Laoh pair oonsists of two insulated
oopper wires twisted together. when driven as a balanoed line, the twisting
reduoes the susoeptibility to external interferenoe and the radiation of
signal energy. Most twisted-pair oabling oontains either 2, 4, or 25 pairs
of wires.
Unba|anced |ne A transmission line in whioh voltages on the two oonduotors are unequal
with respeot to ground. 0enerally one of the oonduotors is oonneoted to a
ground point. An example of an unbalanoed line is a ooaxial oable.
Unshe|ded 1wsted Par (U1P) 1wisted-pair oabling that inoludes no shielding. u1P most often refers to
the 100 ohm Category 3, 4, and 5 oables speoified in the 1lA/LlA 568-A
standard.

2007 Brooade Communioations 3ystems, lno. All Rights Reserved. 5/08 0A-BP-036-02
Brooade, labrio 03, lile Lifeoyole Manager, Myview, and 3torageX are registered trademarks and the Brooade B-wing symbol,
UCX, and 3AN ealth are trademarks of Brooade Communioations 3ystems, lno., in the united 3tates and/or in other oountries.
All other brands, produots, or servioe names are or may be trademarks or servioe marks of, and are used to identify, produots or
servioes of their respeotive owners.
Notioe: 1his dooument is for informational purposes only and does not set forth any warranty, expressed or implied, oonoerning
any equipment, equipment feature, or servioe offered or to be offered by Brooade. Brooade reserves the right to make ohanges
to this dooument at any time, without notioe, and assumes no responsibility for its use. 1his informational dooument desoribes
features that may not be ourrently available. Contaot a Brooade sales offioe for information on feature and produot availability.
Lxport of teohnioal data oontained in this dooument may require an export lioense from the united 3tates government.

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