Cabling Installation and Maintenance-Oct-2010

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BECAUSE YOUR BUSINESS RUNS THROUGH US
For extended distances and power reliability,

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You need it. You want it.

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Contents Zoom In Zoom Out For navigation instructions please click here Search Issue Next Page
SOLUTIONS FOR PREMISES AND CAMPUS

OCTOBER 2010 COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS WORLDWIDE
GOING THE
distance
with OM3 PAGE 11
DATA CENTER PAGE 21
Layer one:
First, do no harm
SECURITY PAGE 25
Will IP cameras
hog bandwidth?
EDITOR’S PICKS PAGE 29
Cable prices going up
w w w.c ablingins t all.c om
Contents Zoom In Zoom Out For navigation instructions please click here Search Issue Next Page
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THE
ELEMENTS
OF
Enterprise Network
SUCCESS E
Ease
BoM Cs
Bill-of-Materials Customer
Tool Service
Oe
What’s the point Whether it’s
of having great Our FREE, a new LAN
products if you downloadable or a MAC,
can’t select and Bill-of-Materials our tool has Optical
order them easily? Tool makes it easy. you covered. Expertise
To download the FREE

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Bill-of-Materials Tool, visit
registration.corning.com/1-BOMCM
We’re the fiber optic experts – and

© 2010 Corning Cable Systems LLC we won’t stop until we make YOU one, too.

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OCTOBER 2010 | VOLUME 18 NO. 10
ABOUT THE COVER

Can 10GBase-S go the full 300-meter :: FEATURES
distance using standard MTP cassettes?
DESIGN
Independent testing of different channel
configurations indicates it can.
TO LEARN MORE, SEE ARTICLE ON PAGE 11.
5 Considerations to make before
investing in Category 6A cabling
DR. ANDREY SEMENOV AND IGOR G. SMIRNOV
Group Publisher Susan Smith
(603) 891-9447; susans@pennwell.com
Chief Editor Patrick McLaughlin INSTALLATION
(603) 891-9222; patrick@pennwell.com
Senior Editor Matt Vincent
(603) 891-9262; mattv@pennwell.com 11 Meeting 10GBase-S loss
budgets with MTP cassettes
Marketing Manager Joni Montemagno
Art Director Kelli Mylchreest GARY BERNSTEIN, RCDD AND DENNIS MAINES
Production Director Mari Rodriguez
Senior Illustrator Dan Rodd
Development Manager Michelle Blake TECHNOLOGY
Ad Traffic Manager Marcella Hanson
17 Intelligent building concept

hits close to home
EDITORIAL OFFICES
PATRICK MCLAUGHLIN
PennWell Corporation,
Cabling Installation & Maintenance
98 Spit Brook Road LL-1
Nashua, NH 03062-5737 DATA CENTER
Tel: (603) 891-0123, fax: (603) 891-9245
www.cablinginstall.com
CORPORATE OFFICERS
21 Enclosures play a role in high-
density cable management
Chairman Frank T. Lauinger
President and CEO Robert F. Biolchini PATRICK MCLAUGHLIN
Chief Financial Officer Mark C. Wilmoth
TECHNOLOGY GROUP SECURITY

Senior Vice President & Publishing Director
Christine A. Shaw
Senior Vice President, Audience Development
25 IP camera evolution is pushing
network bandwidth
Gloria Adams
For subscription inquiries:
PATRICK MCLAUGHLIN
Tel: (847) 559-7520; Fax: (847) 291-4816
e-mail: cim@omeda.com;
web:www.cim-subscribe.com
:: DEPARTMENTS
CABLING INSTALLATION & MAINTENANCE © 2010 (ISSN 1073-3108), is
published 12 times a year, monthly, by PennWell Corporation, 1421 South Sheridan
Road, Tulsa, OK 74112; phone (918) 835-3161; fax (918) 831-9497; www.pennwell.
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2 Editorial
On expectations, met and unmet
U.S. and $32 elsewhere. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted. For bulk
reprints, contact Ed Murphy: (603) 891-9260.
We make portions of our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies
29
that offer products and services that may be important for your work. If you do not
want to receive those offers and/or information via direct mail, please let us know
by contacting us at List Services Cabling Installation & Maintenance, 98 Spit Brook
Editor’s Picks
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Cabling Installation & Maintenance, Copper prices, FEP supply
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PRINTED IN THE USA.
could drive up cable costs
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www.cablinginstall.com Cabling Installation & Maintenance OCTOBER 2010 1

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:: EDITORIAL ::
on cablinginstall.com
On expectations, met and unmet

Boarding a fl ight in the 5:00 a.m. hour what they intended to do at a given
at an airport not far from our offices time, they remain productive and
DATA CENTER
here in New Hampshire not long ago, accomplish tasks that will pay off for E-book addresses
cloud computing, data
I was confident I’d arrive at my desti- them sometime in the future. And I
center cooling
nation—three time zones, one plane like to think I spent the majority of that
change and more than fl ight delay doing the equivalent of STANDARDS
seven hours later—in tool-sharpening. Admittedly though, I Testing underway for IEEE
plenty of time for my also spent a little time that day reflect- 1588 Precision Time Protocol
scheduled lunch meeting on the theme of unmet expecta-
ing. Well, I wouldn’t be tions. I expected to be at that lunch NETWORK CABLE
telling this story if that meeting; the other party expected me Low-skew UTP cable as
had actually happened. to be there too. And regardless of the an alternative to RGB coax
Weather problems in extent to which we both shrugged and for video applications
the city in which I was wrote it off as the nature of air travel,
CONNECTIVITY
to change planes, coupled with the two parties went to Plan B that day
Cable crimper is easy
plane I was in not having enough fuel because what we expected to happen,
on the hands
to stay in a holding pattern for very didn’t.
long, resulted in a fi rst for me. We were That got me reflecting internally, PHYSICAL SECURITY
diverted to a different city, where the specifically with respect to the infor- IP video oversees
plane refueled and the crew waited for mation you receive from this maga- massive biker rally
further instruction. zine and its affiliated information prod-
Eventually we got to the city in ucts. Perhaps there’s nothing I can WIRELESS
which I was making the connection. do about the fog in Washington D.C. Wireless fundamentals
Of course I had missed the connec- that wreaked havoc on my business explained in free,
tion by hours and only by the prover- plans last month. But there’s an awful downloadable posters
bial skin of my teeth did I get onto the lot I can do to ensure that Cabling
DESIGN INSTALL TEST
next fl ight as a standby passenger. Installation & Maintenance is a valu-
Queen Elizabeth aircraft
Fortunately for me I had that lunch able resource for you. In fact, my travel
carrier uses fiber-
meeting eventually, only it was two snafu provided me some “tool-sharp- cable management
days later and didn’t include lunch. ening” time for exactly that purpose. I
But in the time I spent not being where hope you’ll take the opportunity to let BLOG
I had planned to be, I missed other me know anything specific I can do to Failed cable thief gets
meeting opportunities that I did not ensure this magazine remains one of shock of a lifetime
later bring to fruition. your useful tools.
I think there’s a saying about farm- PATRICK McLAUGHLIN Visit cablinginstall.com for
ers sharpening their tools on rainy Chief Editor these and other stories
days, meaning when they can’t do patrick@pennwell.com
2 OCTOBER 2010 Cabling Installation & Maintenance www.cablinginstall.com

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This data center is This data center is

expensive to operate. energy and cost efficient.
7KLVGDWD ADVANCED
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9HQWLODWHG)ORRU7LOHV
Even small changes can have a huge impact on the efficiency,

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sustainability and profitability of your data center. Solutions. Corning Cable Systems introduced the
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Installing a few simple products and implementing a handful of best practices can help you save
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on
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Building blocks for the

entire data center.
One company, every solution.

Leviton products cover every area of the data center, from the
entrance room and computer room to the TR and support offices.
Pre-terminated copper and fiber solutions, fiber raceway cable
management, power distribution units, and Opt-X Ultra® and
Replicator™ Series Fiber Enclosures make up just a few of the
smart data center solutions that keep businesses, government
buildings, and cities running.
Rely on our data center specialists for technical support, including

design, layout, elevations, pathways, and specifications —
customized to each installation. Email Leviton’s data center team
at dcteam@leviton.com, or visit __________________
Leviton.com/datacenter.
THE FUTURE IS ON
© 2010 Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

