Upcoming Industry Events

Society of Architectural History 67th Annual Conference April 9—13, 2014

The Society of Architectural Historians will hold its 67th Annual

Conference in Austin, Texas, a rapidly growing city with a diverse

architectural and cultural heritage. The conference will feature 35

paper sessions, the SAH Austin Seminar, Graduate Student Lightning

Talks, tours of Austin's architecture and landscapes, and other

events.

The international conference offers the opportunity to present new

research, exchange ideas and network with people and organizations

from across the globe, including architectural historians, art

historians, architects, preservationists, landscape architects, urban

planners, nonprofits, and civic leaders.

Learn more.

AIA Convention June 26—28, 2014

Connect with the world’s brightest architects, designers, innovators,

and provocateurs at AIA Convention 2014 at McCormick Place in

Chicago.

We’re inviting you to be a part of an experience that is designed with

purpose. A reimagined AIA National Convention that presents a

fresh, new approach to how architects learn, engage, and connect

with one another..

Learn more.

PANDUIT

JOURNAL OF

TECHNOLOGY

DESIGN TRENDS

DesignerLink

PROFESSIONAL

DEVELOPMENT

USGBC NEWS

The House of

Representatives recently

took a major step in

advancing building

efficiency legislation with

the passage of H.R.

2126, the Energy

Efficiency Improvement

Act. With regards to

federal building

efficiency, the bill

promotes federal data

center energy efficiency

Read full article.

AIA NEWS

Architecture firm billings

continued to increase at

a modest pace in

February, with an

Architecture Billings

Index score of 50.7 (any

score over 50 indicates

billings growth). Slightly

more firms reported

improving conditions in

February than in

January, but overall,

billings growth remains

sluggish.

Read full article.

Industry Business Trends

Cisco transceiver sends 40G over

duplex multimode fiber cabling

Cisco announced that with the introduction of its

QSFP 40G BiDi (bidirectional) transceiver, it “allows

zero-cost fiber migration by reusing the current 10-

Gbit/sec cabling for 40-Gbit/sec device connectivity.”

The company says it does so via the fact that the

QSFP 40G BiDi, with duplex LC ports, enables 100

meters of 40G transmission over OM3, 125 meters

over OM4 fiber, and 150 meters over certain

“OM4+” fibers.

In a technical paper titled “Migrate to a 40-Gbps

Data Center with Cisco QSSFP BiDi Technology,”

the company makes the case for its transceiver

technology, taking direct aim at “the need for a

major upgrade of the cabling infrastructure” when

transitioning from 10G to 40G, “which can be too

expensive or disruptive to allow data centers to

quickly adopt and migrate to the 40-Gbit/sec

technology.”

The paper reads, in part, “Existing short-reach

transceivers for 40-Gbit/sec connectivity in a QSFP

form factor … use independent transmitter and

receiver sections, each with 4 parallel fiber strands.

For a duplex 40-Gbit/sec connection, 8 fiber

strands are required. Both QSFP SR4 and QSFP

CRS4 use MPO 12-fiber connectors. As a result, 4

fiber strands in each connection are wasted.

“With existing QSFP transceivers, each direct

connection between two devices requires an MPO-

to-MPO 12-fiber cable. In the case of structured

cabling with patch panels and fiber trunks, a 40-

Gbit/sec connection needs MPO-to-MPO fibers

between devices and patch panels, and 4 duplex

multimode fibers in the fiber trunk.

Read full article.

this issue

Industry Business Trends P.1

New Resources P.2

Multimode Fiber:

Understanding Chromatic Dispersion P.4

Case Study: Hertz Corporation P.6

Learn More about Panduit P.7

I S S U E

Q 1 2 0 1 4

06

DesignerLink Issue 06 Q1 2014

COMPLEMENTARY SERVICES

Data Center Physical Infrastructure Design Service for Cisco Nexus® 9000

Ensure that the foundation on

which your Nexus network

functions is optimized for power,

cooling, space and connectivity to

deliver a robust, reliable and

operationally efficient design.

Learn more.

Streamlined Deployment Solution for 40– and 10-Gpbs Network Architecture Using Cisco Nexus 6000 Series Switches

Today’s data center networks are faced with more complex cabling systems and

architecture as bandwidth requirements increase.

