The Dell’Oro Group reports that sales of optical transport equipment used for data center interconnect (DCI) increased 13 percent year-over-year in 1Q 2020. The segment is dominated by three vendors, Ciena, Cisco, and Infinera, who have a combined market share of over 70%.
As hybrid digital infrastructures consisting of on-premises and cloud-based systems become more and more common within companies, complexity significantly increases. A professional data center infrastructure management (DCIM) tool should be able to manage not only the data center itself, but also hybrid digital infrastructures in all their complexity. In the future, for example, even proprietary customer systems will have to be supplied with detailed information from the data center to ensure end-to-end processes.
Element Critical has expanded its partnership with Crosslink Fiber, LLC to provide ultra-high bandwidth fiber network services to connect to over 54 data centers in the Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay areas of California. The solution provides increased flexibility for those companies who need to access or cannot expand at other data centers.
Low-voltage cabling infrastructures are becoming more complex than ever. LANs have more connected devices in more locations and data centers are shifting to fully-meshed leaf-spine architectures where every switch is connected to every other switch via redundant pathways. With these complexities come a wider variety of copper and fiber cable and connectivity components and associated racks, cabinets and cable management needed to build reliable, high-performance networks-and that means more extensive and diverse project bills of material (BOMs).
The Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) brings together the major research computing deployments from five Boston-area universities into a single, massive data center in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The 15-MW, 780-rack data center is built to be an energy- and space-efficient hub of research computing, with a single computing floor shared by thousands of researchers from Boston University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, and the entire University of Massachusetts system. Because the data center is run by hydro and nuclear power, it leaves nearly no carbon footprint. By joining together in the Holyoke site, all of the member institutions gain the benefits of lower space and energy costs, as well as the significant intangible benefits of simplified collaboration across research teams and institutions.
By eliminating the need for splice trays, splice chips and cable slack, Siemon says the OptiFuse connectors reduce material requirements, conserve space within fiber enclosures, and deliver 30% faster installation compared to traditional fiber pigtails.
The SN connector is a new, duplex optical fiber connector using LC style 1.25mm O.D. Zirconia ferrules, designed for next generation hyperscale data center interconnect (DCI). This connector was designed to provide individual and independent duplex fiber breakout at a quad style transceiver (QSFP, QSFP-DD and OSFP) that Senko contends is not only more efficient, reliable and scalable than the MPO connector but also at a lower in cost to implement. The SFP-DD has also adopted the SN as their independent duo style interface, mainly for the wireless fronthaul applications.
The emergence of the QSFP form factor has brought economies of scale to 100G upgrades, putting 100G within the cost reach of both small and hyper-scale data center operators. With a small profile and reduced power consumption, the QSFP form factor is the choice of switch manufacturers for 100G platforms. Despite the economies of scale at the switch level, the urgency to upgrade can inevitably lead to unforeseen compatibility and budget issues.
Mission Critical and Panduit commissioned Clear Seas Research to conduct a survey measuring industry awareness and usage of edge computing solutions. 100 experts were asked how they would explain edge computing to someone new in the industry. Responses ranged from vague — “It’s modern and tech savvy,” to precise — “Putting the data near the user,” to eye-opening — “Not 100% sure myself.” Read the full report for more insight regarding the perceived challenges and benefits associated with edge computing as well as who should be involved in the decision-making process when it comes to deploying edge infrastructure and selecting the right vendor.
For many in the data center sector, one of the most pressing concerns is that much of the world’s data center infrastructure operates in a manner that is financially suboptimal and environmentally unsustainable. If a data center is only using a fraction of the available power, then the capital investment that is tied up in inflexible power infrastructure is impotent. The question is, who is paying for that stranded capacity and unused space?