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:: DESIGN ::
Considerations to make before

investing in Category 6A cabling
certain type of cabling. For the sake of
this article, we will focus on the deci-
Is it a round peg in a square hole, or a perfect fit? sion matrix leading up to Category 6A
cabling, which represents the most
BY Dr. Andrey Semenov, IT Co. and Igor G. Smirnov, Signamax Inc. interesting case because it can be con-
sidered the most advanced type of
The specification and selection of electrical performance and the higher structured cabling being implemented
information technology (IT) systems the maximum rate of information trans- on a broad scale.
and services often includes a presump- mission. One tradeoff to higher perfor-
tion that structured cabling will serve mance, however, is that higher trans- Category 6A backstory
as the foundation of the IT infrastruc- mission performance results in higher Category 6A cabling standards
ture. Although an IT cabling infra- component acquisition expenses as emerged in order to support informa-
structure foundation is a given, other well as increases in cabling installation tion transmission rates of 10 Gbits/sec.
types of IT systems (e.g. wireless net- and field-test complexity, which signifi- Prior to developing Category 6A cabling
works and data over power cabling) 10G transmission costs for different media components,
are generally considered to be niche Relative cost manufacturers of
solutions and typically do not play a 6 Category 6 cabling
defi ning role in the physical layer infra- 5
Category 6 initially focused
Category 6A
structure planning. their attention on
4 Category 7A
Structured cabling systems feature Optical fiber redefining the fre-
3
a wide range of supported networking quency range of
2
equipment and associated transmis- interest for Category
sion protocols. Leading IT equipment 1 6 from a ceiling of
manufacturers are able to offer their 0 250 MHz to a ceiling
50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200
customers a variety of products of the Link length, m of 625 MHz. After
same functionality yet featuring dif- As link lengths grow, the disparity between Category 6 and
years of research
ferent technical transmission param- other media—Category 6A, Category 7 and optical fi ber— and study, it was
eters. That variety presents a designer widens. determined that a
of structured cabling with a challenge frequency range of 1
to choose an IT cabling solution that cantly affects the overall project cost. to 500 MHz would be required to sup-
satisfies present and future needs of a In general, the task of choosing the port the 10GBase-T application.
particular project. appropriate category of structured Perhaps the most significant tech-
Balanced twisted-pair cabling has cabling components may become eas- nological hurdle to overcome would
traditionally been classified by various ier if a telecommunications application be the characterization of alien cross-
categories of transmission performance. is used as a reference point that serves talk. Ironically Category 7 cabling,
The higher the category, the better the as the focus application domain of a which evolved in the mid-1990s, fully

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:: DESIGN ::
supports the 10GBase-T alien cross- encoding of the line signal. When 100 meters. The Shannon capacity of
talk requirements and did not require ATM-622 was developed there was no a Category 6A channel is 18 Gbits/sec,
any modification in order to support task to match active equipment trans- while some advanced contemporary
the 10GBase-T application. Category ceiver parameters to those of the pas- systems using screened component
7 cabling, however, was not widely sive part of the communications chan- designs increase the Shannon capac-
accepted at the time the Institute of nel. The lack of optimization led to a ity values to between 30 and 40 Gbits/
Electrical and Electronics Engineers situation in which a Category 7 four- sec. Either cabling setup both guaran-
(IEEE; www.ieee.org) was developing connector, 100-meter channel was tees the normal functioning of the net-
the 10GBase-T standard. Plus, Category used for a little more than 10 percent work interface and ensures good cost
7’s higher performance is accompa- of the its theoretical 55-Gbit/sec chan- parameters of the cabling infrastruc-
nied by the aforementioned higher pri- nel capacity as calculated according ture solution as a whole. The most sig-
cetag, and Category 7 could not ensure to Shannon’s Theory. With such a low- nificant factor that defi ned the applica-
cost parameters required by practical percentage use of Category 7’s func- tion area of Category 7 solutions was
applications used in common general- tional capabilities, it is not surprising that the technology did not include an
purpose networks. For these reasons, that Category 7 does not measure up unscreened option.
as an economi-
cally advanta- Technical challenges
Data center permanent link lengths
geous option The 10-Gbit/sec Ethernet network
0.25
for 10-Gbit/sec interfaces use the potential capacity
0.20 transmission. of contemporary cabling channels to
From the data the highest degree. This achievement
0.15
presented in the was made possible by the application
0.10 chart on page 5 of a complex set of technical methods.
and the consid- Among them are the multilevel encod-
0.05
erations already ing intended to minimize the band-
0 made in this width of communications channels, the
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 >45
Permanent link length, m article, we can correcting and compensating mecha-
While permanent-link lengths in commercial buildings

draw a couple nisms used for separation of valid sig-
average around 40 meters, average links are significantly conclusions. nal and noise—known as noise-cancel-
shorter in data centers. Category 6A ling techniques—and some additional
technology more and similar techniques. However, the
Category 6A cabling standards have precisely matches the physical applica- tenfold increase in the transmission
emerged as the predominant cabling tion of structured cabling from the sys- rate of the 10-Gbit/sec Ethernet active
category in support of information tem-level point of view. networking equipment compared to its
transmission rates of 10 Gbits/sec. For relatively short link lengths and precursor required more than a four-
Regarding the emergence of transmission rates up to 10 Gbits/sec, fold increase of the line-signal spec-
Category 7 cabling in the mid- to late- balanced twisted-pair cabling and trum’s upper cutoff frequency. The pro-
1990s, these components were devel- components are a preferable option for portionality distortion in this case can
oped primarily to support 622-Mbit/ system users. be explained by the application of the
sec applications such as Asynchronous To comment briefly on the concept PAM-16 code in 10-Gbit Ethernet com-
Transfer Mode (ATM). ATM-622 did of “matching the field of application,” pared to the PAM-5 used in Gigabit
not use the parallel transmission tech- Category 6A was developed with the Ethernet.
niques used by Ethernet applications objective of supporting 10-Gbit/sec The operation of unscreened
and its performance is based on binary Ethernet signal rates up to distances of cabling channels in extended

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:: DESIGN ::
frequency ranges up to 500 MHz leads to the appearance of

significant inter-cable crosstalk, also known as alien cross-
talk. Consequently, that forced the application developers
once again to extend the list of transmission performance
parameters required to be controlled in the field in order to
commission the cabling. The new list included alien cross-
talk in both pair-to-pair and power-sum versions.
Applications for 10G

The typical user of the network resources provided by an IT
system is not able to adequately sense the flow of information
delivered at speeds beyond several dozen Mbits/sec. This
assumption is not likely to change in the near term. The fun-
damental requirement to increase transmission speeds up
to 1 Gbit/sec, suggested just 15 years ago and made a real-
ity at the turn of the century, has been taken off the agenda
of some IT users. The reason is that videoconferencing, the
most and some say the only compelling user application for
1-Gbit/sec transmission, has not obtained the anticipated
broad acceptance that was forecast some time ago.
It immediately follows that the focus field of applica-
tion for Category 6A technology becomes those structured
cabling segments that are not principally speed-limited by
human-computer interaction. Such segments naturally fit
in the backbone subsystems in conventional office enter- FuseConnect™ FAST™ Connectors
prise cabling as well as data center cabling. Therefore, we
conclude that the major application for which Category 6A
technology will be used on a mass scale is in data centers. Unique Design,
Category 6A deployment volume Unmatched Simplicity.
The results of theoretical calculations and cabling instal-
lation practices associated with commercial office cabling Reduce time and money with AFL’s FAST™ Connectors, pre-polished, field
systems provide estimated expenditures for the backbone installable connectors that completely eliminate the need for hand polishing
in the field. Proven mechanical splice technology ensures precision fiber
implementation in structured cabling systems at 15 to 20
alignment. SC, ST and LC only.
percent of the overall cabling cost. In the context of the IT
Utilizing a fusion splicer, AFL’s FuseConnect™ connectors feature just four
system architecture in general, data center cabling can be components while its innovative field termination process eliminates polishing,
considered as a remote projection of the classical structured adhesives and crimping. SC, SC APC, LC and keyed LC only.
cabling backbone subsystem. In data centers, structured
cabling links are used for connection of servers to switches
and mass storage devices; therefore the above-mentioned
percentage may be doubled.
The means intended for acquisition of optical equip-
ment should be excluded from the summary estimation.
Manufacturers of optical-fiber components quite often bring
www.AFLtele.com/go/connect
1.800.235.3423

