LEVITON.COM/CROSSTALK 11

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The design and deployment of data centers is as much an art as it is a science. Myriad decisions must be made throughout the process, whether you’re tackling a new build or a tech refresh.

Here are some key infrastructure-related choices that can have a big impact on your project’s labor requirements, deployment time, and manageability:

TERMINATION METHOD Choosing whether to deploy pre-terminated cabling or perform field terminations is the first step in data center design. Both options have distinct advantages. The method selected will be influenced by the amount of planning you want to do, how quickly you want new equipment deployed, and how much labor you can invest in the project.

Pre-Terminated Cabling Advantages:

• Offers rapid deployment by reducing installation time and labor

• Eliminates the need for transmission performance testing in the field

• Minimizes material waste, jobsite cleanup, and purchase of proprietary tools or equipment

• Eliminates variation due to differing skill-levels of field technicians

• Better overall transmission and lower loss budgets due to a cleaner factory termination environment

Field-Terminated Cabling Advantages:

• More control during installation and more flexibility should the infrastructure change

• Less upfront planning of cabling and termination routes and lengths

• Reduces purchase lead-time when ordering cable

continued on pg. 2

IN THIS ISSUEThe Biggest Decisions when Designing a Data Center Network

4 Steps to Successfully Deploying an Enterprise Wireless Network

Start Your Next Cat 6A Project with Confidence

News You Can Use

Tech Tips

Ask The Experts

LEVITON POLLWhich PoE application will grow the most in the next three years?

From a recent Leviton customer poll

UPCOMING EVENTSAugust 20-23, 2018 AFCEA TechNet Augusta Augusta, GA

September 9-13, 2018 BICSI Fall Conference & Expo San Antonio, TX

Other

WirelessAccessPoints

BuildingControls

Lighting

26%

26%

47%

1%

NEWSLETTER Vol. 9 | July/August 2018> US

What’s the best way to prepare for emerging wireless network demands? If your organization made a relatively recent upgrade to its wireless network, it might not be ready to make another significant investment; perhaps a short-term upgrade makes more sense. Or maybe your organization is ready to invest in the newest system — one with the bandwidth and infrastructure that will allow the business to keep up with rising data use for years to come.

Leviton recommends following four important steps to successfully deploy a wireless enterprise network.

continued on pg. 3

FOUR STEPS to Successfully Deploying an Enterprise Wireless Network By Yuna Shin, Senior Product Manager for Leviton Network Solutions

The BIGGEST Decisions when Designing a Data Center Network

LEVITON.COM/CROSSTALK 22

DENSITY Port density requirements vary from data center to data center. Whether standard density or high density is deployed within a network will impact an organization’s budget resiliency, system downtime, and network manageability, both during the data center design phase and throughout the lifetime of the system.

Standard Density Advantages:

• May fully meet the needs of smaller data centers and enterprise applications

• Facilitates field terminations and fiber splicing

• Allows network administrators to make frequent moves, adds, and changes

• Provides an easy means of tracing patch cords and trunk cables

• Offers more space to accommodate splice trays and port ID labeling

High Density Advantages:

• Offers significant space savings

• Reduces costs by minimizing the amount of expensive data center floor space required for patching

• For large data center and enterprise applications, a higher density of ports per RU will pose no inconvenience as changes are made at the rack level more often than at the port level

• Network manageability can be facilitated with the addition of cable managers, pre-terminated cabling, and meticulous port identification

When making decisions for your network infrastructure, it is critical to understand the impact of new technology and standards, and build flexibility into your network when migrating to 40G, 100G, and beyond. It is also important to get assistance from experts who understand the evolution of the data center environment and the latest network technology. Leviton data center designers and engineers have extensive experience with the most popular active equipment, network topologies, and transmission methods. Many of them are active members on standards bodies that define future data center networks, including standards for 25, 40, 100, and 400 gigabit networks.

To learn more about data center design and solutions available from Leviton, visit leviton.com/datacenters

The Biggest Decisions when Designing a Data Center Network continued from pg. 1

CABLE MANAGEMENT Cable management is one of the most visible elements of data center design. The decision to deploy a free-standing floor-based cable management system that places the cabling backbone above the racks, or a building-based infrastructure organization that routes cable under the floor or in the ceiling, has many ramifications to both the overall data center design, the engineering of the building, and the function of the network itself.

