Planning; Challenges With Unstructured High Density Solutions - Brocade Communications Systems 1606 Manual

DATA CENTER
Figure 3. mSFP cable types
P
LANNING
As port density per a director and a rack increase, having an appropriate cable management plan is key
especially during servicing or scaling out the fabric. The cable management plan should include current and
future SAN design requirements. Cables can be managed in a variety of ways, such as by routing cables
below the chassis, to either side of the chassis, through cable channels on the sides of the cabinet, or using
patch panels. When planning your cable management solution and the cable routing path, take into
account the location of the rack's power strip and the DCX power supplies to eliminate cable interference
when servicing the power supplies and cords.
Your task may involve wiring a new data center or upgrading the cabling in an existing data center.
•
If you are upgrading an existing data center, you must evaluate, capture, and understand the present
cabling infrastructure thoroughly.
•
Document the current (if any) and projected network topologies using an application such as Microsoft
Visio or Excel. Focus on the physical aspects, especially equipment interfaces. Document the various
cable types present and proposed, present and projected cable counts, approximate routed distances
to distribution areas and equipment, present and anticipated equipment port counts. Additionally,
document any areas of concern, and any established internal cabling standards.
•
Plan to accommodate for current and future growth. Build in flexibility, so that the patching structure
will allow a device to connect to any other device in the data center. This will permit devices to be
located anywhere within the data center.
•
When implementing a high density solution, install a Brocade DCX cable management comb under the
chassis door. This comb allows for simple cable management and can be installed without service
disruption. Route the cables down in front of the blades to keep LEDs visible. Leave at least one meter
of slack for each fiber optic cable to provide room to remove and replace blades.

Challenges with Unstructured High Density Solutions

All three growth factors—volume, performance, and distance—have placed enormous strain on IT
organizations, requiring miles of cable infrastructure to interconnect servers, storage, and Fibre Channel
fabrics for fast, reliable data and application delivery. Unfortunately, many organizations still rely on
traditional point-to-point cable solutions, reactively deploying cables one at a time to suit immediate needs.
The resulting cable clutter inhibits intelligent, pragmatic growth, contributing to an inefficient growth
strategy that will only worsen over time. The tasks of verifying proper connectivity, troubleshooting, and
managing device change also become more complex and time-consuming, and can lead to planned or
unplanned downtime of critical business applications.
Brocade DCX Cable Management
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