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:: DESIGN ::
to focus as the strong counterweight Taking stock of these consider- near-end and far-end crosstalk perfor-
to somewhat worse economic param- ations, we can confidently assume mance, in pair-to-pair and power-sum
eters, the smaller energy consump- the quantity of balanced twisted- models, by approximately 10 dB.
tion of network interfaces, which is pair and optical fi ber links in the typi- The major advantage of the partial
critically important for data centers. cal data center cabling system will be screening technology is that cabling
Nevertheless, to use
this advantage in actual
practice is not possible
The average length of the permanent link in
for several reasons.
The data center
the data center is less than 30 meters.
structured cabling has
a distinctive feature important from approximately the same. Taking into may be installed per unscreened
the viewpoint of project implementa- account the higher cost of Category cabling installation rules, making the
tion, which, taking into consideration 6A components compared to Category requirement to provide a telecommu-
prevailing market rates, is the heavi- 6 (about 50 percent higher on aver- nications bonding and grounding sys-
est portion of the materials bill for both age), we obtain the total volume of the tem—which is effective at frequen-
components and labor. The key here is Category 6A market, by value, to be cies within the order of hundreds of
the average length of the permanent about one-third of the overall volume of megahertz—irrelevant.
link in the data center, which is less the Category 5e and Category 6 office Therefore, from a technical point
than 30 meters compared to a typical cabling systems market. of view, application of such partial
40-meter permanent link in large com- screening design concepts rather
mercial office buildings. Structured cabling evolution effectively solves the problem of cre-
Two major factors influence the In the process of Category 6A technol- ating necessary alien crosstalk head-
data center’s shorter permanent-link ogy development a number of innova- room, which cannot be ignored in the
length compared to that of the com- tive solutions were created that had upper half of the 10G Ethernet fre-
mercial office environment. First is how no parallels in the previous genera- quency range. From a practical point
compact the data center is as an archi- tions of structured cabling. One such of view, partial screening technology
tectural facility, which is by design development was the partial-screening is advantageous because its increased
because of the high cost of real estate. technique. The approach was applied crosstalk margins noticeably acceler-
Second is the inherent availability of to cabling products in the form of a ate and simplify cabling installation.
a large quantity of cabling pathways metallic fi lm screen with gaps in the The aforementioned shorter aver-
under the access floor as well as over- metal coating. The gaps prevent for- age permanent-link distances found
head cabling containment systems mation of current loops without imped- in data centers has caused the emer-
typically located above equipment cab- ing normal functioning of the screen at gence of a new technology that, from
inets. The ready availability of cable frequencies beyond 300 MHz. the perspective of its transmission
distribution systems within data cen- The addition of a metallic film performance, can be qualified unoffi-
ters facilitates pathways that provide screen to the construction of distribu- cially as quasi-Category 6A. Cabling
the shortest routes for cabling links. tion cables, outlet modules, patch cords components that are not in full compli-
With such short-length perma- and other equipment does not worsen ance with the requirements of the com-
nent links, the network equipment their mass or dimension parameters; mercial office building and data center
can work in short-reach mode in the it does, however, ensure the increased structured cabling standards, may in
majority of cases. In such situations, resistance to external interfering elec- fact still support the desired 10GBase-T
any optical interface loses its power- tromagnetic radiation. As a result, sys- application. The major deficient param-
consumption advantage. tems of this type increase their alien eters of such components are insertion

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:: DESIGN ::
loss (attenuation) and loop resistance. In spite of these per-

formance in adequacies, cabling channels built based on
quasi-Category 6A components provide the required signal
transmission quality at distances up to 60 meters, which by
a longshot exceeds the practical requirements of data center
cabling. Aside from that, the electrical-performance charac-
teristic loop resistance is closely associated with Power over
Ethernet and Power over Ethernet Plus. In the absence of PoE
or PoE Plus, loop resistance turns out to be irrelevant.
The significant gain from the quasi-6A components’ use
instead of the standards-based Category 6A products can be
a new
achieved because of these cables’ noticeably smaller sizes;
the average diameter is a little over 5mm or 0.2 inches. That world of
makes it possible to improve balanced twisted-pair cabling
mass and dimension parameters that are important for data unrivaled integrated
centers, and to considerably reduce the advantage of optical-
fi ber links.
solutions
It should be noted that current industry standards do not OCC is recognized as the gold standard in
consider in any manner the interrelationships between cate- an industry that demands speed, technology,
gory of cabling, link/channel length, and telecommunications and durability. Our expanded product offering
applications capacities. includes fiber optic and copper cabling, as well as
Based on the information we have researched and pre-
connectivity components designed for commercial,
sented in this article, we draw four conclusions about the
specialty, and harsh-environment applications.
deployment and use of Category 6A cabling systems. 1)
Category 6A technology is a product of transmission-perfor- We have broadened our scope, creating a single
mance parameter optimization between cabling and active source of integrated solutions for our customers.
networking equipment aimed at obtaining new properties
of the integrated product. 2) Category 6A technology has its
own explicit application niche, which is the lower hierarchy
level (i.e. horizontal cabling) within data centers. 3) Present
Category 6A solution volumes should have a steady growth
trend. In the near future they will be limited to about one-
third of the volume of Category 5e and Category 6. 4) In the
process of Category 6A development, a number of innova-
tive solutions were created and implemented in structured
cabling practices; these solutions may lead to revisions of
some fundamental positions of industry standards.
DR. ANDREY SEMENOV is director of business develop-

ment for IT structured cabling systems with IT Co. (www.
____
it.ru)
___ and head of the structured cabling systems faculty at
the Moscow Technical University of Communications and

Informatics. IGOR G. SMIRNOV is product manager for
Signamax Inc. (www.signamax.com). 800-622-7711 | Canada 800-443-5262
To learn more, visit occfiber.com or
call for a free catalog.

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the RJ-45 Barrier!
• Highest level of category 6A margin in the

industry for both UTP and shielded
• Simple termination process combines Best-

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Siemon’s Z-MAX 6A high performance consistency
• Patented PCB-based Smart Plug technology

brings unsurpassed performance optimization
into the patch cord
Siemon’s Z-MAX is an optimized end-to-end
• Patented/patent-pending Zero-Cross outlets
category 6A UTP and shielded system developed eliminate pair crossing/splitting to minimize
crosstalk
from the ground up to shatter the limitations of the
RJ-45 as we know it today. • Ultra High-Density 48-port , 1U Patch Panels
in both UTP and shielded
• Exclusive hybrid flat/angled outlet design

allows flat or angled mounting orientation
with one outlet
To learn more about other Z-MAX innovations, attend a Z-MAX™ webinar or view real
time termination videos visit: www.siemon.com/go/zmax
W W W . S I E M O N . C O M
___________________________

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:: INSTALLATION ::
Meeting 10GBase-S loss budgets

with MTP cassettes
travel down the fi ber, and due to inter-
modal dispersion not all pulses arrive
Third-party testing demonstrates at the destination simultaneously. This
flexibility in 10G network designs. characteristic, as well as other issues,
ruled out the use of OM1 and OM2
BY GARY BERNSTEIN, RCDD AND DENNIS MAINES, fi ber to support 10GbE.
The Institute of Electrical and
LEVITON NETWORK SOLUTIONS
Electronics Engineers (IEEE; www.
____
ieee.org)
_____ created the 10GBase-S (“S”
10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) introduces Multimode standards and challenges standing for short wavelength) multi-
a challenging 2.6-dB insertion loss For many years 62.5/125-μm (OM1) mode fi ber specification with the goal
limit on OM3 fi ber cabling. This tight and conventional 50/125-μm (OM2) of providing 10GbE operating dis-
limit has led some industry observers multimode fi ber have
to suggest it is not possible to meet the dominated shorter-dis-
standard using regular, as opposed to tance communications
low-loss, MTP cassettes. Some have applications, such as
also suggested it is not possible to within a building or on
run fi ber cabling the full 300-meter a single-site campus.
distance specified in the 10GBase-S The fi bers easily sup-
standard when using MTP cassettes, port applications rang-
whether those cassettes are standard ing from 10-Mbit/sec
or low-loss. Ethernet to Gigabit
This article will describe indepen- Ethernet. Their rela-
dent testing contracted by Leviton tively large core sizes
and conducted by Intertek Testing simplify connections
Services, to perform benchmark and are ideal for use
testing of OM3 fi ber system perfor- with low-cost light-
mance. The testing proved that the emitting diode (LED)
10GBase-S standards can in fact be transmitters.
met with the latest generation of OM3 With the introduc-
fi ber systems using standard MTP tion of, and demand
cassettes, up to the full 300-meter for, 10-GbE, typical in data centers, tances of 300 meters. Laser-optimized
length limit. In addition, the results the physical limitations and properties OM3 fi ber was specified in TIA-
show the ability of the tested system of multimode optical fi ber are being 492AAAC to support both the IEEE
to support migration to 40- and 100- severely tested. Multimode fi ber pro- standard and economical vertical-cav-
GbE applications. vides many allowable paths for light to ity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs)

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:: INSTALLATION ::
that operate at the 850-nanome- Test setup

ter and 1300-nm wavelengths. Fiber
Loss
Link in dB
that meets the standard delivers an Mandrel under test
effective modal bandwidth of 2000
MHz•km at a distance of 300 meters. Light
source Mated connector
conneector Mated connector
The TIA-568-C.0 standard allows pair with mating pair with mating Optical
adapter adapter power meter
for a maximum 2.6-dB insertion loss
and 300-meter length with OM3 fi ber The tests conducted by Intertek were set up as shown here, in accordance with
cabling systems. While manufacturers TIA-568-C.0 Generic Telecommunications Cabling for Customer Premises, Annex E:
frequently submit their copper cables Optical Fiber Field Test Guidelines.
for third-party testing to verify perfor-

mance that meets or exceeds applica- above the 2.6-dB limit. Undoubtedly, Putting fiber to the test
ble standards, they typically have not this explains why some vendors have How much headroom does a 50/125-
had fi ber cabling systems, including recommended that users stay well μm laser-optimized fi ber system actu-
OM3, tested. This lack of independent below the 300-meter standard-speci- ally provide relative to the specifica-
verification can leave designers and fied length limit. tion, and what is the impact to the
operators of OM3 fi ber networks uncer- network designer? To address these
tain what the true parameters are in
designing premises applications.
Configuration 1
300-meter
3300 meter chan
channel
el with 6 mated pairs
irs
For example, the maximum inser-
tion loss for MTP-LC cassettes or mod-
ules as stated in the TIA specification
is 1.5 dB. An unusually complicated— Core
Storage switch
but not extreme—configuration might equipment
consist of four cassettes with a total

of eight mated pairs. If each of these Configuration 1, set up as shown here, was a 300-meter channel with 6 mated pairs.
cassettes was at the headroom limit,

then the insertion loss of 6.0 dB would Configuration 2
53-meter channel with 8 mated p
pairs
exceed the allowable limit. Some ven-
dors have addressed this possibility
by offering low-loss cassettes. These
cassettes typically come at a cost pre-
Storage Server
mium of approximately 50% over stan- equipment equipment
dard cassettes.
Channels approaching the 300- Configuration 2, set up as shown here, was a 53-meter channel with 8 mated pairs.
meter maximum allowable distance

for 10GbE have the same potential Configuration 3
62-meter
662 meter chan
channel
nnel with 9 mated
matted pairss
issue. Insertion loss for OM3 cable is
typically 3.0 dB per kilometer. The TIA
standard allows 0.75-dB insertion loss
per connector mated pair. For exam-
Storage Server
ple, a 300-meter channel configura- equipment eequipment
tion with six mated pairs could have a
maximum insertion loss of 3.9 dB, well Configuration 3, set up as shown here, was a 62-meter channel with 9 mated pairs.

