LATEST INTELLIGENCE
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR A NEW
LEVEL OF POWER OVER ETHERNET
L
aying the groundwork for a new level of
Power over Ethernet Enterprise networks
continues to expand, growing more
versatile and complex.
Devices once considered peripherals –
wireless access points (WAPs), security
network cameras, building automation and
control systems, and voice-over-IP (VoIP)
phones – are now important network assets.
As more devices are added, the cabling
infrastructure needed to support them
grows, and the option to power them over
structured cabling becomes more attractive.
Over the past decade, Power over Ethernet
(PoE) has emerged as a key powering
strategy, allowing network managers,
installers and integrators to use structured
cabling to provide both power and data to
many of their network devices.
The original PoE standard – IEEE 802.3af,
adopted by the IEEE PoE Task Force in
2003 – limited the technology to devices
requiring less than 12.95 watts of power.
Less than three years after the first standard
was published, growing demand for PoE
applications beyond 12.95 watts led to
efforts to update it.
The revised PoE standard, IEEE 802.3at
– also known as PoE Plus or PoE+ – was
adopted in 2009 and raised the PoE
power supply to 25.5 watts. Since then,
the industry’s interest in, and demand for,
higher power PoE solutions has continued
to snowball.
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