In light of the need for ever-increasing circuit densities, transmission speeds and network connectivity, maintaining the quality of channel signal integrity has become a significant challenge in the network industry. Molex addresses this challenge with its High-Speed Data Center Cables, which provide efficient networking solutions and support the fastest data rates across the many distances common in data centers.
Whether it’s the signal integrity of the cable, EMI testing or cable reliability, Molex provides your network system top-quality insurance for all these areas with its High-Speed Data Center Cables.
Signal Integrity (SI)
The integrity of a signal needs to be optimal to ensure the signal being sent from point A to point B is correctly interpreted, guaranteeing reliable communication. Even short-distance transmissions are a challenge, as electronic systems have become faster, smaller and denser. Molex optimizes SI by managing impedance throughout the entire cable assembly, yielding optimal return loss, insertion loss and other characteristics such as skew.
Return loss defines how much of the input signal is being reflected due to impedance mismatches throughout the connector/cable. Meanwhile, insertion loss indicates how much energy is dissipated by the signal passing through the components that make up a channel. Molex minimizes these losses to give you one of the most reliable cables in the industry!
EMI Testing
Molex’s QSFP+-to-4-SFP+ Passive Cable Assembly provides a superior EMI girdle design that ensures one of the industry’s lowest EMI. It’s designed to interconnect a variety of common physical-layer standards that include Ethernet, Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI and InfiniBand. They can range from 0.5m-length cables to 3.0m-length cables..
Another great cable assembly for superior EMI protection is Molex’s QSFP+-to-QSFP+ product. Zinc die-cast backshells on the cable plug provide 360-degree EMI signal shielding. Data rates can go up to 10 Gbps per lane for QSFP+ assemblies and can range from 0.5m length cables to 5m length cables.
Product Placement:
In addition to EMI protection, Molex also tests its data center cables for a variety of electrical parameters, taking the necessary time for thorough investigation. Slow speed tests include checking for shorts, opens and miswiring. Molex also tests insertion loss and return loss as these are critical for improving SI (as mentioned earlier!) as well as monitoring the actual wire termination to the paddle card. Testing is done with a vector network analyzer (VNA) and extensive fixturing.
Cable Reliability
Molex testing and SI improvements are tied to overall cable reliability. Cable reliability is related to the robustness of the cable and termination/strain relief methods to ensure consistent, long-term channel impedance in networking systems. Molex subjects each cable design to rigorous mechanical testing. This means that not only do the electrical parameters matter but so does mechanical design to manage stress exposure.
All of this highlights the importance of how the material and components that make up the cable affect its reliability. Molex designs data center cables with all these factors in play. For instance, Molex SFP+ Cable Assemblies deliver mechanical reliability with unique thumb latches on the connectors that provide an intuitive squeeze and pull-latching mechanism. These cable assemblies are made entirely of Molex components, offering a one-stop shop for a complete cable solution. They can also range from 0.5m length cable to 10m length cable.
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With Molex, you’ll be up-to-date with international standards for interconnection systems. Additionally, Molex is a lead participant in many standard-setting committees and groups, including the IEEE 802.3 working group. This ensures that Molex meets the standards specifications, particularly IEEE 802.3bj. This specification defines channel spec’s and cable requirements for aggregate port speeds up to 100 Gbps, a standard for Ethernet connectivity in a data center environment!
The zQSFP+-to-zQSFP Assemblies are great cables from Molex that fit these standards: They provide solutions across multiple industry standards that can handle data rates as high as 100 Gbps. These come as 1.01m length cables, 2m length cables, and 3m length cables.
Molex Data Center Cables support all leading equipment vendors and networking protocols. Applications can include telecommunications, data communications, medical, servers or any next-generation uses and protocols that require signal reliability at a premium level that is one of the best in the industry.