Free-Standing Cable Management Advantages:

• Can be installed in any network application

• Typically offers the greatest design versatility and space-saving options

• Places no weight burden on the building’s existing structure

• Allows the preparation and deployment of an entire rack in many POD-type rack-and-roll methodologies

• Minimizes network downtime, speeds deployment, and reduces the likelihood of human error

• Provides numerous options for zero-RU patching

• Increases airflow and heat dissipation

Building-Based Infrastructure Advantages:

• Installation in the flooring removes the cabling backbone from view and may offer protection from accidental damage (a subfloor is required to support the racks)

• An overhead cable run allows the installation of ladder racking or cable trays supported from the ceiling via threaded rods (the ceiling must be engineered to support the cable load)

NETWORK STANDARDIZATION Industry standards are an important tool for data center design. The standards created by ISO, IEEE, and TIA ensure the interoperability of equipment regardless of the geographic location, field of industry, or size of the network. However, forgoing established standards can sometimes be vital to furthering a specific organization technique, business need, or data center design.

Industry Standardization Advantages:

• Helps stabilize manufacturing costs and market prices

• Provides consistency among organizations within an industry, and personnel or departments within a business

• Lowers staff education time and hiring costs

• Minimizes human error and network downtime

• Creates consistent installations for organizations with multiple data centers

Network Customization Advantages:

• Custom connectors, adapters, patch panels, cable assemblies and routing systems may be more efficient and cost-effective for extremely large networks or organizations with significant purchasing power and needs that standard products cannot meet

• Drives innovation: New standards, such as those that ushered in Cat 6A, are often outgrowths of application customizations by manufacturers and end-users with performance or capability requirements not addressed by existing standards

To learn more about preparing your wireless network to handle the latest technologies, download our white paper, “4 Steps to Successfully Deploying an Enterprise Wireless Network,” at Leviton.com/ns/whitepapers

LEVITON.COM/CROSSTALK 335

802.11ac also improves on beamforming, a technology that sends a more concentrated signal to each device

instead of broadcasting a single signal to a wide area. Beamforming was an option with 802.11n, but was not

implemented until 802.11ac due to interoperability concerns. 802.11g

802.11n802.11acWave 1

Wave 2

Spatial Streams

1

4

8

8

Antenna Configuration

SISO

4x4 MIMO8x8 MIMO

8x8 MU MIMO

Beamforming

SISO

SU-MIMO

MU-MIMO

Signal Modulation — Over the last decade, signal modulation techniques have evolved to improve the speed of

wireless networks. Earlier renditions of 802.11 networks that used older techniques — such as QPSK, 16 QAM,

or 64 QAM — have fewer bits per signal, while 802.11ac uses 256 QAM, allowing 8 bits per signal. This gives

802.11ac a 33% faster speed over 802.11n with 64 QAM.

The combination of increased capacity, concentrated signal paths, and enhanced modulation techniques

in 802.11ac has significantly improved wireless performance. However, there is one tradeoff that must be

considered with 802.11ac: coverage. While 802.11ac WAPs provide faster and cleaner signals by running

on a 5GHz frequency, they may not provide wider coverage because of the shorter wavelength in the 5GHz

frequency band. A shorter wavelength means that the signal has a harder time moving through walls or

furniture, so you have to be closer to the WAP to get a good signal. Also, while the modulation of 256 QAM

gives you faster speed, you also have to be closer to the WAP to attain it, since there are more symbols in

a constellation, as shown below.There are trade-offs between options, so it's important to understand the technology and invest enough

time during the planning stage to make the right choice for your business. Proper planning will help you

maximize the benefits of an 802.11ac wireless network.More susceptible to obstruction

Trade-Off

Need to be closer

Trade-Off

5Ghz

2.4Ghz

256 QAM8 bits per symbol 64 QAM6 bits per symbol

HD TV

HD TV

HD TV

802.11ac

802.11ac

802.11ac

Comparing spatial streams and

antenna configurations

Careful planning considers potential trade-offs of 802.11ac

4

2013 / 2015802.11ac Wave 1 > 1.3 Gb/s802.11ac Wave 2 > 6.93 Gb/s

2009802.11n > 600 Mb/s

2003802.11g > 54 Mb/s

1999802.11b > 11 Mb/s802.11a > 54 Mb/s

Est. 2019802.11ax > 10 Gb/s

1997802.11 > 2 Mb/s

An easy way to visualize how a more robust Wi-Fi network increases workplace efficiency is to take a

look at the amount of time it takes for a 5 gigabyte file to download. In 1999, the speed for Wi-Fi was

54 megabits per second (Mb/s). A 5 gigabyte file took almost 14 minutes to transfer. But now, that

same file can download in 6 seconds at the theoretical maximum speed of 6.93 gigabits per second

(Gb/s) with 802.11ac Wave 2 technology.What determines wireless speed?Wireless speed relies on: 1) Channel bandwidth 2) Spatial streams (related to antenna configuration)

3) Signal modulation

Channel Bandwidth — Wireless networks can run on

20, 40, 80, or 160 MHz channels, within a 2.4 GHz or

5 GHz band. Older Wi-Fi such as 802.11b and 802.11n use

the narrower 2.4 GHz, while 802.11ac uses 5 GHz. The 5GHz

frequency band is wider, which means it allows for more

capacity. Think of it as wider roads — they allow more

traffic (information) to move. In addition to capacity, signals

over 5GHz are much cleaner and faster, as the channel is

less congested than 2.4 GHz channels.