Data center operators are constantly looking for technological innovations to gain a

competitive advantage. The emergence of virtualization and cloud technologies has

allowed many data centers to succeed at differentiating and creating advantage.

Unfortunately these advances do not occur without operational consequences that

were unintended or unforeseen. The result of this evolving IT landscape has many

enterprises reconsidering all facets of the data center because next-generation

technologies require levels of bandwidth and latency that most networks were not

designed to support. In order to take advantage of the full potential of these

technologies, enterprises need a network that can handle the strains that these new

technologies introduce.

The foundation of the data center has always been the high-speed switching

equipment and the cabling that ties all the devices together. As the migration from the

physical dedicated architectures moves faster toward virtualization and cloud

computing, the need for higher bandwidth, lower latency, and management

simplification is critical. The Cisco Nexus 6000 Series Switches provide a solution to

these issues now and also ensures investment protection for the future.

As virtualized environments are adopted by more enterprises, the pressure they apply on the network

infrastructure will continue to cause IT and facility stakeholders to reconsider the network architecture they

use. The Cisco Nexus 6000 Series was created to optimize network performance to allow virtualized

environments to function without the restrictions that traditional network architecture can impose. For a Cisco

Nexus 6000 Series switching platform network to operate at the highest level, it requires a physical

infrastructure built to help ensure superior performance. The Panduit Physical Infrastructure Solution gives

Cisco the performance, flexibility, and reliability needed to operate without constraints.

Download full technical brief.

New Resources Simplified 40-Gbps Cabling Deployment Solutions with Cisco Nexus® 9000 Series Switches

With the ever expanding bandwidth needs that

virtualization and cloud technologies have

applied to the data center network, staying

ahead of the curve is extremely important to

maintain a competitive advantage.

Data centers are undertaking some profound

changes due to the ongoing data center

consolidation, virtualization and cloud

technology, and increasing demand on

application workload extensity and agility. All

these driving forces are changing every facet of

data center, flattening its topology from the

traditional core-aggregation-access 3-tier design

to the spine-leaf 2-tier architecture, boosting its

bandwidth capacity from 1GE at access and

10GE at aggregation to 10GE at leaf and 40GE

at spine, and morphing its operational model

from per-box CLI manual approach to system-

level automated process through Restful API.

While performance, bandwidth and latency are remaining as most important elements in datacenter

networks, management and operational agility and simplicity have elevated themselves to the top of mind

of datacenter architects and operator.

Cisco Nexus® 9500 and 9300 series switches are the next generation products aiming to take datacenter

networks through all these transitions and even beyond. With their unprecedented performance and port

density, they are well suited in both the traditional 3-tier design and the spine-leaf design providing

forwarding capacity for fast increasing server-to-server traffic. They’re also equipped with unmatched

programmability and automation functionalities to transform datacenter network management model.

As virtualized environments are adopted by more enterprises, the pressure they apply on the network

infrastructure will continue to cause datacenter stakeholders to reconsider the network architecture they

use. The Cisco Nexus 9000 Series was created to optimize network performance to allow virtualized

environments to function without the restrictions that traditional network architecture can impose. For a

Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switching platform network to operate at the highest level, it requires a physical

infrastructure built to help ensure superior performance. The Panduit Physical Infrastructure Solution gives

Cisco the performance, flexibility, and reliability needed to operate without constraints.

Download full technical brief.

A Deeper Look at Signature Core™ Fiber Optic Cabling System Benefits

For high-speed Data Center and Enterprise optical communication

networks, basic optical loss and dispersion − the spreading out of

optical signals − are the most important factors that will determine

overall network performance. Utilizing high performance (low loss)

connectivity and fiber cable as well as following industry standardized

practices of cable routing (e.g. maintaining bend radius control) are the

best ways to minimize signal impairments from excessive optical loss.

Traditional techniques of minimizing signal impairments by reducing

the total dispersion have been built upon simplified system models that

do not consider the interaction of the two primary types of

dispersion in MMF networks: modal dispersion and chromatic

dispersion. The net effect is that these simplified systems models do

not accurately provide a worst case estimate of network performance

as they were intended, and the transceiver and fiber have been

optimized independently, thereby ignoring potential performance

improvements by designing them as a system.

By considering both modal and chromatic dispersion together,

customers can experience significant improvements which result in a

better system model that can more accurately predict performance.

