Data Center Cabling
Have messy cabling in your data center or server room? Do you cringe when you look at a rats nest of cables? Even if they are high quality, certified fiber optic cables or copper cable assemblies, this isn’t a good scenario. Improper cable management can lead to trouble for your entire company. Restricted airflow can actually cause an unsafe environment, confirm the pros at Data Center Frontier. More than just an eyesore, messy cabling is also costing you in both energy and productivity. How?
Here are two ways that disorganized cabling in your data center or server room may be putting your business at risk.
1. Reduced airflow
We all know that servers and networking equipment like cool temperatures. Even with proper cooling in place, masses of cables haphazardly strewn about a data center or server room create air damming.
They are effectively blocking proper airflow which can result in overheating, server failure and network downtime. Air damming results in both cold air and warm air being trapped, which means inconsistent cooling. The business impact is higher utility bills, potentially lost data, and in some cases it can be a fire risk.
2. Network latency
Higher temperatures can lead to cable degradation and eventual failure. Not only that, but patch cords are often the cause of network latency as well. If you’re trying to deliver 10Gbps speed over your network, and you’ve got category 5e cables in your backbone, guess what? A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Poor quality or improper patch cords are one of the biggest causes of network latency. Not just copper patch cords, this also includes fiber patch cables that were improperly spliced. This leads to my next question.
Who did the cabling in your data center or server room?
Network technicians are good at what they do, but splicing data center cables often isn’t one of them. Signal degradation due to insertion loss is the result of improperly spliced cables. You might have the highest quality fiber cables in your data center, but if they weren’t spliced properly, you’re not getting the full bandwidth. Fiber optic cabling is notoriously difficult to splice so if your wiring wasn’t installed properly with certified cabling experts, you very well could be suffering from signal degradation, which is holding back your network performance.
Also, if your cabling installer wasn’t properly trained in cable installation, most likely your cabling system wasn’t installed properly. Examples: Improper pulling of cables, excessive bending of network cables, and cables being installed in proximity to noise sources (electric motors, air conditioners, fluorescent lighting, etc.).
While your IT Director or Network Technicians are likely pros when it comes to your servers, switches, routers, PCs, software, etc, cabling expertise is often not a given. If you or your staff is lacking in cabling knowledge, or if you’re unsure of the quality of your fiber patch cords, or copper cabling, here’s a solution:
Pre-terminated fiber - Pre-terminated copper cable assemblies
Pre-terminated fiber, or pre-term fiber offers a plug and play solution for your data center. With pre-terminated fiber or copper cable assemblies, the cables are delivered with the connectors attached. This means no cable splicing! If you source your pre-terminated fiber or copper cables from a quality cable manufacturer, your new network cables will have been tested and qualified to be plug and play ready for your network.
Structured Cabling
If you’re ready to get rid of that rats nest of cables once and for all, you’ll want to look at structured cabling solutions. With a structured cabling solution you can organize your infrastructure, and future-proof your technology. Structured cabling will also provide you with newfound flexibility. Your end users or employees can move around without having to take on a rewiring project. Adding to, expanding and making adjustments to your network will become easier than ever before by implementing structured cabling.
How can we help?
HyFiber is a team of cable industry experts with the knowledge to provide expert advice when it comes to your cabling needs. We can provide a full range of cables, both standard and built to your custom specifications. Whether it’s fiber optic cable assemblies, traceable fiber optic cables, or copper cable assemblies, we can supply, build and test cables that are built to perform, and built to last. Our custom patch panels (fiber patch panels) can play a vital role in your existing structured cabling solution, or an upcoming structured cabling project.
Even more, with our expertise, we’re here to answer any questions you may have regarding cabling, fiber optic cables, connectors, and more. Ready to take your data center or server room to a new level of performance and reliability? Give HyFiber a call today!
About HyFiber
HyFiber is a full-service cable solutions provider, and a US cable manufacturer. Our extensive offering includes standard fiber optic cables, custom fiber optic cable assemblies, copper cables and copper cable assemblies, and custom built fiber panels. From custom cabling to cable installation services we are trusted by leading companies and organizations including Major League Baseball. More than building custom cables and cable assemblies, we specialize in delivering expert advice and guidance when it comes to cable solutions. Looking for a cable manufacturer you can lean on? Reach out to the HyFiber team today!