The Ultimate Data Center Cabling Guide: Everything You Need to Know
Updated at Nov 7th 20241 min read
Network and connectivity within data centers are at the heart of ensuring that businesses run smoothly every day. The cabling infrastructure plays a key role in this by facilitating high-speed, reliable connections between servers, storage systems, and networking equipment. Data center cabling encompasses various cables, from fiber optic to copper cables, depending on the equipment’s requirements and the overall system design. Whether it involves high-density cabling for large-scale operations or structured cabling to maintain organization, proper data center cable management is crucial for avoiding future issues.
What Is Data Center Cabling？
Data center cabling refers to the network of cables connecting all components within a data center. Effective data center fiber cabling is essential to ensure the system is organized and optimized for performance. There are two primary types of cabling systems: structured and unstructured.
Structured cabling is a standardized approach that uses specific types of cables, such as twisted pair copper cables and fiber optic cables, and organized patch panels to build a scalable and reliable infrastructure. This approach is especially valuable for high-density cabling setups, as it ensures that network connections are easy to maintain and upgrade.
Unstructured cabling refers to cable installations where devices are connected without following a planned system, which can result in a disorganized and unmanageable mess that may lead to network performance issues.
What Are the Main Standards for Data Center Cabling?
Industry standards for data center cabling ensure safety and provide the basis for building an integrated infrastructure. At the same time, they also offer guidelines for maintaining high levels of cable performance for the next several years. Here are the three common data center cabling standards.
Cabling Standard Type | Function |
ANSI/TIA-942 | This standard outlines the functional areas specific to the data center and provides a minimum recommendation for pathway and space, the distance between the backbone and the horizontal cable medium, redundancy, cable management, and environmental considerations. |
ISO/IEC 24764 | Based on TIA-942 and EN 50173-5, this international standard specifies the cabling used in the data center. We refer to ISO/IEC 11801 and additional information related to the data center. |
ANSI/BICSI 002-2014 | This standard provides guidelines for data center design and operation. It covers planning, construction, commissioning, protection, management, and maintenance of the data center, as well as cabling infrastructure, pathways, and spaces. It also covers modular data centers, container-type data centers, and energy efficiency, and also describes its own availability class structure for determining reliability. |
Why Is Data Center Cable Management Important？
Data center cable management is a crucial aspect of maintaining an efficient and organized data center, ensuring the data center equipment and devices are connected and functioning optimally with reliability, efficiency, and safety.
Airflow: Good cable management allows air to flow more freely through the racks, which prevents overheating or hot spots from forming. This can extend the life of the equipment and reduce maintenance costs.
Maintenance: Well-organized data center cables are easier to identify and trace, which makes troubleshooting and maintenance quicker and easier. This reduces downtime and improves overall productivity.
Safety: Properly routed cables reduce the risk of tripping and other accidents. Labeling and organizing cables also help prevent accidental disconnections, which could cause data loss or other issues.
Scalability: As data centers grow and expand, good cable management ensures that new equipment can be added easily and without disrupting existing installations.
Compliance: Many regulations and industry standards require proper data center cable management. Compliance with these regulations helps to ensure the security and integrity of data, as well as protect the environment from unnecessary cable waste.
Data Center Cabling Best Practices at FS
FS provides end-to-end fiber cabling in data center solutions to support your growing network needs, including FS FHD® series cable management assemblies and pre-terminated fiber/copper cables.
FS FHD® Series Cassette, Panel, and Enclosure Solutions
FS offers an extensive range of reliable and innovative FHD® series products, including fiber optic panels, fiber optic cassettes, fiber optic enclosures, and horizontal and vertical cable managers. FHD® fiber cassettes, featuring a unique one-piece modular design and compliant with FHD® series fiber enclosures and panels, allow up to 144 fiber connections with 4 fiber cassettes fitting into 1U. For example, the FHD® 3 x MTP®-12 Cassette supports up to 36 fibers per cassette by utilizing three MTP®-12 connectors, making it ideal for centralized and structured wiring applications. With ultra-high density, scalability, and flexibility, these FS FHD® series products make cable management more convenient, maintain the aesthetics of data center cabling, achieve certain protective effects, and improve data center efficiency. For more information: FS FHD Product Family for High-Density Fiber Optic Cabling Solutions.
FS Fiber Optic Data Center Cables
FS fiber optic cables meet different needs and are rigorously tested to comply with cable standards.
OS2 single-mode fibers and multi-mode fiber cables have good repeatability and interchangeability, offering a variety of connector types with flame retardant and rugged factors.
MTP®/MPO cables facilitate rapid deployment of high-density backbone cabling in data centers and other high-fiber environments, reducing network installation or reconfiguration time and cost. They are available in single-mode and multimode options, catering to different data transmission needs. Commonly used in spine-leaf architectures and high-speed migration scenarios, these cables are ideal for streamlining connections in large-scale cloud data centers and communications rooms.
FS Copper Cabling in Data Centers
FS copper data center cables are divided into multiple colors and lengths to help simplify complex cable runs and are protected by a CM-grade PVC jacket. Plus, the snap-free design protects the clip during insertion and extraction.
Conclusion
In summary, data center cabling is critical to ensuring that modern data centers remain reliable, efficient, and scalable. By adopting structured cabling practices and adhering to industry cabling standards, businesses can improve the performance and longevity of their data center infrastructure. Furthermore, effective data center cable management helps reduce costs, prevent downtime, and ensure safety, making it a crucial part of any well-functioning data center.