Do we have to expect further development of parallelization in future data centers?
The amount of data and information is growing faster than ever. And there is no end to this development. This pushes many data centers to the limit. Infrastructure and cabling are weakening, especially since they are not always state-of-the-art. To increase data throughput and provide information in real-time, we believe that parallel fiber optic cable applications and future-proof multimode fiber optic Ethernet cabling are ideal solutions. In this way, large amounts of data can be exchanged quickly, securely and reliably between end devices connected through the data center.
Parallel fiber optic cable
Experience creates the foundation
But Ethernet for multimode fiber applications was by no means an overnight idea for developers. Instead, the development of this technology began as early as the mid-1990s and has been gradually evolving ever since. As a result, the technical foundation for the data center is provided, thanks to decades of vigorous development work.
The IEEE 802.3 Ethernet Working Group is currently working on several new Ethernet versions in parallel. In addition to the next speeds 200GBASE-SR4 and 400GBASE-SR16, 100GBASE-SR2 and the third 100G release are also at the committee meeting. Intermediate speeds using 25GBASE-SR and 50GBASE-SR or even lower have not yet been phased out. The standardization project is to define at least 100 meters of multimode fiber transmission. In this case, it refers to OM4 fiber with a gradient index of 50/125 μm. A possible shorter length via OM3 is also specified. This is to check if the existing OM3 fiber can still be used.
Today, the vast majority of parallel fiber optic cable applications in data centers are based on multimode protocols running over OM3 or OM4 fiber. With the introduction of 100 GBE-SR4, only four channels are required by parallelizing 25 GBE native connections. This makes the 12-fiber MPO connector a proven solution in this environment as an interface.
data center
Parallelization is growing in popularity in data centers
Our experts look forward to further parallelization in the data center in the future. This was initiated by the IEEE. 802.3 standardization program and development of numerous MSA optical modules. On the corresponding number of OM4 fibers, 40G and larger data streams are set up, and the maximum transmission length is 100 meters.
In our experience, PSM4 and 200/400GBASE-DR4 may have larger data streams of 100G or 100 to 500 meters in length. The corresponding application is also based on parallelizing the data flow over a corresponding number of fibers, although single-mode fibers are used here. Both OM4 and the single-mode parallel world are based on interfaces with MPO connectors.
Well-positioned in an important market environment
The wide range of parallel fiber optic cable applications poses significant challenges for data center operators. The situation is further complicated by the different parameters for the resistance budget and transmission length depending on the protocol.