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:: INSTALLATION ::
questions, we at Leviton contracted

with Intertek Testing Services to test
our OM3 fi ber system including MTP
trunk cables, MTP-LC cassettes and
harnesses, MTP adapter brackets and
Premise Wiring
LC-LC OM3 patch cords. The testing CAT 6 • CAT 6a • CAT 7a
included three different OM3 channel Modular Plugs & Jacks
configurations, as follows.
300 meters, 6 mated pairs
All channels were set up and bidi-
rectionally tested with readings mea-
sured against maximum allowable
insertion loss as specified in TIA-
568-C.0, using Annex E guidelines.
Specifically, Intertek performed the for-
ward-direction link measurement by
placing a reference-quality jumper on
a Rifocs-brand optical meter and mea-
suring the link insertion loss by con-
necting the test jumper of the source
to one end of the cabling link, and
the test jumper of the meter to the
cabling link’s other end. Both ends of
the link were disconnected and the
ends were interchanged and recon-
nected to perform the reverse-direc-
tion measurements. Stewart Connector understands that specifying and sourcing quality
For Configuration 1, the 300-meter modular connectors for premise and campuswide communications
channel with 6 mated pairs, the aver- systems can be a tough job. Especially as technology, standards,
age maximum channel insertion loss and products continue to evolve. That is why we’ve engineered our
plugs and jacks to ensure your networks’ superior performance...
was 2.04 dB, providing a 0.56-dB mar-
today and tomorrow.
gin under the 2.6-dB limit.
For Configuration 2, the 53-meter PLUGS-CAT 3 to 7a JACKS-CAT 3 to 7a
channel with 8 mated pairs, the aver- • Shielded and Unshielded • Shielded and Unshielded
age maximum channel insertion loss • For Solid & Stranded Cable • Horizontal, Vertical, and Angled
• Polished Contacts for High Mounting Options
was 1.83 dB, providing a 0.77-dB mar- Insertion Life • Single and Multi-Port Designs
gin under the 2.6-dB limit. • Multiple Keying and Wire • PCB and Cable Mounted Designs
Management Options
For Configuration 3, the 62-meter
channel with 9 mated pairs, the aver-
age maximum channel insertion loss Stewart Connector
was 1.87 dB, providing a 0.73-dB mar-
gin under the 2.6-dB limit. www.stewartconnector.com • 717/235 -7512

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:: INSTALLATION ::
All three configurations were found OM3 fi ber channel performance, show systems provide a solid founda-
to comply with all applicable criteria substantial margin under TIA insertion for future installations of 40GbE
of the TIA-568-C.0 standard. The con- tion-loss limits for 10GbE using stan- and 100GbE. The IEEE approved the
nectors tested not only meet the maxi- dard cassettes. With the assurance 802.3ba standard in June 2010; it speci-
fies a maximum insertion loss of 1.9 dB
for 40/100GbE using OM3 cabling. The
It is clear that 10GbE specifications systems tested here are already right
on the border of meeting that specifica-
can be met without the additional tion, indicating that organizations will
be able to upgrade with either no or
cost of low-loss cassettes. very limited system changes.
GARY BERNSTEIN, RCDD is director

mum published performance require- of these results, network designers of product management, fiber and data
ments, but also the insertion loss have the freedom to use the complete center and DENNIS MAINES is senior
specifications spelled out in the table. 10GBase-S standard including dis- applications engineer, fiber and data
It is clear that 10GbE specifications tances up to 300 meters and the maxi- center, with Leviton Network Solutions
can be met without the additional mum number of specified connectors. (www.leviton.com). This article is based
cost of low-loss cassettes. These tests, In addition, the test results show on their white paper “Overcoming OM3
providing independent verification of that the latest-generation OM3 fiber performance challenges.”
OM4 is on the horizon. Get ready with LaserWave Fiber. ®
The future is here. LaserWave 550 fiber from OFS exceeds the requirements
of the new OM4 standard for high-speed networks. No multimode fiber offers
higher bandwidth for tomorrow’s 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s applications. And it’s
DMD-tested to deliver more than twice the bandwidth for lasers that launch
power in the fiber’s center. Enjoy fast, reliable transmission and easier connectivity.
To learn more, ask your cabler about OFS or visit ofsoptics.com/fiber.

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The Easiest Jack
Just Got Easier…..

• EZ Jack , pair-to-pair terminations, no splitting wires
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• CAT 6 P-Link up to 11.8dB NEXT headroom with ICC premise cables

• 15 Year end-to-end P-Link Warranty*, no certifications, no red tape
• JackEasy terminates and cuts in one push

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• Heavy duty steel body, yet cost less than the big brand plastic tools
• Sturdy base for easy push-down termination
• Works with ICC EZ & HD Jacks, both EZ and HD heads are included
“This is one impressive piece of hardware. Other punch-down tools

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ICC Elite Installers get free tools. Curious? Give us a call or e-mail us.
Jenne
Available at
SM 888.ASK.4ICC icc.com/cim mkt@icc.com
*When installed with ICC premise cables and tested per TIA specifications
© Copyright 2010, ICC.

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Innovation
meets
Application.
When Emcor creates new products, we develop them with a purpose in mind. As an industry leader in
the design, manufacture and integration of high-quality enclosures, Emcor offers a range of standard,
modified and custom products for any application. The only thing stronger than our enclosures is our
commitment to customer satisfaction. At Emcor, we see enclosures differently.
Emcor leads the market in premium enclosures by providing:

• Custom-engineered designs
• High-quality craftsmanship for durability and strength
• Products that can be modified for your application
Emcor enclosures are designed and manufactured by Crenlo.

507-287-3535 | www.emcorenclosures.com/innovative
We see enclosures differently.
© 2010 Delaware Capital Formation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. DOVER®, the DOVER® Logo, Crenlo®, the
Crenlo® Logo, and Emcor® are registered trademarks in the United States [and various other countries] of
Delaware Capital Formation, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dover Corporation.

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:: TECHNOLOGY ::
Intelligent building concept

hits close to home
Benson, global solution manager for
connected buildings with Panduit,
A vendor in the cabling industry walks the walk explained how the Connected Real
by building intelligence into its new headquarters Estate framework functions, and what
it accomplishes. “Every piece of infor-
facility. But what about the rest of the market? mation we can extract from the build-
ing is available on the Cisco network,”
BY PATRICK McLAUGHLIN
he said, “including air temperature, air
quality, humidity, energy consump-
The concept of intelligent buildings Built-in intelligence tion, light output and lighting needs.
can be likened to that of convergence. Cisco Systems (www.cisco.com) By enabling real-time monitoring of
As one industry veteran has stated equipment, including local area net- our electrical consumption, the Cisco
often, we have been six months away work (LAN) systems as well as the Connected Real Estate framework con-
from convergence for the past 15 years. Cisco Connected Real Estate frame- tributed to energy costs per square
Similarly, the idea of intelligent or con- work and several other systems, are foot that are $0.63 lower than the aver-
nected buildings, in which build- built into Panduit’s headquarters. age non-connected building, sav-
ing systems are able to communicate Cisco used the installation as one of ing $176,000 annually and more than
with each other through a common its customer case studies. In explain- $880,000 over five years.”
platform and consequently run highly ing the rationale behind going “intel- According to the two companies,
efficiently, has made logical sense ligent” as well as “green” with its new Panduit displays the 200 most impor-
for a long time. Yet it has rarely been building, Panduit’s vice president of tant metrics from building systems
implemented. global strategic marketing said, “One on a Web-based dashboard, which
Earlier this year, however, a provider of our motivations for constructing facilities personnel consult to monitor
of cabling products and systems and a a sustainable headquarters build- progress and spot anomalies. To auto-
proponent of intelligent buildings held ing was to minimize our power and mate notification about out-of-normal
itself up as an example of what can be cooling costs. More importantly, we conditions that might waste energy,
achieved with intelligent buildings. wanted to do the right thing for the Panduit is integrating certain sensors
Panduit (www.panduit.com) opened environment and society.” with the Cisco IP Interoperability and
its new 280,000-square-foot corporate Cisco explained that by Panduit Collaboration System. When a sensor
headquarters in Tinley Park, IL as a integrating all its systems on the same transmits an alarm, Cisco IPICS auto-
showcase for its products and technol- network, the company not only elimi- matically notifies appropriate person-
ogies and those systems’ benefits. As nates redundant network and opera- nel by sending a prerecorded voice
a result, the new corporate headquar- tional costs, but also enables auto- message to their phones.
ters is a LEED-certified building from mated business processes that reduce The type of all-encompassing com-
which the company says it is already costs, accelerate event awareness and munication and notification now in
reaping benefits. reduce energy consumption. Darryl place at Panduit’s new headquarters

