As most enterprise businesses—and a growing number of SMBs—move towards some form of hosted cloud, be it private or public, so too increases the demand for high grade products designed to cope with the sharp increases in online users and data.
With a marketplace that is ripe with “the latest and greatest” in new products, it is also becoming harder for business IT managers to be across what is currently available, and what products are right for them, to maximise the efficiency of their own data centre network. It can be a little overwhelming. However, there are a few vital elements to look for when it comes to evaluating data centre products for use.
1. High quality structured cabling is key
The first thing to know is that, within your data centre environment, structured cabling performs a vital function, acting as the conduit for information and the very backbone of connectivity. Just one damaged fibre in a cable can result in major signal loss and an unwelcome interruption to normal business operations. Therefore, it is important to choose quality products from a reputable supplier.
2. Keep loss to a minimum
When it comes to transmitting information along optical fibres, the more physical connection points you have, the greater loss you will experience. E.g. there will be loss at each connector, thru adapter and patch panel in your data centre rack. So your focus should always be to minimise connection points to try by sourcing products that are specially designed to emit low loss. One of the biggest roles we play in helping businesses and data centres to minimise loss is at the planning stage, when looking at the overall architecture of a network. It is then that we can recommend the most high-density, low loss products to keep loss—and business interruption—at a minimum.
We can also advise on things like your connectivity to services within a data centre, e.g. third party services like Amazon and Google, which are typically located in a “meet me room” within the centre. As an example of innovative low loss products on the market, we stock a range of high-density MTP and pre-terminated multi-fibre solutions that reduce strain during side load, improve guidance, reduce guide-hole-wear and eliminate lost pins and potential fibre damage from the spring. We also stock the US Conec MTP connector; the most popular and compact connector available for multicore cables.
3. Maximise rack space
The other advantage of using low loss products is that they help to maximise your available rack space. Every inch of your data centre space is prime real estate, so the higher density products you use, the greater space you have to play with — which is a major advantage when it comes to having the flexibility to make future upgrades. This is where the importance of good cable management also comes to the fore. Using efficient, high quality data cables and keeping your racks neat and tidy makes them easier for technicians to access.
4. Think scalable
Modularity in products has been an increasing focus for us over the past few years, as businesses begin to understand the importance of setting up data centre networks that can cope with future upgrades. The beauty of modular products is that they grow as you do, which makes it easier to manage CapEx spending because you only purchase the modules you need, as you need them.
5. Customise to suit your needs
Creating bespoke or custom solutions in the technology industry has traditionally come with a fairly hefty price tag. This is myth that we are doing our best to dispel at present, because we don’t believe customisation should be cost prohibitive. Many telecommunications product providers today, ourselves included, have access to manufacturing resources, which means that coming up with custom solutions is a simple matter of collaboration and creative solution design. It needn’t cost the earth, and it can be done in a matter of weeks. The important thing to remember is, that if you can’t find a product that suits your precise needs, talk to a company like Codecom who can make it happen for you.
If you need help getting the most from your data centre infrastructure, jump over to our Data Centre Solutions page or get in touch.