IT leaders have embraced a variety of solutions to address these challenges, but they often overlook a critical aspect of their data center: the connectivity manage­ment systems that support mission-critical SAN, mainframe and network environments.

Data center connectivity is the equivalent of the human body’s circulatory system. It’s the lifeline between the “critical organs” of IT: the network switches, servers, director-class switches and storage devices. If this circulatory system doesn’t meet the demands of the vital organs, the health of data center IT as a whole is jeopardized.

Neglecting data center connectivity management leads to issues that can seriously undermine the health of the data center. These include:

• Inadequate performance. At higher speeds, connectivity infrastructure becomes far more sensitive to issues such as distance and imperfect connections leading to a loss of signal strength. So as tempting it might be to invest in to invest in 16Gbps Fibre Channel switch technol­ogy, it simply doesn’t make sense when the fiber plant itself can’t support 16Gbps.

• Cabling chaos. Fiber is becoming more prevalent and connections in the data center are often installed haphazardly over time. This makes changes and troubleshooting more time-consuming and susceptible to human error.

• Link-loss budget. High-throughput applica­tions exhibit a lower tolerance for link loss than older IT services. IT has to optimize fiber connectivity attributes such as link distance, connection types and the total number of end-to-end connection and insertion points to ensure reliability.

• Termination and connection issues. Certain types of fiber connectors are especially susceptible to subtle reflec­tion and misalignment impairments that can adversely affect high-performance applica­tions and be difficult to diagnose.

Fiber Connectivity Management Best Practices

A set of proven solutions is available for transforming data center fiber infra­structure in ways that align with core IT objec­tives. These solutions include:

• Structured cabling. TIA-942 cable infrastructure design standards provide practical guidelines for key fiber connectivity param­eters, such as cabling distances, pathways, site selection, space, layout and replication of all active ports on a CPL (Central Patching Location).

• Best-in-class hardware. Fiber hardware solutions can ensure the integrity and manageability of data center connectivity such as advanced “mimic” panels that prevent excessive handling of sensitive connectors, stag­gered cabling architectures that eliminate slack and factory-terminated connec­tions that safeguard signal integrity.

By taking advantage of these solutions, IT organizations can upgrade to the high-performance, change-friendly fiber environment neces­sary to support intense data center workloads. They also can ensure that their data center fiber connectiv­ity won’t cause performance bottlenecks.

Essential Outcomes

The right fiber infrastructure to support evolving storage requirements protects the health of the data center connectivity infra­structure and empowers IT to: 

• Better meet the escalating demands of the business

• Substantially reduce risk 

• Improve allocation of limited OpEx budgets

Only fiber delivers the high throughput and low latency required by massive data applications. That’s why IT leaders should make a sober assessment of the current state of their data center’s circulatory system and take steps now to safeguard its health not just for the next weeks or months — but for the highly chal­lenging years to come.