Panduit’s Signature Core™ Fiber Optic Cabling System fiber was

designed to account for the interaction of modal and chromatic

dispersion and compensate for these effects to provide a

communication system (transceiver and fiber combination) with

minimum total dispersion.

This system provides the best of both performance improvements by

compensating modal and chromatic effects while simultaneously

eliminating the potential combination of chromatic and modal

dispersion, which can cause a significantly degraded system

performance.

Panduit’s Signature Core™ Fiber Optic Cabling System is the only

MMF to correct modal and chromatic dispersion because it is designed

to counterbalance both of these dispersive effects and therefore

minimize total dispersion. This fiber is 100% OM3 and/or OM4

standards compliant and therefore fully backwards compatible with all

other standards compliant laser-optimized OM3 and OM4 cable.[4,5]

For those channels that are the most demanding in terms of reach,

connectivity budget or performance requirements, Panduit’s Signature

Core™ Fiber Optic Cabling System MMF provides network designers

and operators with the highest performance fiber available to meet the

most demanding applications and Data Center architectures.

Read full white paper.

COMPLEMENTARY SERVICES

Data Center Physical Infrastructure Design Service for Cisco Nexus® 6000

Ensure that your physical

infrastructure properly and fully

supports the full performance of

the Cisco Nexus® 6000 Series

Switch to meet your current and

long-term IT goals.

Learn more.

This short webinar reviews the issues facing data center professionals, distortion and its impact on system performance and how the Signature Core™ Fiber Optic Cabling System corrects distortion. Watch now.

Multimode Fiber: Understanding Chromatic Dispersion

Availability Latency Throughput

Simplified representation of 2a) modal dispersion and 2b) chromatic dispersion in MMF

COMPLEMENTARY SERVICES

Data Center Physical Infrastructure Design Service for Cloud Networks

Take advantage of new

features such as BiDi optics for

seamless 10 Gig to 40 Gig

migration (and eventual

migration to 100 Gig).

Learn more.

Data Center Technology Partnership with Cisco

(www.panduit.com/cisco)

Cisco and Panduit provide solutions that optimize data centers to help

customers increase agility and optimize operational efficiency. Panduit's

Unified Physical InfrastructureSM (UPI)-based solutions connect, manage,

and automate critical infrastructure systems. By extending and converging

the business infrastructure across all core systems, Panduit provides

customers with a smarter, unified business foundation. The partnership

between Panduit and Cisco helps customers manage risk within the

physical infrastructure by intelligently converging physical and logical

systems.

Visit the site.

Signature Core™ Fiber Optic Cabling System

(www.panduit.com/signaturecore)

This revolutionary advancement in multimode fiber communications

systems delivers the ultimate in reach and design flexibility, compensating

for both modal and chromatic dispersion. Signature Core™ Fiber Optic

Cabling System delivers verified optical performance and signal integrity

beyond 10/40/100 Gb/s Ethernet and 8/16 Gb/s Fibre Channel standards

requirements. Signature Core™ Fiber Optic Cabling System Enables

Cisco 40G BiDi Optical Module to Reach 150 Meters

Visit the site.

Architects, Engineers and Consultants

The Architect, Engineer and Consultant resource center was created

specifically for the design community. This site gives you easy access to

relevant business and technology information as well as links to design

tools and Panduit’s innovative products and solutions. Visit the site.

Want to Learn More About Panduit Solutions?

Upgrading a Data Center to Accommodate More

Value-Added Technologies

Hertz Corporation, a world leading provider of car

rental services, needed to upgrade the Hertz Data

Centers in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with new power

and cooling systems and provide it with capabilities

that would handle Hertz’s business demands for at

least the next 15 years.

The Hertz Corporation was looking for this upgrade to

consist of the most current innovations in Data Center

solutions including a design of all pathways and

cabinet layout in a new white space, a migration

pathway that would move seamlessly from the

existing space to the new space, which would include

the capability to move existing cabling from 10 Gig to a

future ready 40 Gig/100 Gig. The Hertz Corporation

envisioned this upgrade to occur in four phases.

