Category Archives: Copper Network

Cat6 Cables for Data Center Applications

The trend in network has always been leaning towards the higher bandwidth. Upgrading to a Cat6 cables (including Cat6a) system can ensure transmission speed and sustained performance for processing needs. Especially for data centers, investing into a higher-grade system will increase the network’s capacity and performance.

Cat6 Cables Overview

Conformed with EIA/TIA/IEEE standards, Cat6 cabling system includes patch cables, pre-terminated trunk cables, and bulk cables. For most first-class suppliers, their Cat6 Ethernet cables, involving Cat6a ethernet cables have 100% passed the Fluke Test, and deliver a specified testing report. Generally, Cat6 network cables adopt oxygen-free copper conductor with high electrical conductivity and low signal transmission attenuation. Being backward compatible with all the previous categories, cable UTP Cat6 and cable SFTP Cat6 both can be used to support up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet speed, and operate at up to 250MHz (Cat6a at 500MHz).

Cat6 Patch Cables

 

Cat6 Ethernet patch cables consist of Cat6, Cat6a, and slim Cat6 patch cables. According to length like 100ft Cat6 Ethernet cable, color, cable jacket, and shielding type, different Cat6 can be found in the market. Usually, the conductor of Cat6a and Cat6 shielded cable is 26AWG. The Cat6 unshielded cable is 24AWG, and the slim Cat6 is 28AWG. With a transmission distance up to 100m, Cat6 patch cables are widely used in data centers, network cabinets, offices to connect any data transmission equipment, such as PoE switches.

Cat6 Patch Cables

Figure 1: Cat6 Patch Cables

Cat6 Pre-terminated Trunk Cables

 

For Pre-terminated trunk cable, UTP Cat6 and SFTP Cat6a are available. Altogether, there are plug to plug type and jack to jack type can be found in the market. Generally, the conductor of jack to jack type is 23 AWG, while the plug to plug type is 26AWG. When it comes to the Cat6 cable price per meter, the plug to plug Cat6 cable price and Cat6a cable price are much higher than jack to jack types like jack to jack Cat6 UTP price. As for applications, Cat6 pre-terminated trunk cable assemblies are used to improve efficiency and reduce labor cost and waste in large infrastructures with high-density cross-connection and patching systems.

Cat6 Pre-terminated Trunk Cables

Figure 2: Cat6 Pre-terminated Trunk Cables

Cat6 Bulk Cables

 

Complied with IEEE 802.3af and IEEE 802.3at for PoE applications, most Cat6 bulk cables (including Cat6a) are about 1000ft (305m) lengths with spools. Their conductors are about 23 AWG. This Cat6 cable type is premium cabling designed for Cat6 or Cat6a applications, such as connecting an Ethernet wall jack to a router, patch panel or switch. With fast transmission and excellent signal quality, it ensures peak performance through your LAN.

Cat6 Bulk Cable

Figure 3: Cat6 Bulk Cable

Cat6 Cabling Application in Data Center

As we mentioned in the previous part, Cat6 cables consist of patch cables, pre-terminated trunk cables, and bulk cables. Each Cat6 cable type has its own features, which can be deployed into different scenarios. Here, we will take the integrated cabling of Cat6 pre-terminated trunk cable and Cat6 Ethernet patch cable types as a case to demonstrate its application in data center.

Cat6 Cabling Solution Case:

 

Cat6 Cables Data Center Application

Figure 4: Cat6 Cables Data Center Application

As the Cat6 wiring diagram shown above, we can find in this scenario, there are two racks in this data center needed to do cabling. And in each side, there is one FS S3900-24T4S switch. In that case, the first thing you need to do is to consider how to do Cat6 wiring and what’s the Cat6 wire order. Firstly, for the switch connection, the regular Cat6 patch cables will be used undoubtedly. As for connecting the two racks, the jack to jack trunk cable is suggested to use to do cross-connection. After that, cable managers and cable ties are recommended to deploy to keep the cables organized effectively. For suggested products list, you can refer to the following chart.

Suggested Products:

 

 Products List

Figure 5: Products List

Conclusion

As a cost-effective solution, Cat6 cables have been widely applied in all kinds of 1G/10G networks, especially in data centers. How to have a flexible and economically cabling system matters a lot to data center users. Hope this article can give you some inspirations.