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:: TECHNOLOGY ::
facility is the hallmark of intelligent Consequently, the Saudi Arabian Europe accounted for 37 percent.
buildings, touted by many and realized economy was expected to continue Asia and the Middle East collectively
by few. Why have so few building own- its steady growth, “which has had a accounted for 23 percent of installed
ers built intelligence into new facilities, knock-on effect on the building con- systems in 2008.
and is the uptake of intelligent build- trols market,” the researcher said. It European energy legislation is mak-
ings likely to change anytime soon? continued, “Between 2006 and 2008 ing a significant impact on this market,
the market grow by over 30 percent, according to the study. In particular,
Looking at the market with further investment and building the Energy Performance of Buildings
A peek into the market for intelli-
gent buildings might be accomplished
by reading the results of a market The European legislation Energy
research report, completed last year,
by BSRIA Proplan (www.bsria.co.uk). Performance of Buildings Directive is
The report examines the world market
for building controls and includes cov- making an impact on the market.
erage of what it describes as intelligent
building controls – environmental, projects in the pipeline. BSRIA’s report Directive—in place in the United
which it refers to as IBC(e). Overall the expects the market to grow by just Kingdom, Germany and France—
report indicates that, like the major- over 6 percent in 2009-2010. The prod- is making its presence known. “The
ity of markets worldwide, the eco- uct and service markets are expected new energy legislation is an impor-
nomic crisis has hampered growth in to experience the largest growth over tant driver behind the growth of these
the building controls market in many the period of 2009-2010, with 6.8 per- markets, as it demands that buildings
countries. From 2006 to 2008, the con- cent and 8.3 percent respectively. must be energy-saving and energy-
solidated world market had witnessed Drivers behind this healthy growth efficient,” BSRIA noted.
healthy growth rates of more than 7 include growth in new construction, Commenting on the types of users
percent. BSRIA Proplan anticipated including various new projects already deploying these systems, BSRIA noted,
negative growth last year and this. in the pipeline and significant spend- “Installation of IBC(e) products and sys-
Even so, the total global IBC(e) busi- ing on education and universities.” tems vary from region to region. Offices
ness reached a level of $18 billion in Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia and industrial buildings are dominant in
2008 and, as BSRIA Proplan explained and perhaps other Middle East nations Europe and collectively hold 43 percent
when announcing the report’s avail- are where the market is growing, the of the European market. A different sce-
ability, “The IBC(e) service and main- BSRIA Proplan study points out that nario is evident in the Americas where
tenance market remained buoy- the United States remains the larg- recent demand has been driven strongly
ant through this turbulent time with est single market for IBC(e) products. by education and other public build-
expected growth of 1.4 percent during It said, “Total manufacturer’s turnover ings. The Middle East market has been
2009-2010.” reached just over $14 billion world- driven by demand for IBC(e) products in
The report specifically points to wide in 2008; America accounted for offices and commercial and retail build-
Saudi Arabia as a bright spot. In that the largest share with 39 percent of ings, while in Asia offices and industrial
country, the government plays an the global market, closely followed by buildings have been the main segments
important role in the national econ- Europe, which enjoyed 37 percent of for installation.”
omy and continues to encourage pri- the total manufacturer’s turnover.”
vate sector investment, such as in the The United States is also the world’s Research and advocacy
electricity generation and transmission market-share leader in installed sys- In North America, a group that has
network, BSRIA Proplan explained. tems, accounting for 40 percent while taken the lead in promoting and

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:: TECHNOLOGY ::
researching intelligent building sys- evolving trends in building technology also seek to understand the influence
tems is the Continental Automated convergence with a particular empha- of current and emerging intelligent
Buildings Association (CABA; ____
www. sis on smart-grid infrastructure. Areas building technology solutions, with an
caba.org).
______ For years the group has of interest will include energy efficiency, analysis that considers commercializa-
researched and advocated the intel- renewable energy technology, information, market preferences and product
ligent building marketplace. Among tion-technology convergence and the acceptance.
CABA’s most recent initiatives is the integration of buildings with the smart The old joke about perpetually
North American Intelligent Buildings grid. being six months away from conver-
Roadmap research project, which is Research organization Frost & gence may go by the wayside. Many
being carried out by CABA’s Intelligent Sullivan (www.frost.com) will con- of today’s structured cabling sys-
and Integrated Buildings Council and duct the project on CABA’s behalf. The tems support converged applications,
new Research Program. project will investigate the current including IP voice and security sys-
The project will be designed to pro- and future direction of the intelligent tems. In many ways convergence is
vide a current snapshot of the intelligent building market in North America— now the “current” big thing. Intelligent
building industry in North America by the region holding the greatest share buildings remain the “next” big thing,
highlighting industry trends and met- of products and systems according and how soon they will emerge in
rics, and evaluating the prospects and to BSRIA Proplan’s recent research. greater numbers remains to be seen.
challenges that face numerous industry CABA’s project will uncover the oppor-
stakeholders. According to CABA, the tunities the market represents for par- Patrick McLaughlin is chief editor of
project will also execute a review of the ticipants within the value chain. It will Cabling Installation & Maintenance.
NextLAN AXi Copper Cabling System

The first UTP cabling system to guarantee 4dB of Alien Crosstalk isolation.
Visit NextLANsystems.com/copper/AXi for more information.
PERFORMANCE WITHOUT COMPROMISE

© 2010 Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc, and Superior Essex Inc. All Rights Reserved. D/10 3225

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Organize and manage your communications cable the easy way.

Cooper B-Line’s new RCM line answers all your everyday cable management needs.
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and captive mounting nuts for easy mounting. What’s more, they’re available in the most popular standard industry
sizes, as well as in “Value Packs” with two vertical managers and one rack packaged under a single part number to
simplify ordering and shipping. Discover even more benefits – including how to earn continuing education credits –
by visiting www.cooperbline.com/RCM-info now.
www.cooperbline.com/RCM-info

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:: DATA CENTER ::
Enclosures play a role

in high-density cable management
years. When we get into environments
that have larger switches and routers,
As part of an overall cable-management the turnover of that equipment is a lit-
system, the use of enclosures can either help tle longer, more like five to seven years.
But there is a misalignment between
or hurt airflow in high-density data centers. network equipment and the capacity of
cabling required. It is changing much
BY PATRICK McLAUGHLIN more rapidly than the physical layer
that is designed to support all these
Regardless of what you might hear on What that means to us is, not only migrating systems.”
national news outlets about sputter- are powering requirements going up
ing, not-yet-recovering real estate mar- exponentially, but also energy costs Helping or hindering?
kets around the country, one statement associated with it.” As an organization, she explained,
that was true pre-recession remains She pointed to a Gartner (www.
____ Legrand has examined some of the
true today: The real estate, or physical gartner.com) study that said energy
space, within a data center is a coveted costs from two racks fi lled with serv-
asset. Data center managers, whether ers can exceed $105,000 annually.
they operate collocation or stand- Macdonald then pointed out that this
alone facilities, are charged with fit- density raises challenges at the net-
ting the maximum possible computing work’s physical layer that, though
power within the physical space avail- potentially overlooked, can adversely
able. The consequences of this need affect a facility’s cooling techniques.
for higher-density computing power “What we’ve looked at historically,”
have been well documented, here and she noted, “over the past decade serv-
in many other places, and most dra- ers and storage equipment have typi-
matically include the huge task of man- cally been changed every two to five
aging heat loads within data center
facilities. This version of the N-Series TeraFrame
Lylette Maconald, training pro- network cabinet from Chatsworth
Products is engineered specifically to
gram manager with Legrand Ortronics
support the Cisco Nexus 7018 switch,
(www.ortronics.com), explained, while also supporting a mix of patch
“Because we’re trying to save space panels and fi ber enclosures above the
and maximize the physical real estate switch. The enclosure’s integrated
network switch exhaust duct captures
in the data center, the density in racks
and guides the hot exhaust from the
and cabinets has gone up signifi- side of the switch out the rear of the
cantly, averaging 20 servers per rack. enclosure, ideal for hot/cold-aisle setups.

