Survey of Data Center Managers Indicates Preference for Fully-Shielded Copper Cabling

50% plan to specify category 6 or 7/class E / F cabling infrastructure for new datacenter projects

An independent survey of 300 data center managers, performed at a recent Data Center Decisions event, indicated strong support for 10Gb/s or better copper cabling systems. When asked what cabling media they would specify for a new datacenter, 81% of respondents selected 10Gb/s capable copper products, versus 3.1%, 6.3% and 9.4% for fiber optic and category 5e respectively.

Underlining a growing trend towards the adoption of shielded (S/FTP) copper systems in historically UTP markets, 50% of all respondents stated that they would specify category 6/class E shielded copper cabling.

The shift toward shielded solutions is based on a number of factors. Based on a separate question within the same survey, 93% of respondents expected their data centers to last over 10 years, with 46% of the total planning for 20 years. These extended data center lifecycles and attending total cost of ownership (TCO) figures drive the importance of future-proof cabling.

Offering significant performance headroom and increased ability to support future applications beyond 10GBASE-T, the LanTec DVS Cabling System product family is well suited to the current and future needs of the data center. The fully-shielded, Class E solution is a high-performing copper cabling system recognized by ISO/IEC. This leading performance translates into longer functional lifecycles and thereby, better TCO.

Additionally, the inclusion of strict alien crosstalk performance parameters in pending 10GBASE-T standards presented difficulties for UTP cable. To overcome alien crosstalk, pending standards allow increased UTP cable diameters of up to 9 mm. While this larger-diameter cable controls crosstalk, it is not without drawbacks such as decreased pathway cable counts. Solutions such as used by the LanTec DVS Cabeling System, by virtue of shielded construction, exhibits excellent alien crosstalk performance and can reclaim pathway space with cable diameters of just 7.5 mm.

While screened (F/UTP) and S/FTP copper cabling systems are gaining market share, augmented category 6 UTP solutions still represent a significant percentage of future datacenter projects. It is important that users are provided a choice of cabling systems, and understand the strengths of each.

With fully compliant 10Gb/s capable copper cabling options in UTP, F/UTP and S/FTP configurations, LanTec DVS Cabling System offers a comprehensive suite of solutions that gives enterprises the freedom to choose the cabling infrastructure that best supports their specific needs. Beyond 10Gb/s throughput alone, factors such as infrastructure security, pathway space, cable management, initial cost, life cycle cost, noise immunity and global market preferences must be considered by every organization. The ability to support these needs will grow in importance over the coming months and years.

LanTec offers 15 years of warranty if the DVS cabling-system is being installed by a certified LanCom DVS-Installer.