Can A Computer Connected to the PoE Switch?

The PoE switch is commonly used in various networks. It can be low-cost unmanaged edge switches with a few ports or complex multi-port rack-mounted units with sophisticated management. When used in small or home networks, many people may wonder if it can be connected directly with a computer. This post will discuss how to build a PoE connection between the PoE switch and the computer.

What Are PoE and PoE Switch

Before the discussion, it is necessary to have a basic understand of what are PoE and PoE network switch:

PoE

As demands for connection from networking devices such as IP phones, IP cameras and access points increase, deployment complexity and cost rise as well. For less cable usage and investment, Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology is developed to provide both data connection and electrical power to devices through just one Cat5/Cat5e/Cat6 cable.

PoE Switch

PoE switch is a network switch that has Power over Ethernet injection built-in, which can transmit both power and data through an Cat5/Cat5e/Cat6 Ethernet cable at the same time. This kind of switch makes it easy for different sectors to deploy powered devices like VoIP phones, wireless access points and IP surveillance cameras in challenging places like ceilings, walls, outdoors, or wherever electrical outlets are not easily available.

poe connection

Can A Computer Connected Directly to the PoE Switch?

As shown below,PoE switch usually have the same RJ45 port as a computer. So many people will think they can be connected directly. But do not forget that PoE switch may also transmit electrical power through the RJ45 port and Cat5/Cat5e/Cat6 cable to the computer. Then can a computer be connected directly to the PoE switch? This is largely depend on the switch you have:

poe switch

If you have a PoE switch that conforms to 802.3af (the PoE standard) or 802.3at (the PoE Plus standard) and doesn’t claim to be “passive”, you can definitely build a PoE connection between the PoE switch and the computer. This is because this kind of PoE switch has the function of PoE detection which is designed to avoid damage to non-PoE devices. In other words, when you connect other network devices to your PoE switch, it will communicate with the these devices whether they need power or not. Power is only injected if and when this negotiation is successful. Ethernet devices such as phones and access points are detected by the switch as accepting PoE and will receive the additional power feature from the PoE switch/port. Whereas a computer and other non-PoE devices will not be detected as having PoE capability and will just use the data communications features of the port.

computer connect to poe switch

However, there exists a class of PoE switches, usually referred to as “passive” or “always on”, which supply power without PoE detection. Why would anyone do this? Because this kind of PoE switch is significantly cheaper. Whether it damages your device depends on the voltage of the passive PoE switch and your devices. For a computer, it may be damaged for excessive voltage or current.

Conclusion

PoE switch is a dedicated device that contains multiple Ethernet ports to provide power and network communications. It is usually used in NVR/IP camera networks. For small or home networks, if you want to connect a computer to the PoE switch, make sure your switch follows the standard 802.3af or 802.3at PoE requirements. So can you connect a computer directly to your PoE switch?

Related Article: Using 8-Port PoE Switch for IP Surveillance

10G Ethernet: 10GBASE-T or 10G SFP+?

10GBASE-T has been available as an add-in card in servers, switches and network interface cards (NICs) since 2008, and it has been widely adopted since 2012. It is highly praised for its advantages which include lower cost than 10G fiber, cost-efficiency of using existing MAC (Media Access Control), easier migration from 1GBASE-T to 10GBASE-T, and the ability to deliver PoE (Power over Ethernet). Does that mean we should all turn to use 10GBASE-T now? And what are the 10GBASE-T cable requirements? Every application differs, let’s see some specific cases in short-reach applications.

10G copper or fiber

Where Can 10GBASE-T Be Used?

When building a 10G network, the link can be either copper or fiber. If using 10GBASE-T cable, the places are required to be in the Data Center or Horizontal areas (in building, including wiring closet). But it is not suited for Vertical (riser links) applications within building, or campus & metro applications.

Cases for 10G Ethernet Connections

Case 1: Connecting a switch with only SFP+ ports to a switch with only 10GBASE-T ports.

10GBASE-T cable 1

When the distance of these two switches are less than 30 m, which is the max. link distance for 10GBASE-T copper SFP+ module, the desired connection for them can be made by using a 10GBASE-T module and a Cat6a cable. It’s the simplest solution for this case.

