A CEO and his team in India have to present their company's latest innovative
solution to a potential, big customer in a faraway place in the US within a
fortnight. The D-day arrives. The potential customer is eagerly waiting at the
other end. Rolling up their sleeves, the team starts making presentations.
Alas, the videoconferencing system is dead slow! Everything seems to be all
right-no malfunction in hardware setup, no virus attack, no trojans, and the
structured cabling has recently been upgraded to support data-intensive
applications. The CTO of the company and his team later identify that the
culprit was improper installation of the structured cabling solution, which
affect data transmission speed and the performance capability of the cabling.
SA Mohan, regional sales director, India and ASEAN region, subscribes to
this: “It is increasingly important to strictly observe best practices as the
performance levels of cabling increase; the higher the performance level
required from the cabling, the lower the margin for error in terms of
installation practice”, he says.
The concept of best practice is sine quo non to obtain optimum performance
from every standard-based product and structured cabling too is not an exception
to this fundamental principle. Unlike the ordinary electric wires, structured
cabling products and solutions require enormous attention during the
installation process. And each and every category of cables-from copper cables
to fiber optics-require unique techniques and skills for optimum performance.
Sathya Narayanan MS, country manager, India, Hubbell Wiring Systems says,
“Quality of installation gives both peace of mind and longevity for the
transportation system. Best practices always help to improve the quality of
installation and thereby help deliver a robust, stable, and high performance
data transportation system.” It further helps reduce the risk of down time,
increasing reliability and scalability. The adverse impacts due to lack of
observing best practices are return loss, alien cross talk, near-end cross talk,
etc.
Be Choosy
Selecting good quality of products as per the requirement of an organization
is a prerequisite. James Bundey, marketing manager, Asia Pacific, Molex Premise
Networks says, “One of the most pressing issue in the industry from the
end-users perspective is ensuring that they are confident about selecting the
right solution for their business. The important thing is that they have spoken
to a company that they trust and that the company recommends a suitable solution
for their requirements, not just the latest and greatest.”
India is an early adopter of new technologies Radhakrishna KV,
What is the latest trend in structured What is the rate and level of 10G and PoE Do you have any pricing strategy for your |
Shajan M George, technical manager, Reichle & De-Massari India (R&M),
expresses similar view: “Today the challenge is to ensure that the quality of
product and design, implementation, testing, and documentation is up to the
standards.” Hundred percent testing of each and every individual component and
quality stamp for each of the sub-systems at the manufacturer's end is very
important in order to offer quality products to customers.
We are the second largest SCS manufacturer in the country today
Milind Tamhane, VP, Manufacturing, What is the latest trend in structured What is the rate and level of 10G and PoE What's your presence in the Indian market, Do you have a pricing strategy for your In terms of innovation, what are the new |
Open Sesame
If practice makes a man perfect, training perfects him to learn best
practices, which is the key to structured cabling installation. Installing the
solution by a group of well-trained technicians is the foremost important
factor. According to Pramod Srivastava, head, Marketing, Passive Solutions,
Sterlite Technologies, “For 90% problems, it is improper installation that
affects performance capabilities, instead of improper cabling choice. If
ordinary electricians turn to be structured cabling installers, then quality of
installation cannot be up to the mark.”
The copper price fluctuation is a major problem particularly in India
SA Mohan, regional sales director, What is the latest trend in the structured How do you foresee the 10G and PoE What will be the growth of fiber optic What is your expansion plan in the Indian What do you have to say about tackling the In terms of innovation, what are the new |
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Stringent Practices
Following best practices are irrespective of the cable categories, but some
categories like Cat 6 and Cat 6A require more care as the cable pair twist
ratios are more in these cables. Although the base guidelines for best practice
for different categories of cable remains the same, the measurement or the
criteria changes for different category of cables. Sometimes, even within a
category, practices may vary slightly according to cable construction. DS
Nagendra, GM, LAN, Nexans Singapore, says, “The best cabling practice is to be
followed irrespective of the category of cables. One needs to cultivate the best
installation practice as a habit at the initial stages of the profession to
ensure that the installer delivers the best each time and every time.”
In the case of Category 6A, the laying and containment of cables become far
more critical, particularly, when it is a UTP solution. But in case of Cat 6A
STP not much precaution is required compared to UTP Cat 6A cables, since
shielding reduces the alien cross talk effect while running the cables parallel.
While routing the Cat 6A cable, there should be a control on the alien cross
talk. And while doing the terminations, the twist ratios and opening of twist
has to be maintained as Cat 6 cabling requires tighter termination practices
than Category 5e, and Cat 6A requires even tighter termination and
implementation practices than Cat 6.
Fiber cables also require more careful handling during installation, which is
why fiber optic cable adoption has been less. For fiber installation for 10G
traffic, prescribed bending radius should be maintained as per the standards
while laying the cable. If it's not handled carefully there is every chance of
the fiber core breaking due to its inherent fragile nature, which also can cause
serious injuries to the installer. So fiber cabling obviously requires a skill
set that is somewhat different to copper.
