FEATURE
swapping out the panel as well . The most obvious impact of this limitation is the extra time and cost to deploy both new components and new panels . At the same time , data centre customers must also contend with additional product ordering and inventory costs .
In contrast , a design in which all panel components are essentially interchangeable and designed to fit in a single , common panel would enable designers and installers to quickly reconfigure and deploy fibre capacity in the least possible time and with the lowest cost . So too , it would enable data centre customers to streamline their infrastructure inventory and its associated costs .
Simplifying and accelerating fibre deployment and management
The final key criteria is the need to simplify and accelerate the routine tasks involved in deploying , upgrading and managing the fibre infrastructure . While panel and blade designs have offered incremental advances in functionality and design over the years , there is room for significant improvement .
Additionally , the issue of polarity management also deserves mention . As fibre deployments grow more complex , ensuring the transmit and receive paths remain aligned throughout the link become more difficult . In the worst case , ensuring polarity requires installers to flip modules or cable assemblies . Mistakes may not be identified until the link has been deployed and resolving the issue adds time .
Collaborating to connect now and next
Data centres are rapidly evolving as data speeds and infrastructure complexity increase . This is especially true within hyperscale environments where lane speeds are accelerating to 400G , 800G and beyond and fibre counts across all layers of the network multiply .
It is therefore important that network managers , designers , integration professionals and installers continue to collaborate closely to help data centre operators maximise their existing infrastructure investments while preparing for future applications . �
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