Case 2: Connecting two switches with only 10GBASE-T ports.

10GBASE-T cable 2

Connecting two switches with all 10GBASE-T ports are as simple as placing the plug into its mating socket. One Cat6a Ethernet cable is born for such a connection and that is why it is called the standard 10GBASE-T cable. By using a Cat6a cable for 10GBASE-T, it can reach up to 100m distance.

Case 3: Connecting two switches with only SFP+ ports.

10GBASE-T cable 3

There are three choices for connecting two complete SFP+ switches. For distances between 30 m to 400 m, it is recommended to get two 10GBASE-SR SFP+ modules for each switch and connect them with a OM3/4 LC duplex multimode fiber patch cable. The second is to use two 10GBASE-T SFP+ modules and Cat6a cable. If the link is as short as 7 m, it is suggested to use a low cost 10G SFP+ direct attach copper (DAC) cable.

Case 4: Connecting switches with both SFP+ and 10GBASE-T ports.

10GBASE-T cabling 4

When the two switches both have SFP+ and 10GBASE-T ports, you will be free to use methods from Case 1 to Case 3 above. But in my experience, it would be better to use the 10GBASE-T copper ports first, and save the SFP+ ports for possible future connections to an optical network for longer transmission distance.

Words in the End

10GBASE-T is taking its way to being more extensively used on network gears without a doubt, and cost for deploying 10GBASE-T equipment will be lowered with its wide spreading. Know the requirements for 10GBASE-T cabling is necessary for correctly choosing between 10GBASE-T or 10G SFP+ in practical usage. After all, cost-efficiency is very important in large-scale deployment.

Related Article: 10GBASE-T vs SFP+ vs SFP+ Cable, Which to Choose for 10GbE Network?

Pre-terminated Copper Cables: Interconnect & Cross Connect Solution

Copper cables are regarded as the optimal solution for data center, which provides significant benefits in the respect of capital expenditures, operating expenditures, performance, and reliability. Pre-terminated copper cable assemblies, emerging as a new copper cabling option for network architectures such as MoR (Middle of Row) or EoR (End of Row), are recommended for inter-connect and cross-connect applications in data center.

What Is Pre-terminated Copper Cable Assemblies?

Pre-terminated copper cable assemblies consisting of pre-terminated copper trunks and copper patch cords (usually terminated with RJ45 connector) are ideal for data center applications which require high-efficient deployment. Being factory pre-terminated and strictly tested, the pre-terminated copper cable assemblies simplify network installation and maintenance, saving users much time and energy. Moreover, they offer more flexibility to be disassembled and repurposed to accommodate MACs (moves, adds and changes), facilitating management when rapid network growth and migration required.

data-center-copper-cabling

Commonly used in point-to-point connections in data centers, pre-terminated copper trunk cables enable reliable connectivity between server and switch cabinets. While copper patch cords are used to connect panels to switches and servers. Moreover, intelligent patch cords are available to monitor port status.

Tips: various termination types are available for the pre-terminated trunks, such as jack-to-jack, jack-to-plug, plug-to-plug, cassette-to-cassette, and so on. So, your choice should base on the layout of the data center or telecommunications room, and the design philosophy employed.

How to Use Pre-terminated Copper Cable Assemblies?

Pre-terminated copper cable assemblies can be used in data center for backbone or intra-rack cable connectivity. This section illustrates the interconnect and cross-connect connectivity using pre-terminated copper cables in universal data center cabling applications.

Interconnect

For general data center cabling, the copper trunk cable is used to make a permanent link between patch panels on each ends—one end is in a switch/network cabinet, and the other end is in a server/storage cabinet. And patch cords are usually used to interconnect the active equipment such as switches, servers, etc.

interconnect

Cross Connect

In cross-connect cabling configuration, an individual patching area (often including two or more adjacent patch panels) is usually added between the switch/network cabinet and server/storage cabinet. Thus, two copper trunk cables are used as two permanent links between them. One runs from the switch/network cabinet panel to cross-connect panel, and the other one runs from cross-connect panel to the panel in the server/storage cabinet. Copper patch cords are used to interconnect the active equipment and patch panels at the switch/network cabinet, cross-connect cabinet, and server/storage cabinet.

cross-connect

FS.COM Pre-terminated Copper Cable Assemblies Solution

FS.COM offers a wide range of configurable pre-terminated copper cable assemblies and patch panels to meet the demand for faster deployment and guaranteed performance in data center copper cabling, help saving time and money.