Green Practices
Studies have revealed that cost of power alone represents a considerable
chunk in an overall data center budget. Thirty to fifty percent of funds are
allotted to power in a typical data center budget. While some people do question
how green product is possible in the structured cabling industry, terming green
products as a marketing gimmick, others say it's very much possible.
Dileep Kumar, director, Enterprise and Carrier Product Development, ADC Krone,
says, “Actually most people think that structured cabling is a passive cabling
industry and it does not emit any heat because there is no electronics involved
in it, so what's the big thing one can do in terms of green in structured
cabling. But in structured cabling also a lot of things can be done to support
green initiatives.” SA Mohan, regional sales director, India and ASEAN region,
also agrees that green practices are possible in the structured cabling
industry. He says, “Cables and their bundling can impact heat emissions in a
communications room. Use of multi-pair cables in a plug-and-play solution can
help to mitigate this. Also, electronic devices within a network emit a
considerable amount of heat.”
Manufacturers have started to look at powering their device through PoE
Sathya Narayanan M S, country manager, What is the latest trend in structured What do you think is the level of 10G How do you foresee PoE's adoption in the Do you have any pricing strategy for your |
Airflow Management
Industry experts say that a proper airflow management in cabinets and data
centers could reduce heat and indirectly save energy used for cooling processes.
When air cannot properly circulate in the cabinet or data center, electric fans
have to be used to move more air and cooling units have to be brought in to
lower the air temperature. These two processes require additional, unnecessary
electricity.
Dileep Kumar of ADC Krone says, “In a data center or a populated rack area,
the hanging patch cords on the front in a massive set up blocks proper airflow.
So, we have come out with a very innovative cable management solution for both
horizontal cables for rear, as well as for the patch cords in the front and the
verticals.” ADC Krone has cable management products including very innovative
patch panel with rotating modules to facilitate proper airflow. It also has a
product called AirES, which claims to provide superior conductor insulation
using smaller, gauge copper, and less insulating material. As it reduces the
average outside diameter from 28-32% than the size of standard Category 6 or
Category 6A cables, it facilitates proper airflow.
Apart from these techniques, a proper placement and planning of the equipment
inside a rack also helps conserve energy. Using open racks wherever possible
also helps reduce cooling requirements, as open racks help faster dissipation of
heat in comparison to cabinets. In high density applications environment like
data centers these practices are quite important.
According to ADC Krone there are also solutions to improve overall airflow
efficiency in the data center. These solutions can be implemented easily,
without major changes in the design and layout. Every single improvement in
green practice should facilitate the use of lesser energy to cool equipment,
reduce cost for the enterprises, and prevent emission of greenhouse gases from
the process of electricity generation. In today's high-density data centers, the
sheer volume of cabling, both active and abandoned, can create a serious
impediment to an efficient airflow. Rajesh Kumar, country manager, Siemon says,
“The answer for this can be a combination of better data center design, more
careful planning, management of cabling pathways, and avoidance of very
large-diameter cables.”
Some other green practices in data centers include plugging unnecessary vents
in raised floor perforated tiles; plugging other leakages in the raised floor by
sealing cable cutouts; sealing spaces between floors and walls; replacing
missing tiles; reducing air leakage by using gaskets to fit floor tiles more
securely onto floor frames; ensuring vented floor tiles are properly situated to
reduce hot spots and wash cool air into equipment air intakes; reducing overall
data center lighting requirements by using small, portable lights within each
cabinet, which puts light where technicians need it; and by turning off servers
when not in use.
Narayanan MS of Hubbell Wiring Systems India says, “PoE would help save power
by enabling the customer control their power consumption in BMS systems. Also
customers can opt for low smoke zero halogen jackets and cut down on their
carbon footprint instead of going for regular PVC jacketed cables.” RoHS
compliance by manufacturers is another important practice that contributes to
green commitments from manufacturer's side. Radhakrishna KV, manager, Projects &
Business Development, Tyco Electronics' AMP NetConnect Division says, “Green
initiatives are possible in structured cabling and in fact all Tyco Electronics'
products are RoHS compliant. In addition, our cables are constructed with
substances that, in the unfortunate event of a fire, emit very less smoke.”
While commenting on green practices, Kumar Natarajan, regional director, SW
Asia, Panduit International says, “This is possible only when leading brands
will work closely with the active HVAC and power supply vendors, and this will
impact both in direct and indirect ways.” Many vendors have a separate policy
for green commitment. From a manufacturing perspective, green practice includes
addressing the environmental impact of manufacturing, packing, recycling, and
shipping processes. Vendors can use the recycled boxes with environmental
friendly packing instead of polybags and plastics.
Kannan K
kannan@cybermedia.co.in