As technology fans, we have been reading and hearing news about 5G for many years. 5G is the fifth generation of wireless technology, and Verizon calls this breakthrough “one of the fastest and most powerful technologies in the world to date.” 5G has been released by telecom suppliers in some major cities around the world, and more and more cities plan to go online in 2020. As a data center structured cable supplier, Fiberlink experts are paying close attention to the trends that will definitely affect our market with the introduction of 5G.
1. Use data center cable standards
When designing and planning for customer data center connectivity, we use published standards as guidelines. The data center cabling requirements are well laid out in standards published by organizations including the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Fiber Channel Industry Association (FCIA).
But when we saw the 5G deployment of telecommunications companies, there was no central standard to support this technology. Therefore, it is difficult to know whether this technology deployment is controlled by any set of standards.
2. The impact of artificial intelligence
Another technology involved in 5G deployment is artificial intelligence (AI) software programs. Artificial intelligence needs more data points to make better educational and informative decisions.
More data points require more collection equipment and bandwidth to manage traffic growth (such as the potential growth of self-driving cars and trucks). The increase in hardware and throughput required for fast information flow will certainly also lead to an increase in the demand for the performance of the cables connecting these devices and the networks they operate on.
3. How to plan for 5G
What plans do you have as a data center operator to adapt to 5G’s changes? The obvious answer is to prepare to provide more bandwidth in the connection. This includes connections from the demarcation point of the Internet Service Provider (ISP) to the data center, as well as connections within the data center space. When considering cabling from the perspective of bandwidth, single-mode fiber provides the highest bandwidth, followed by multi-mode fiber, and then copper provides the lowest bandwidth.
4. Know your wiring
Single-mode fiber brings the connection from the ISP to the data center. From this point on, most data centers have switched to using multimode fiber to connect networks and storage devices, because multimode fiber is cheaper than single-mode fiber.
When supporting 100G fiber, multimode fiber can transmit signals from device to device, and the transmission distance can reach 100 meters. When the cable distance exceeds 100 meters, single-mode fiber is usually used. Copper connections are mostly used in the cabinet, with a distance of 3 meters and 1G.
5. Conclusion
It is not difficult to foresee that 5G will add more data traffic to the data center. In order to support the increase in traffic, it makes sense to need more bandwidth. Consider using more single-mode fiber in the data center space. Then, consider using multimode fiber, which used copper connections in the past.