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Flexible power solutions
elements of cable management that performance and provide a new level Layer Zero concept and brand name is
can threaten network performance. of stability to the network. This inno- in part an effort to bring more atten-
tion to that often-overlooked part of
a network. As such, part of the effort
According to Gartner, energy costs was to “defi ne ways we can provide
better practices that will support this
from two racks filled with servers can rapidly expanding communications
network.”
exceed $105,000 on an annual basis. Legrand boiled its fi ndings down
to seven elements—each
“This absolutely includes proper air- vative approach to network design of which provides either an
flow, so we’re not impeding the cool- emphasizes best practices in pathway opportunity to enhance, or
ing requirements. In addition to mini- and physical support design to maxi- a threat to deter from, a data
mizing impact on consumption of mize network performance in data center’s overall performance.
energy, we want to make sure we’re center or LAN environments.” Legrand The seven elements are as
allowing network equipment to work offers a set of products, including follows.
at its maximum bandwidth capacity, racks and cabinets from Ortronics, in Airflow management
and network performance is not its Layer Zero solution set. Network performance
impacted. We have flexible cable- Macdonald summarized some of Flexibility
management solutions available that what Legrand found through its analy- Energy efficiency
do support more energy-efficient envi- sis of data center management, which Density
ronments and can handle the density ultimately led to the creation of the Protection
being thrust upon us.” Layer Zero concept. “Often when we Scalability
Legrand has developed a concept look at large projects, particularly data Designers and manag-
called “Layer Zero,” something of a center environments, budgets are ers of data center cabling
takeoff on the fact that a cabling infra- pretty well protected when it comes systems can take a number
structure resides on a network’s layer to network equipment,” she said. “But of measures to help ensure
one, or physical layer, in accordance users start to try to conserve money that the physical infrastruc-
with the OSI network model. While in cable-management solutions. The ture—traditionally layer one
the cabling system supports network physical layer, including cable man- and also Legrand’s branded
operations, the hardware that supports agement and pathways, has always “Layer Zero”—at least do
the cabling system is at the heart of been seen as a necessary evil but not not harm a network’s perfor-
Layer Zero. Legrand describes the something that got much attention. mance and in many cases
concept as “a new foundation for the Now, we’re fi nding out that we’re cre- even improve it. The list is
OSI model to address the critical role ating air dams and having a negative long and includes eliminat-
that infrastructure plays in network effect on network performance.” The ing pathway overcongestion,

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wherever you need them.
proper selection of cable baskets or webcast seminar entitled “Can cabling

trays, proper routing of cables either really be green?” The webcast can be
overhead or under a raised floor, and seen and heard in its entirety at www.
____
management of cables and patch cablinginstall.com).

_____________
cords within the rack or enclosure

itself. (Editor’s note: The quotes from Network equipment considerations
Legrand Ortronics’ Lylette Macdonald Macdonald pointed out that less-than-
that appear in this article were taken ideal management approaches can
from a presentation she made during a lead to premature port failure on net-
work equipment: “Poor patch-cord
management has proven to limit cool
air getting to outside ports on net-
working equipment, which causes
early failure.” She also noted that every
incident of a patch cord being pulled
hard to the side of a vertical man-
ager, sometimes to stretch a cord to or
beyond its maximum length, can dam-
age the port within the equipment.
Having to repair or replace the port
because of poor cooling or poor patch-
cord management is a potentially
expensive risk.
Another enclosure-centric manage-
ment step that can be helpful relates
to switches that incorporate side-to-
side rather than front-to-back airflow.
When it comes to providing flexible,
Cisco’s Nexus 7018 switch is a prime
overhead, build-as-needed power to
example. Macdonald explained, “You
data centers, there’s no place we
can introduce air-handling baffles can’t reach. To learn about saving
that allow the support of passive air- time, labor and money, or to see for
flow with side-breathing equipment. yourself how easy it is to expand with
Making sure the hot air is routed away zero downtime, visit uecorp.com/CIM.
from the adjacent switch is very criti-

cal to managing the ambient tempera-
ture in the data center space.”

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:: DATA CENTER ::
Some of Legrand’s enclosures are Nexus 7018. This particular version captures and guides hot exhaust from
built with vertical cable-management of the N-Series TeraFrame is a wide- the switch’s side out the cabinet’s
pathways for exactly this purpose. framed enclosure that the company rear. By doing so, the enclosure con-
Recently, Chatsworth Products (www.
____ says supplies high-density thermal verts the switch’s side-to-side airflow
chatsworth.com) introduced a ver- management and physical support. into a front-and-rear airflow pattern.
sion of its N-Series TeraFrame network The enclosure includes an integrated This capability enables the Nexus
cabinet engineered specifically for the network switch exhaust duct that 7018 to be used in a hot-aisle/cold-
aisle configuration.
Overall the N-Series TeraFrame
enclosures are designed to both man-
age airflow and manage the cabling
that reside within them.
Macdonald said it is important for
professionals designing data cen-
ter pathways today to look forward,
toward what those pathways will have
to support in the future. “You’re look-
ing at applications 10 to 15 years down
the road,” that these pathways will
need to support, she asserted. “Today
we’re designing pathways to support
Category 6, 100Base-T, 1000Base-T
and now 10-Gig. As we get into
10-Gig, unified computing and 40-Gig
applications, we need to be shifting
between copper and optical fi ber. And
we’re looking at greater density for
patch cords.”
She provided a forward-looking
point to consider for those designing
systems today. “Looking at designs
that get the layer-one interface
between cabling and connectivity out
of the active networking and server
cabinets allows users to maximize
that space for proper and effective
cooling rather than introducing pas-
sive components that can block proper
airflow.” In other words, consider path-
ways that allow connectivity to reside
____________ outside the enclosure.
Network Test and Certification Patrick McLaughlin is chief editor of

Cabling Installation & Maintenance.

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:: SECURITY ::
IP camera evolution
is pushing network bandwidth
H.264. Also known as MPEG-4 or
Advanced Video Coding (AVC), “H.264
Advancements in the capabilities of surveillance allows us to lower the bandwidth
cameras can put structured cabling systems to the test. needed for a camera,” Saks explained.
“Less video-recording storage is
BY PATRICK McLAUGHLIN needed per camera, and it allows users
to go to higher resolution per cam-
If the recent projections of an analyst wirelessly capture overviews of very era,” he explained. Previous com-
studying the network-camera market large indoor areas, such as shopping pression technologies used for high-
are accurate, in just a few years the malls or casinos, as well as high detail resolution images, particularly JPG,
majority of network cameras sold will situations including close-ups on indi-
have megapixel capability. In a report vidual faces or items being checked
entitled “The World Market for CCTV out by a cashier.”
and Video Surveillance Equipment,” These high-resolution capa-
Gary Wong of IMS Research (www.
____ bilities are among the chief con-
imsresearch.com) concludes that 2014 tributors to the need for local area
will be the crossover year when mega- network (LAN) cabling systems to
pixel network cameras will account for have enough throughput capacity
more than half of all network cameras to handle surveillance video. In a
shipped. recent webcast seminar hosted by
New cameras with megapixel and Cabling Installation & Maintenance,
other capabilities are coming onto Aaron Saks, a senior product trainer
the market rapidly. Over the summer with Panasonic Systems Networks
Toshiba Surveillance and IP Video Company of America (www.pana-
________
(www.toshibasecurity.com)
__________________ introduced sonic.com/security) and Carol Oliver,
the IK-WB16A-W IP camera, a 2-mega- RCDD/ESS, marketing analyst with
pixel pan/tilt/zoom camera that is Berk-Tek, a Nexans company (www.
____
Toshiba’s IK-WB16-A-W IP camera
equipped with 802.11n wireless con- berktek.com),
________ discussed the emerg- might be the Frankenstein’s monster of
nectivity. The non-wireless version of ing capabilities being built into net- IP convergence. It is a 2-megapixel pan/
the camera is equipped with Power work cameras and the impact the situ- tilt/zoom camera that is equipped with
802.11n wireless connectivity, while the
over Ethernet functionality. ation is having on structured cabling
wired version has Power over Ethernet
When the camera was introduced, systems. functionality.
Toshiba’s director of sales and mar-
keting Sergio Collazo explained that H.264 compression consumed a lot of bandwidth. By low-
the camera’s megapixel resolution Saks described in some detail the hot- ering the bandwidth required for high-
“enables a single IK-WB16-A-W to test video-compression standard, resolution images, H.264 is allowing

