A data center is a fundamental part of any business where IT forms the primary backbone of it. In most data centers, backing up of information takes place here, networking and connections of various systems and computers, management of different system utilities like printers, sharing of information and files, among so many other functions.
As it becomes an integral part of the firm, cabling is one aspect that the network architecture should take precaution when installing them. Our article tries to explain some fundamentals of wiring within any data center.
- The architect should have the blueprint of the building when building
When the architect begins his work, he needs to have an understanding that the chamber will (of course) be the home to servers. The client should give him or her all the design fundamentals before he or she begins to build it.
One reason for doing this is that cables will need some pathways to run in and out of the servers. In this case, the designer has to ensure that he leaves space for both overhead and raised floor cabling design. Additionally, he will also create vents within the pathways, which is essential for getting rid of heat within the cables.
- Leave room for future expansion
As you now know, many companies are growing and their demand to get a data center continues to increase. Additionally, if you own a virtual organization, you will need more space when your client base continues to rise.
Therefore, experts insist that it is okay to think about the future while creating the center. Install the cabling infrastructure in such a way that it will be easy to make changes if required. The network designer should provide structured cabling solutions, which are less costly to install than the unstructured one.
- Avoid cable spaghetti
In the past, installation of cables did not have a protocol to follow. It was, therefore, difficult to create extra pathways. Also, it was costly to make any changes within any rack unit. In other words, it is as if the cables run through the different groups aimlessly.
People noticed that the problems with this were that they had to incur extra costs, and worst of all, it was difficult to get rid of the heat within the cables because they were so close to each other. With the structured system, cooling the wires is no longer an issue, and this reduces downtime because it is easy to find where the problem is.
- Go for the standardized cables
As in any industry, you should purchase cables approved by the Telecommunications Cabling Systems Engineering Committee. Most popularly used include copper and fiber optic cables. Fiber optic is the new technology cables that use light.
Low standard cables can affect signals, which mean that clients will experience many network problems. With the high-quality ones, you will have fewer downtime sessions, low installation costs, and gives room for future trends.
- Fiber optics is the best
As mentioned earlier, the best cables feature fiber optics and copper. Now, fiber cables use light to pass through signals while copper cables use electromagnetic waves. Nevertheless, of the two, fiber cables are the best.
They send signals at a fast rate. You are sure of fast connection speeds, and more so, the amount of electromagnetic interference within fiber optic is lower than in the copper cables. Moreover, these optic cables are suitable for a longer distance while copper is a go-to cable for short distances.
