High Speed Data Transport Feature Editorial
August 26, 2010
Panduit Proposes OM4 Fiber Optic Cabling to Reach 150 Meters
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
Panduit, a developer and provider of Unified Physical Infrastructure-based solutions, has announced its full agreement with the IEEE’s (News - Alert) inclusion of OM4 fiber optic cabling as physical layer option within the IEEE802.3ba, 40/100G Ethernet standard. The Tinley Park, Ill.-based company was considered a key contributor in the development of this recently ratified standard.
Formed in December, 2007, the 802.3ba study group’s key focus was to develop a standard to support 40Gig and 100Gig Ethernet data rates. While the initial draft specified only OM3 fiber and a maximum reach of 100 meters, Panduit determined through extensive research that next generation OM4 fiber would be able to reach 150 meters.
This increase would support a large percentage of links within a data center, expanding capabilities, design flexibility and performance. To make this possible, a technical comment needed to be submitted against the draft standard to include OM4 fiber. The comment was submitted by Dr. Rick Pimpinella, Distinguished Engineer in Panduit Laboratories and a voting member of the 802.3 committee. Technical comment #217 stated, “Based on growing customer demand for high performance multimode fiber, OM4 should be included as a fiber type option for 40/100Gig.”
According to Panduit officials, key industry leaders then came forward with their support of Panduit, representing equipment manufacturers, ranging to optical module providers. With such support and proven viability of the upgrade, the proposal to include OM4 fiber was presented to the IEEE task force and adopted without opposition.With increased link margins and flexibility in the design, the benefits of OM4 fiber include higher network reliability. The solution also addresses an additional 60 percent of the links in the core-to-distribution channels and in access-to-distribution channels when compared with OM3. This enhanced capability is expected to drive rapid adoption in the market.
The physical infrastructure is under increasing demands, especially as virtualization, consolidation and convergence continue to intensify. Next-generation networking architectures are designed to deliver enhanced performance characteristics and capabilities in an effort to help reduce the risks associated with availability, reliability and agility. With OM4 Fiber Optic cable and connectivity solutions from Panduit, customers can enjoy performance and reliability not found in other offerings. Cutting-edge fiber technology and comprehensive pre-testing are part of Panduit’s High Speed Data Transport Solutions for the optimized physical infrastructure.
Panduit’s UPI approach is the vision behind solutions that are designed to provide enterprises with the capabilities to connect, manage and automate communications, computing, power, control and security systems for a smarter, unified business foundation.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Erin Harrison
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