20 MHz(802.11g)

40 MHz(802.11n)80 MHz(802.11ac)

2.4 GHz 5 GHz

160 MHz

Channel Bandwidth

Capacity

Wider channels allow more traffic (information) to move.

Spatial Streams — Early 802.11 networks used a single antenna and one data stream, which means there

was only one transmitting antenna sending a signal to a receiving antenna through one path. 802.11n made

improvements, supporting up to 4 antennas and 4 spatial streams for parallel data transfers within the same

channel. Technology called multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) allows multiple data streams on the same

channel, instead of sending signals to one device at a time. 802.11ac goes a step further, allowing up to 8

antennas and 8 spatial streams for increased efficiency and higher throughput. It also supports multi-user

MIMO (MU-MIMO), which allows a wireless access point to transmit independent data streams to multiple

clients simultaneously.

White Paper

4 Steps to Successfully Deploying an Enterprise Wireless Network

Yuna ShinSenior Product Manager for Leviton Network Solutions

4 Steps to Successfully Deploying an Enterprise Wireless Network continued from pg. 1

STEP 1: KNOW THE TECHNOLOGY — The first step is a general information gathering phase. You want to understand the technology and the differences between various wireless specifications.

For example, the combination of increased capacity, concentrated signal paths, and

enhanced modulation techniques in 802.11ac has significantly improved wireless performance over 802.11n technology. However, there is one trade-off that must be considered with 802.11ac: coverage. While 802.11ac WAPs provide faster and cleaner signals by running on a 5 GHz frequency, they will likely provide reduced coverage because of the shorter wavelength in the 5 GHz frequency band. A shorter wavelength means that the signal has a harder time moving through walls or furniture, so you have to be closer to the WAP to get a good signal.

HD TV

HD TV

HD TV

802.11ac802.11ac

802.11ac5 Ghz

2.4 Ghz

TRADE-OFF: More susceptible to obstructionCareful planning considers potential trade-o�s of 802.11ac.

STEP 2: UNDERSTAND WHICH DEVICES WILL USE THE WIRELESS NETWORK AND YOUR CAPACITY NEEDS — Answer some important questions about the makeup of your applications. What types of devices will be accessing the wireless network and how many people will be using Wi-Fi at

one time? Will hospital imaging machines or smart machines on a warehouse floor dominate your bandwidth? Will the Wi-Fi serve people using smartphones in a hospital waiting room? Or maybe your setting is a huge university, where students will be using laptops and tablets in a lecture hall or dorm. Needs can vary from building to building.

When trying to determine how to deploy wireless networks, you need to carefully plan based on the business needs, and the size and application type that the network will serve. Based on that information, you can make a better decision as to which wireless technology makes sense for you.

STEP 3: UNDERSTAND WHAT TYPE OF WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY IS BEST FOR YOUR ENVIRONMENT AND THE BUILDING LAYOUT — Your environment influences the type of WAPs you choose and where they will be installed. Is the wireless network for a commercial space, a school, a health care setting, or a manufacturing environment?

How big is the building? What’s the layout? If it’s a commercial space, are the workers in an open, closed, or semi-enclosed space? What are the building materials inside the space? The 5 GHz frequency can be affected by concrete, security glass, and metal partition barriers. When you’re planning for an 802.11ac deployment, you need to ensure it will work in your setting.

You’ll want to conduct a Radio Frequency (RF) survey to test for coverage, signal strength, and any possible interference. Based on the results of the RF survey, you can think about where you want to place the WAPs and how you will install them. Will it be a drop ceiling installation? A wall installation? Will you use a WAP enclosure? A combination of all three? Again, your environment comes into play here. For example, in a health care setting, WAPs should be enclosed, as infection control requirements place restrictions on removing or lifting ceilings.