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:: SECURITY ::
high-resolution image quality on sur-

veillance systems run over a LAN,
without those high-resolution images
choking the network’s throughput
capacity.
H.264 compression technology is
built into a camera, and that gave Saks
reason to provide several notes of cau-
tion during his presentation. He said
it is important for users to continue
choosing cameras based on the criteria
they have always used, including low-
light performance, lens type and power
requirements. While H.264 allows
higher frame rate and higher resolu-
tion, ultimately producing a better fi nal
output, it does not solve pre-existing
issues with a camera, Saks stated. “A measure up to the higher profi les in to lower-level profi les for reduced
poorly performing camera using H.264 terms of picture quality, noise reduc- data losses and quicker server-stream
will still yield a poor image,” he added. tion and other performance charac- switching.
“Many low-cost systems incorporate teristics. Following is an overview of High profi le: Broadcast and disc
H.264,” he said, noting that the simple the applications for which the profi les storage applications, typically used in
HDTV applications such as Blu-ray.
Used by some manufacturers of video
“Just because a camera says it is HD surveillance cameras.
Saks also addressed high-defi nition
does not necessarily mean it provides (HD) camera capabilities and poten-
tially sought to clear up some mis-
a better picture. Just a bigger picture.” conceptions about HD and megapixel
cameras. HD, he explained, multiplies
incorporation of this compression tech- are typically used and some qualita- the amount of storage and bandwidth
nology into a camera does not neces- tive information about each mode. The required because each individual HD
sarily elevate that camera to a better information is taken from the presen- image has more pixels than lower-size
level of image performance. tation Saks delivered. images. HD is actually a picture for-
Adding to the complexity is that Baseline profi le: Low-cost appli- mat—a combination of aspect ratio
there are multiple H.264 profi les, cations such as videoconferencing, and pixels. He then warned, “Just
not all of which perform the same. mobile applications and some security because a camera says it is HD, does
“There are four main profi les,” Saks cameras. Few tools are used and CPU not necessarily mean it provides a bet-
explained. “They are: baseline, main, requirements are low. ter picture. Just a bigger picture.”
extended and high.” He commented Main profi le: Broadcast and stor-
that lower-end devices without much age applications, though rarely used. Megapixel and HD
processing power, such as webcams, Extended profi le: Streaming Looking at HD and megapixel, he
may incorporate baseline profi ling. video; high compression capability. It pointed out that a 3-megapixel cam-
The lower profi les, he added, do not offers additional robustness compared era produces higher-resolution images

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:: SECURITY ::
than what is frequently referred to days worth of 24-hour video footage. better electrical characteristics,” she
as “full-HD”—HD1080P. Likewise, During his presentation, Saks also explained, adding that it is wise for a
a 1.3-megapixel camera produces discussed some other new capabili- user to install a better cabling system
higher-resolution images than an ties being built into IP cameras that if that cabling system will be used
HD720P camera. Saks suggested it is may not greatly affect the amount of well into the future, and if it is pos-
important for users to understand the bandwidth the cameras consume. sible that other devices will be added
differences between megapixel and Regardless of their direct impact on to the network and supported by that
HD characteristics, as well as their bandwidth, these features are mak- cable. She pointed out that compared
to Category 5e, Category 6 has “twice
the bandwidth and it performs better
Having better-quality cabling to in conditions such as heat or noise.”
Oliver presented results from sev-
ensure there are no dropped packets eral tests performed in-house. One
such test compared performance of
is important with H.264 compression. three cables at elevated temperatures.
The cables under test were Category
impact on bandwidth consumption, ing cameras more attractive and more 5e, Category 6, and “enhanced”
because these users are receiving a popular. He noted in particular that Category 6—a cable that is not at
number of messages about megapixel progressive-scan capabilities elim- the performance level of Category 6A
and IP—some of them mixed. inate blur in images with motion, but performs with headroom over the
Saks summarized by saying there is whereas interlace-scan technology Category 6 specifications. Not surpris-
no single “best” compression system can yield blurry images. ingly, the better-rated the cable, the
and that the most appropriate system fewer errors it produced at elevated
for a given environment is application- Cabling’s role temperatures.
specific. For example, scenes with Finally, he teed up a discussion of Other tests pitted a premium
many flashing lights or changing col- high-performance cabling systems by Category 6 cable against a minimally
ors are not well-suited for H.264. Still, explaining that bad cabling, or poorly compliant Category 6 cable, both sup-
H.264 compression technology has the installed cabling, can have a real porting baseband video, and a stan-
ability to dramatically decrease fi le effect on systems that use H.264 or dard-compliant Category 6 against
size and corresponding bandwidth as MPEG-4 compression. That is because a non-standard-based twisted-pair
well as storage capacity. He gave the the technology uses previously deliv- cable, both supporting video with
example of the data stream coming ered frames as references. “If a certain electrical interference nearby. Neither
from a 1.3-megapixel video surveil- packet gets lost, those changes will test yielded any surprises, with the
lance camera running at 10 images per continue to propagate until you get to better-performing cable performing
second. Using JPG compression, the the next reference frame,” he explains. fi ne and the minimally compliant and
data stream from that camera would “Having better-quality cabling to non-compliant cables failing to deliver
consume 13 Mbits/sec of through- ensure there are no dropped packets is the video stream consistently.
put. Storing 30 days worth of 24-hour- important in the H.264 world.” As manufacturers of network cam-
per-day video from the camera would In her presentation during the eras add capabilities to their devices,
require 4.5 terabytes of capacity. webcast seminar, Berk-Tek’s Oliver LAN managers will have more band-
Using H.264 compression, the same covered several topics, including width-consuming devices to handle.
stream from that camera would con- the benefits of installing better-per-
sume 1.5 Mbits/sec of throughput and forming cable such as Category 6 Patrick McLaughlin is chief editor of
0.5 terabytes of storage capacity for 30 over Category 5e. “Category 6 has Cabling Installation & Maintenance.

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:: EDITOR’S PICKS :: C OMPILED BY PATRICK McL AUGHLIN
Copper prices, FEP supply could is commonly called Teflon, the way facial tissues are
drive up cable costs commonly called Kleenex and the things we stick too
The steady rise in copper prices over the past 24 months, far into our ears are commonly called Q-Tips. Teflon is
coupled with recent changes in the FEP supply avail- Dupont’s trade name for FEP, but cable manufacturers
able to cable manufacturers, could soon drive up the get FEP from two other suppliers as well: Daikin and
price of UTP cable as well as other twisted-pair cable Dyneon. At least, for now. Dyneon is exiting the FEP
constructions. market early next year.
A steadily upward price trend for copper has occurred One of the three FEP suppliers packing up its gear
since the bottom fell out of the worldwide economy two to leave the market comes at a time when the produc-
years ago. tion of a key raw material used to make FEP has fallen off.
A more recent turn of events affecting the supply of Fluorspar production is reported to have contracted 16 per-
fluorinated ethylene propylene - FEP - is likely to have a cent last year.
greater impact on the cost to cable manufacturers of pro- (This is the part where I start to blame China.)
ducing twisted-pair cable and quite possibly the cost to A report from the United States Geological Survey indi-
consumers that buy it. Dyneon, one of three suppliers of cates that China dwarfed all other countries in its mine
FEP to cable manufacturers, announced it is exiting the production of fluorspar in 2008 and 2009. The report says
FEP business early next year. That will leave Daikin and that in June 2009 “the United States had requested World
Dupont as the two FEP suppliers to the cable industry. Trade Organization dispute settlement consultations with
Overall, fluorine-based products including FEP have China regarding China’s export constraints on numerous
risen in price throughout 2010. All three FEP suppli- important raw materials. The dispute concerned China’s
ers have already increased the prices they charge cable policy that provides substantial competitive advantages
manufacturers for the material and have suggested that for the Chinese industries using these raw materials
another price increase is looming. They also have lim- inputs, including fluorspar.”
ited or allocated the supply of FEP to cable manufacturers, For comparison’s sake, China produced 3.25 million
although no cable manufacturer has stated that they either metric tons of fluorspar in 2008 and 3 million in 2009.
currently have or foresee a shortage that would delay their United States production for those years, combined,
production of cable. totaled a big fat zero. The report also indicates that China
Still, signs point to the potential for a price increase. has 21 million metric tons of fluorspar in reserve. The
U.S.’s reserve is equal to its 2008 and 2009 output. What
Why China’s to blame for FEP-supply situation was that number again? Oh, right. Zero.
For several years China’s ravenous consumption rate of That may change, however, as in mid-August WKMS
just about everything has made an impact on supply- in Kentucky reported on the opening of what it says is the
and-demand levels of, well, just about everything. In the fi rst fluorspar mine to go online in the U.S. in 20 years. In
past we have reported about the price of copper being the story Michael Miller of the USGS, who authored the
affected by China’s consumption of the metal for its aforementioned report, explained that China exported
infrastructure builds. approximately 200,000 of the 3 million tons it produced
Immediately above, we report on the double- last year. He told WKMS, “It basically boils down to
whammy that we expect will increase the price of they’re not exporting it because they’re consuming most
twisted-pair copper cable soon. In addition to the of it domestically in China.”
steadily rising price of copper over the past cou- China consumes like a teenager with an overactive
ple years as well as recent news of its expected fur- pituitary gland. Don’t those teenagers usually enter
ther price jump, the supply of FEP has become an some kind of rebellion period that can wreak havoc on a
issue within the cable manufacturing industry. FEP household?