Pre-terminated Copper Cable Assemblies Pre-terminated Copper Trunk Cable
Copper Patch Cords Cat5e Cable
Cat6 Cable
Ca6a Cable
Cat7 Cable
Modular Patch Panel Cat5e Patch Panels
Cat6 Patch Panels
Other Accessories Cat5e Connector/Plugs
Cat6 Connector/Plugs
Cat7 Keystone Jacks & Plugs
Conclusion

Pre-terminated copper cable assemblies offer an ideal solution for data center interconnection and cross-connect applications. All the pre-terminated copper cables, patch panels and related accessories presented in the above chart are available in FS.COM. For more details, please visit www.fs.com to contact us directly via sales@fs.com.

Related Articles:

  1. Data Center Pre-terminated Copper Trunk Cable Solution

2. Pre-terminated Copper Trunk Cables Selection Guide

Cat5e Cable Structure and Cat5e Wiring Diagram

Network cables like Cat5, Cat5e and Cat6 are widely used in our network. Various Ethernet network cables are being invented. They can support different transmission distances and applications. Cat5e cables can support 1000base-T transmission up to 100 m, which meet the requirements of various applications in our home, office and data center. It has better performance than Cat5 and lower price than Cat6 making it a widely accepted type of Ethernet cable. This post introduces the details of Cat5e cable structure, Cat5e wiring, and wiring diagram.

Cat5e Wiring

Structure of Cat5e Cable

Cat5e uses four twisted pairs for transmission in each cable. The following picture shows the structure of the Cat5e cable. The termination of Cat5e Ethernet cable should use RJ45 connectors. As there are four pairs of copper wires inside a length of Cat5e cable, the cable pinouts should be carefully managed. For Cat5e, there are two commonly used methods for termination: straight-through and Crossover.

cat5e cable

Cat5e Wiring Diagram and Methods

Each pair of copper wires in the Cat5e has insulation with a specific color for easier identification. Cat5e wiring should follow the standard color code.

For the straight-through wiring method, there are two standards recognized by ANSI, TIA and EIA: T568A and T568B. Both of them can be used. However, the T568B is considered better than T568A wiring standard. The following picture shows, the wiring diagram of the two standards.

straight through cat5e

When you are doing the straight-through wiring, the cable pinout on the two ends of the Cat5e cable should be the same. However, for the crossover wiring method, the RJ45 pinouts on each end of the Cat5e are different. The following picture shows how the eight wires are used for transmission in a crossover terminated Cat5e cable.

Crossover cat5e

Actually, if you want to connect a T568A device with T568B device, you can use this crossover wiring method. The following picture shows the pinouts on each end of the Cat5e cable.

Crossover cat5e

How to Wire Cat5e Cables?

To terminate a Cat5e cable, you should prepare the cable. Here recommend a set of network installation tool kit which contains all you need to wire a category cable.

network installation tool kit

The following shows the process of how to terminate theEthernet cable:

cat5e wiring

Step 1, cut the cable to proper length and use the wire stripper to remove the outer jacket.

Step 2, untwist wires and trim the excess part. Flatten the wires out as much as possible, because they need to be very straight for proper insertion into the connector.

Step 3, hold the cable ends and place the wires in orders from left to right according to T568A or T568B wire scheme.

Step 4, insert the wires into the RJ45 connector. The wires must be sequenced in the same order of step 3.

Step 5, use the crimping tool to squeeze the plug. This ensures the firm connection between the cable and the plug.

Step 6, repeat the process on the opposite end and test the terminated cable to make sure communications between cable ends and the network is correct.

Cat5e Solution

The Cat5e has great advantages in various applications and there are many related products, like Cat5e patch cable, Cat5e bulk cable, Cat5e patch panel provided in the market. Kindly contact sales@fs.com for more details about Cat5e products, if you are interested.

Related Articles:
Quick View of Ethernet Cables Cat5, Cat5e And Cat6
Home Ethernet Wiring Guide: How to Get a Wired Home Network?
Patch Cable vs. Crossover Cable: What Is the Difference?