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The battle of dominance has gone over a decade between fiber optics and copper wires. With the data centers growing rapidly, the fiber optic cables have become more popular. The reason behind that is because they are light and speedy with fewer interferences. With all these characteristics, fiber optics could not fully replace copper cables in data centers. It is because these cables cost less than the fiber cables. Their maintenance cost is also very low.
Why Copper Cables are an Integral Part of Data Centers?
Fiber cables occupy about 70% of the data centers. Even though fiber optics bring speed and higher bandwidth with them, their maintenance cost is very high. That is why most of the data centers prefer to use a combination of both fiber optics and copper cables.
Data centers can use copper cables in many applications like wireless access, horizontal cabling, PoE technology, and sensor networks. Since copper patch cords allow both data transmissions and electricity power supply, they are perfect for Power over Ethernet applications. With the advent of 25G and 40G patch cable standards, the copper cable also supports a bandwidth of up to 2GHz. Ethernet cables like Cat6 Plenum and Cat6a Plenum are widely popular for the data center’s installations.
Various Types of Cables for Data Centers
In fact, there is a large range of patch cords including Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a, Cat7 and Cat8 cables in the market. Different types of twisted-pair copper cables may be used for diverse cabling deployment. Here gives a brief introduction to these cables.
Cat5e – This is an enhanced version of category 5 cables. We developed these cables in 2001 by TIA/EIA to improve the certain characteristics of ethernet cables. Cat5e is fully backward compatible with previous categories. This cable can support 1000Mbps and 100MHz within 100 meters of the cable.
Cat6 – Cat6 ethernet plenum cable can support 10Gbps and frequencies of up to 550MHz. This cable features thick sheathing as compared to previous categories. Cat6 Plenum is ideal for plenum spaces in data centers.
Cat6a – Cat6a cable (Category 6a) supports twice the bandwidth frequencies of Cat6 cable, at a standard frequency rate of 650MHz. Cat6a is able to support 10Gigbit up to 100 meters. And its sheathing is robust, helping eliminate alien crosstalk (AXT). Being considerably thicker than Cat6, Cat6a is less flexible to work with, and therefore, better suited for industrial environments.
NewYork Cables can provide all the patch cords mentioned above, which 100% pass the Fluke Test. These cables are cost-effective and feature large inventory and quick free delivery. Welcome, visit our website if you have any needs.
| Specification | Cat5e | Cat6 | Cat6a |
| Cable Jacket | Plenum, Riser & PVC | Plenum, Riser & PVC | Plenum & Riser |
| Wire Gauge | 24-AWG | 23-AWG | 23-AWG Highly Twisted |
| Frequencies | 350 MHZ | 550 MHZ | 750 MHZ |
| Installation Temp | 0°C to 60°C | 0°C to 60°C | 0°C to 60°C |
| Pairs | 4 Twisted Pairs | 4 Twisted Pairs | 4 Twisted Pairs |
| Package | Easy Pull Box | Easy Pull Box | Wood Spool |
| Colors | Black, Blue, White, Red, Green, Yellow | Black, Blue, White, Red, Green, Yellow | Black, Blue, White, Red, Green, Yellow |
| Standard Compliance | ETL, FCC, CE, CSA, ISO/IES, RoHS | FCC, CE, CSA, ISO/IES, RoHS | ETL, FCC, CE, CSA, ISO/IES, RoHS |