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:: EDITOR’S PICKS ::
Snake Tray implements and as a company we want to prac- 40-Gbit Ethernet. A Cat 7 spec would
all-solar manufacturing tice green principles in the way we help that cause.
Cable-management product provider operate. This is a giant step toward But also, a TIA Cat 7 spec will indi-
Snake Tray has taken its manufac- achieving this goal.” cate to North American users of struc-
In conjunction with its off- tured cabling systems that Category
the-grid initiative, Snake Tray 6A is not the end of the line for twisted-
introduced two lines of solar pair cabling capabilities. That may
products: the Solar Snake Tray, increase users’ willingness to pur-
which is an all-weather hand- chase Cat 6A, knowing that twisted-
bendable cable conveyance pair cabling has a future beyond it.
system; and industrial and When the Cat 6A spec was finalized,
residential solar panel mount- cable suppliers saw a boost in their
ing racks. Cat 6 sales. The aforementioned sug-
turing operations off the power grid, gestion that users were more willing
using solar energy exclusively to oper- TIA Cat 7 spec may be to buy Cat 6 knowing their migration
ate its manufacturing plant in Bay on the horizon path could eventually continue to Cat
Shore, NY. Snake Tray installed hun- A source with connections to the 6A is one point to consider. Another
dreds of photovoltaic panels on the roof Telecommunications Industry is that with Cat 6A ratified and there-
of its United States factory. The com- Association’s TR-42 Engineering fore viewed as a real standard by many,
pany said it expects to produce 100 Committee says that sometime next there likely was some hesitancy on the
percent of its load and 120 percent of year, the group may take up an issue part of consultants to specify Cat 5e
its energy consumption annually. it has long tabled - the development of cable, which was then two generations
Roger Jette (pictured), Snake Tray’s specifications for Category 7 twisted- behind the best-available standardized
president, says, “We are commit- pair cabling systems. twisted-pair technology. Likewise, if a
ted to providing our customers with Category 7 and Category 7A specs Cat 7 spec comes to fruition, then Cat
cost-effective green products for cable have been part of the ISO 11801 6 cabling will be two steps rather than
management and power distribution cabling specs, which are recognized one step behind the best-available
as an international cabling stan- twisted-pair technology. With that in
dard whereas the TIA-568 series of mind, do not be surprised if there is a
:: BULLETIN BOARDS standards serves North America. decent level of support for Cat 7 within
Apparently an effort by some mem- TIA sometime soon.
bers of TIA TR-42 would have that
organization adopt the ISO Cat 7 White space WiFi research
specs just about verbatim. underway at Rice
There are a few practical reasons Researchers at Rice University have
why supporters of the effort would received a $1.8 million grant from
want the TIA to take on a Cat 7 stan- the National Science Foundation to
dard. Several cabling manufacturers test white space WiFi - the use of a
have been vocal in their support of broad spectral range including dor-
using shielded twisted-pair cabling mant broadcast television channels
systems for high-speed applications to deliver broadband Internet service.
such as 10GBase-T. Some of those The five-year project pairs Rice with
_________ same companies have begun to drum Houston nonprofit group Technology
up interest in a “Base-T” version of For All; they will add white space

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SHOWCASE ::
technology to the wide-spectrum WiFi network they
already jointly operate in a Houston neighborhood.
Lin Zhong, an assistant professor at Rice and a co-prin-
cipal investigator in the research project, says one area of
study will be to determine how the combination of white
space and WiFi can help users extend battery life and get
improved reception. The research will also examine poten-
tial energy savings derived from powering down WiFi
nodes and covering large portions of the network with a
small number of white-space transmitters during off-peak
hours. Zhong says, “White space and WiFi have quite com-
plementary characteristics. While a WiFi node can provide
a higher data rate, a white space node can cover a much
larger area. The project will study how a dynamic network
architecture can combine these strengths.”
White space refers to the unused frequencies that are
set aside for television broadcasters. Currently WiFi net-
works operate in frequency ranges unlicensed by the
Federal Communications Commission; the existing Rice-
TFA network operates in frequencies between 900 MHz
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and 5 GHz. The recent NSF grant will allow research- 3-in-1 tape combines cable-pulling functions
ers to deploy WiFi in the licensed but unused TV spec- L.H. Dottie Company is now offering its 3-in-1 Premise
trum between 500 and 700 MHz. According to research- Muletape. The company says the high-quality pulling tape
ers, the new network will dynamically adapt its frequency substantially reduces cable-installation labor, material, and
use to meet the coverage, capacity and energy-efficiency inventory costs by providing threading line, measuring tape,
demands of the network and its users. and winch line all in one product.
“Engineers often refer to the UHF frequencies between The prelubricated tape reduces friction levels and
500 and 700 megahertz as being the beachfront property eliminates duct cutting, a common issue with conven-
of spectrum,” said Edward Knightly, principal investiga- tional polyester ropes rubbing against conduit walls,
tor on the project and a professor of electrical and computer says the company. Lower elongation reduces pulling
engineering at Rice. “As many WiFi users know, you don’t time, improves safety for workers, and prevents crushed
have to move very far before you drop out of a hotspot. Low- capstans.
frequency TV signals are different. One more wall or one The material is lightweight and easily blown through
more tree is not going to push you beyond the reach of the conduit or innerduct. Accurate sequential footage markings
network. That’s why rabbit-ear antennas served most of the enable monitoring of cable location during a pull, eliminat-
country quite well before cable and satellite came to domi- ing the need for measuring tapes and indicating exactly
nate the market. ... The use of white space should elimi- how much tape remains on the roll.
nate many of the problems related to WiFi dead zones so the The 3-in-1 Premise Muletape is available in two variet-
overall user experience should improve.” ies: PMT1300, which is 1300’ in length and rated at 1800
The grant money will pay for development and testing of pounds of strength; and PMT4500, which is 4500’ in length
custom-built network gear and user devices. and rated at 400 pounds of strength.
INDEX OF ADVERTISERS
AFL Telecommunications LLC ......................................................7
Anixter, Inc. ................................................................................ 3
ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES Bel Stewart Connector ..............................................................13
MAIN OFFICE 98 Spit Brook Road LL-1, Nashua, NH 03062-5737
(603) 891-0123, fax: (603) 891-9245 Berk-Tek ................................................................................... C4
Byte Brothers ............................................................................24
Group Publisher Susan Smith Austria, Eastern Europe,
(603) 891-9447 Germany, Northern Switzerland Cooper B-Line .......................................................................... 20
susans@pennwell.com Holger Gerisch
Associate Publisher/ +49 8801-302430 Corning Cable Systems ............................................................ C2
National Sales Manager/ fax: +49 8801 913220
holgerg@pennwell.com Crenlo LLC ................................................................................16
Reprints Ed Murphy
(603) 891-9260; India Rajan Sharma Data Comm for Business ...........................................................31
fax: (603) 891-9245 +91 11 686 1113
edm@pennwell.com fax: +91 11 686 1112 Diamond Ground Products, Inc. .................................................31
Director, List Sales Bob Dromgoole rajan@interadsindia.com
Fluke Networks, Inc. .................................................................31
(603) 891-9128; Israel Dan Aronovic
bobd@pennwell.com +972 9 899 5813 ICC Premise Wiring ....................................................................15
aronovic@actcom.co.il
INTERNATIONAL Asia Adonis Mak
Leviton Network Solutions .....................................................4, 19
U.K. & Scandinavia Tony Hill +852 2 838 6298
+44 0 1442-239547
Live Wire and Cable .................................................................. 30
fax: +852 2 838 2766
tonyh@pennwell.com adonism@actintl.com.hk OFS Optics ................................................................................14
France, Netherlands, Japan Manami Konishi
Belgium, Andora, Greece, Optical Cable Corp. ..................................................................... 9
+81 3 5771 8886
Spain, Portugal, Western fax: +81 3 5771 8887 Siemon Company ......................................................................10
Switzerland manami.konishi@ex-press.jp
Luis Matutano Universal Electric Corporation .............................................22-23
+33 1 39 66 16 87 Taiwan Cindy Yang
fax: +33 1 39 23 84 18 +886 2 2396-5128 #246
luism@pennwell.com fax: +886 2 8751 8861 The index of advertisers is published as a service, and the publisher
cindy@arco.com.tw does not assume any liability for errors or omissions.

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BECAUSE YOUR BUSINESS RUNS THROUGH US

For extended distances and power reliability,

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You need it. You want it.

Anyone who has used a DTX knows

it’s the best. It’s the cable tester of

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SOLUTIONS FOR PREMISES AND CAMPUS

DATA CENTER PAGE 21

Cable prices going up

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OCTOBER 2010 | VOLUME 18 NO. 10

ABOUT THE COVER

17 Intelligent building concept

TECHNOLOGY GROUP SECURITY

www.cablinginstall.com Cabling Installation & Maintenance OCTOBER 2010 1

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On expectations, met and unmet

2 OCTOBER 2010 Cabling Installation & Maintenance www.cablinginstall.com

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This data center is This data center is

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Building blocks for the

One company, every solution.

Rely on our data center specialists for technical support, including

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Considerations to make before

www.cablinginstall.com Cabling Installation & Maintenance OCTOBER 2010 5

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While permanent-link lengths in commercial buildings

6 OCTOBER 2010 Cabling Installation & Maintenance www.cablinginstall.com

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frequency ranges up to 500 MHz leads to the appearance of

Applications for 10G

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8 OCTOBER 2010 Cabling Installation & Maintenance www.cablinginstall.com

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loss (attenuation) and loop resistance. In spite of these per-

DR. ANDREY SEMENOV is director of business develop-

the Moscow Technical University of Communications and

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the RJ-45 Barrier!

• Highest level of category 6A margin in the

• Simple termination process combines Best-

• Patented PCB-based Smart Plug technology

• Exclusive hybrid flat/angled outlet design

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Meeting 10GBase-S loss budgets