Ultimately, the Hertz Corporation needed a solution that would accommodate the essential requirements

associated with establishing future-proof data centers as well as one that would help the company run its

centers as efficiently as possible for complete optimization. In conjunction with this solution, Hertz needed a

solutions provider that understood their commitment to customer service levels, quality, and reliability and

could address their ultimate goals by accurately assessing their needs. Reliability and high availability are

critical to Hertz’s worldwide operations, and the upgrade could only occur without interruption or delays. To

help secure its requirements, Hertz chose Panduit’s Intelligent Data Center physical infrastructure

solution to perform the upgrade. According to Rob Moore, Hertz Staff Vice President, Global Information

Technology Services, “We saw that Panduit had a complete end-to-end solution and we wanted to be

partnered with a company that could see the big picture, while committing to a seamless implementation.”

See how Panduit helped Hertz.

Case Study: Hertz Corporation

NEW!

NEW!

Upcoming Industry Events

Society of Architectural History 67th Annual Conference April 9—13, 2014

The Society of Architectural Historians will hold its 67th Annual

Conference in Austin, Texas, a rapidly growing city with a diverse

architectural and cultural heritage. The conference will feature 35

paper sessions, the SAH Austin Seminar, Graduate Student Lightning

Talks, tours of Austin's architecture and landscapes, and other

events.

The international conference offers the opportunity to present new

research, exchange ideas and network with people and organizations

from across the globe, including architectural historians, art

historians, architects, preservationists, landscape architects, urban

planners, nonprofits, and civic leaders.

Learn more.

AIA Convention June 26—28, 2014

Connect with the world’s brightest architects, designers, innovators,

and provocateurs at AIA Convention 2014 at McCormick Place in

Chicago.

We’re inviting you to be a part of an experience that is designed with

purpose. A reimagined AIA National Convention that presents a

fresh, new approach to how architects learn, engage, and connect

with one another..

Learn more.

PANDUIT

JOURNAL OF

TECHNOLOGY

DESIGN TRENDS

DesignerLink

PROFESSIONAL

DEVELOPMENT

USGBC NEWS

The House of

Representatives recently

took a major step in

advancing building

efficiency legislation with

the passage of H.R.

2126, the Energy

Efficiency Improvement

Act. With regards to

federal building

efficiency, the bill

promotes federal data

center energy efficiency

Read full article.

AIA NEWS

Architecture firm billings

continued to increase at

a modest pace in

February, with an

Architecture Billings

Index score of 50.7 (any

score over 50 indicates

billings growth). Slightly

more firms reported

improving conditions in

February than in

January, but overall,

billings growth remains

sluggish.

Read full article.

Industry Business Trends

Cisco transceiver sends 40G over

duplex multimode fiber cabling

Cisco announced that with the introduction of its

QSFP 40G BiDi (bidirectional) transceiver, it “allows

zero-cost fiber migration by reusing the current 10-

Gbit/sec cabling for 40-Gbit/sec device connectivity.”

The company says it does so via the fact that the

QSFP 40G BiDi, with duplex LC ports, enables 100

meters of 40G transmission over OM3, 125 meters

over OM4 fiber, and 150 meters over certain

“OM4+” fibers.

In a technical paper titled “Migrate to a 40-Gbps

Data Center with Cisco QSSFP BiDi Technology,”

the company makes the case for its transceiver

technology, taking direct aim at “the need for a

major upgrade of the cabling infrastructure” when

transitioning from 10G to 40G, “which can be too

expensive or disruptive to allow data centers to

quickly adopt and migrate to the 40-Gbit/sec

technology.”

The paper reads, in part, “Existing short-reach

transceivers for 40-Gbit/sec connectivity in a QSFP

form factor … use independent transmitter and

receiver sections, each with 4 parallel fiber strands.

For a duplex 40-Gbit/sec connection, 8 fiber

strands are required. Both QSFP SR4 and QSFP

CRS4 use MPO 12-fiber connectors. As a result, 4

fiber strands in each connection are wasted.

“With existing QSFP transceivers, each direct

connection between two devices requires an MPO-

to-MPO 12-fiber cable. In the case of structured

cabling with patch panels and fiber trunks, a 40-

Gbit/sec connection needs MPO-to-MPO fibers

between devices and patch panels, and 4 duplex

multimode fibers in the fiber trunk.

Read full article.

this issue

Industry Business Trends P.1

New Resources P.2

Multimode Fiber:

Understanding Chromatic Dispersion P.4

Case Study: Hertz Corporation P.6

Learn More about Panduit P.7

I S S U E

Q 1 2 0 1 4

06

DesignerLink Issue 06 Q1 2014