Nearly all link failures occur at points of connection, and very rarely across unbroken network spans. At the same time, the signal modulation technology that underlies the new short-reach 200G/400G optical Ethernet standard reduces the available link budget in high-bandwidth datacom applications – making the operational need for immaculate connector endfaces all the more imperative. More than 10 million MPO/MTP connectors are in use across the world today, with more than 1 million forecasted to be fielded in 2019. An MPO connector market compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of at least 10% is expected to sustain for the next five years. Best-practice FO connector cleaning and inspection procedures will become essential to maintain the highest levels of data center performance and reliability.

Next-generation, low-power optical data transmission may rely on polarization rather than switching laser pulses on and off.  A new form of high-speed data transfer encodes laser light according to the oscillating polarization in the light beam, rather than its intensity. The polarization-based data transfer method can achieve 240 gigabits per second but generates only about 7 percent as much heat as a traditional connection running at 25 gigabits per second.

This white paper from Panduit looks at technologies for sustainable investment to future proof data center networks. It looks at 200Gigabit (Gbps) and 400Gbps Ethernet (GE) fiber optic technologies have evolved and how they should advance to 800GE and 1.6TE. the right technologies are for sustainable investment strategies to future proof data center networks.