STEP 4: MAKE CABLING AND CONNECTIVITY CHOICES — To get the most out of 802.11ac, the Telecom Industry Association (TIA) recommends Cat 6A cables in new installations, which will give you higher data rates and increased power. The organization suggests you consider wiring at least two Cat 6A drops for every WAP, so future

upgrades take less time. Also, Cat 6A is the cable you’ll need to prepare for the next generation wireless network, 802.11ax. It is predicted to have a top speed of 10 Gb/s, and is due for release in 2019.

What if you’ve recently installed Cat 5e or Cat 6 cabling, and your budget won’t allow you to install Cat 6A? Because so many enterprise organizations have an existing Cat 5e or Cat 6 infrastructure, active-gear manufacturers have developed switches that support intermediate speeds of 2.5 and 5 Gb/s. If are looking at a possible upgrade to 2.5 and 5GBASE-T switches, we suggest you conduct a thorough risk analysis before making a final decision, as consideration of alien crosstalk (AXT), Power over Ethernet (PoE), and future needs may influence your decision. For more information about cabling solutions for your network, see “Structured Cabling Considerations for 2.5GBASE-T and 5GBASE-T.”

The 5 GHz frequency can be affected by concrete, security glass, and metal partition barriers. When you’re planning for an 802.11ac deployment, you need to ensure it will work in your setting.

SOLUTIONS FOR THE LATEST WIRELESS NETWORKS Leviton Network Solutions is a leading provider of connectivity and cabling solutions for enterprise businesses. Our QuickPort® In-Ceiling Wireless Access Point Kit — consisting of plenum-rated cable, connectors, patch cords, surface-mount boxes, and brackets — provides a testable permanent link in drop ceilings to WAPs. It also allows the flexibility to move the In-Ceiling Bracket to refine Wi-Fi coverage or WAN placement without needing to retest the link.

LEVITON.COM/CROSSTALK 44

NEWS USEYOU CAN

INDUSTRY 25 GIGABIT ETHERNET port shipments grew 359 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2018, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Ethernet Switch and Router Tracker. The jump is attributed to top-of-rack updates in dense data center server access ports.

MORE THAN 700 MILLION PoE-enabled Ethernet switch ports and 280 million PoE devices are expected to ship in the next five years, according to market research firm Dell’Oro. PoE adoption will see a boost from the release of the IEEE 802.3bt standard for PoE over four pairs, which is expected to be ratified in September 2018.

PHY / PSE PHY / PD

VPSE LOAD

4-Pair PoE

PHY / PSE PHY / PD

VPSE LOAD

2-Pair PoEPair 1 and 4 or Pair 2 and 3

YESTERDAY'S NEWS 1858 — 160 years ago, the first transatlantic telegraph communication occurred via undersea cable, from western Ireland to eastern Newfoundland. One of the first telegraphs was a congratulatory message from Queen Victoria to President James Buchanan. The new cable communication was widely celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic, including a “great cable jubilee” in New York City with a large fireworks display that nearly burned down City Hall.

WEB WE’VE ADDED a bunch of new “how to” videos to our Network Solutions YouTube library. These include videos for using Leviton 110-style and QuickPort patch panels, Category 8 termination using Atlas-X1 Connectors, and terminating the new Cat 6A Universal Tool-Free Plug.

“shipments grew 359 percent ”

Over the past five years, Cat 6A adoption has increased dramatically, becoming the dominant media type for 10 Gb/s networks. Data centers, hospitals, schools, and other enterprise networks applications like wireless and Power over Ethernet all rely on Cat 6A cabling for greater bandwidth to meet today's data demand. And when comparing costs per port of equipment, maintenance, and assembly of 10G Ethernet, Cat 6A and twisted pair has become significantly more cost-effective than other technologies.

Successful Cat 6A cabling projects require proper design, planning, products, and installation practices. Cat 6A cable may differ from previous generation cable, and will change installation requirements for routing and handling as well as design of pathways and spaces.

Leviton's Cat 6A Interactive Reference Guide gives you a better understanding of these requirements to more efficiently plan, bid, and install a Cat 6A system. The

comprehensive guide covers all aspects of Cat 6A, including installation tips, standards, general environments, product recommendations, and termination instructions

Download this free 90-page interactive guide today, and kick off your next Cat 6A project the right way.

Bend Radius

To maintain Cat 6A performance, minimum bend radius should be 4x OD

for UTP and shielded cable. This radius is significantly larger than Cat 6

and 5e. For example, Cat 6 cables at 4x OD is 0.904", whereas Cat 6A

is 1.21". Plan carefully to ensure there is sufficient space throughout

cable runs to maintain proper bend radius.

