Network Communications News (NCN) August 2016 | Page 28

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Black Box

Left: Standard 24-AWG Cable
Right: Slim-Net™ 28-AWG Cable

Save space, improve airflow, and optimise
cable handling with Slim-Net™ 28-AWG Cable
Black Box recently introduced Slim-Net, the
company’s 28-AWG CAT6 and CAT6A UTP
cables to answer a need for better patching in
crowded cabinets and racks. Over the past few
years, 28-AWG cable has been gaining fans and
is becoming a popular choice, especially for
high-density data centres and telecom rooms.
In this article, we’ll examine the advantages
of using Slim-Net 28-AWG cable as well as some
usage considerations.

What is 28-AWG cable?
It’s a patch cable made with thinner, 28-AWG
stranded copper conductors as opposed to
traditional patch cables made with thicker 23-,
24- or 26-AWG conductors. Black Box Slim-Net
28-AWG cable is constructed with top-quality,
stranded copper conductors. The plug is
custom designed to ensure a snug fit on the
RJ-45 gold-blade contacts and to guarantee top
performance.
Here are some of the advantages of using
Slim-Net 28-AWG cable:
• Advantage 1: Space savings
With a diameter of only 4.1 mm, Slim-Net 28AWG cable is almost half the size of a typical
24-AWG cable at 5.9 mm. This gives you a lot of
extra space in cable managers and in pathways.
The difference can be dramatic, as shown
in this photo of a bundle of 28-AWG cable

Black Box Advertorial.indd 28

compared to a bundle of 24-AWG cable. When
you calculate the physical cable area in bundles
and in patching connections, you’ll actually
save more than 50% space when compared to
traditional cables. This can make a significant
difference in congested telecom rooms and
data centres.
• Advantage 2: Improved airflow
Cooling is a hot issue in today’s data centres,
especially in crowded racks and cabinets.
Slim-Net 28-AWG cables actually help cooling
because they are so much thinner than
traditional 24-AWG cables. The result is that
they take up less space in front of patch panels
and hot network equipment, such as switches.
The extra space between cables results in
improved airflow and cooling for the equipment.
• Advantage 3: Easier handling
There’s more space between patched Slim-Net
28-AWG cables, so the cable is much easier to
handle. Compared to 24-AWG cables, which

02/08/2016 15:48