Placement

Leviton approved-partner Cat 6A cable may be placed in the same tray

with Cat 6, 5e, and other category-rated cables. In addition, Leviton

warrants its product performance regardless of whether strict combing

or randomizing dressing methods are used. As with all cable runs, large

or heavy cable bundles should be positioned under other cable to prevent

crushing. Cable trays should be loaded no more than six inches deep.

Follow NEC code for separating power and data cables.

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6

5e

Routing and Handling

Leviton Network Solutions | (800) 722 2082 | +1 (425) 486 2222 | leviton.com/ns 14

Installation > Routing and Handling > Placement and Bend Radius

Testing

Product Overview

Termination

Cat 6A

Glossary and References

Installation

Applications

Start Your Next

CAT 6A PROJECT with Confidence

TAKE A QUICK PEEK AT THE NEW GUIDE IN THIS VIDEO:

LEVITON.COM/CROSSTALK 55

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QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? IDEAS?

We want to hear from you! Email: crosstalk@leviton.com

Q: I see that you offer USB 2.0 and USB 1.1 extenders for AV installations. Where would you use USB 2.0 versus USB 1.1?

A:

USB 1.1 will usually provide more than adequate bandwidth (12 Mbps full speed) for interactive devices like displays and projectors. However, some of the newer display devices have a USB 3.X hub built in that will not enumerate with a USB 1.1 extension device. In this case, our 41910-U2B extender set will enumerate with 3.X hubs and devices and will supply full USB 2.0 (480 Mbps high speed) bandwidth. Also, many of today’s webcams require higher bandwidth to support higher definition video, so we recommend USB 2.0 to support most webcams.

There are also two additional reasons to utilize the 2.0 extender: 1) The 1.1 extender is limited to 50 meters, where the 2.0 extender is capable of extending the USB signal out to 100 meters, and 2) The 2.0 extender is capable of providing up to 1.5 amps of charging power at the two receiver ports for charging a variety of portable devices.

ASK THE EXPERTS

TECH TIPSRecognizing Multimode Fiber Types by ColorColor-coding is a big help when identifying individual fibers, cable, and connectors. For example, cable jacket color typically defines the fiber type, and can differ based on mode and performance level. These colors are typically chosen by industry standards bodies. However, there are some non-standardized colors and inconsistencies that you should be aware of. Let’s take a closer look at the colors for multimode fiber types.

OM1 If the fiber cable in your network is orange, it is likely OM1. However, there is some legacy orange cable that was available before the OM1 specification. This early cable has a modal bandwidth of 160 MHz.km @ 850 nm, as opposed to 200 for OM1. If you encounter orange cable that is not marked OM1, you may need to assume the cable is 160 MHz.km, limiting 10GBASE-SR to just 26 m (85 ft.).

OM2 OM2 is 50 micron fiber, which provides a much better modal bandwidth than OM1, 500 MHz.km @ 850 nm. The industry standard color for OM2 is grey. However, there is some early OM2 cable installed that is orange, so always check the markings to make sure.

OM3/OM4 Both laser-optimized OM3 and OM4 cable is aqua, as TIA and ISO did not introduce a new color for OM4. However, some manufacturers introduced the color Erika (Heather) violet to designate OM4 (Leviton offers OM4+ in violet). This color designation is important to differentiate the two types, as the modal bandwidth of OM4 (4,700 MHz.km @ 850 nm) is significantly better than OM3 (2,000 MHz.km @ 850 nm).

OM5 Lime OM5 cable was approved by TIA and ISO in 2017. Note in the chart on the left that OM5 has the same modal bandwidth as OM4 @ 850 nm. The main difference between the two options is that OM5 is designed specifically to handle Short Wave Division Multiplexing, which transmits four channels on one duplex multimode fiber pair between 850 nm and 953 nm. However, for all current IEEE applications, there is no advantage of OM5 over OM4.

A reminder: While multimode fiber comes in either 50 micron or 62.5 micron core size, the ANSI/TIA-568.0-D standard recommends 850 nm laser-optimized 50/125 micron be installed as the multimode fiber for new structured cabling designs. This includes both OM3 and OM4 classifications to support 10 Gigabit Ethernet and possibly provide a migration plan to support future 40 and 100 Gigabit applications. Both OM1 (62.5/125 micron) and OM2 (50/125 micron) classifications are now considered legacy fiber types.

Get a thorough overview of current and forward-looking fiber solutions, including fiber types, connector and termination options, and future applications, with our on-demand webinar, Demystifying Enterprise Fiber Networks.

DesignationEffective Modal Bandwidth @ 850 nm (MHz.km)

OM1 200

OM2 500

OM3 2,000

OM4 4,700

OM4+ 4,900

OM5 4,700