INTERVIEW
Backbone of
the network
Riccardo Weber, Director
of Marketing and Product
Development, Prysmian Group
data centre. Riccardo Weber discusses the data
centre industry from a cabling perspective
www.drakauk.com
Draka Multimedia Solutions (MMS) is part of the Prysmian
Group and specialises in cables for private communication
networks, supporting wholesalers, resellers and OEMs. MMS
manufactures optical, coaxial and copper cables with greater
bandwidths, longer-life solutions and absolute reliability.
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What have been the most significant changes to
the industry over the past five years?
We’ve seen a major move from copper cable to fibre optic
over the past decade, with the last five years seeing an
increase in the density of fibre being deployed. Not just in
hyperscale data centres, but across the industry. 144 fibre
(in 1 RU) cable designs are in demand.
In high-density fibre deployment, ribbon cable designs
are rapidly evolving. The aim is to maximise the number
of fibres within decreasing spaces – the Tardis effect!
Singlemode fibre (G652) is now the de-facto choice of fibre,
although OM5 multimode still has a place in the industry.
What have been the main challenges for your
sector?
With individual cable designs now able to deliver multi-
thousands of fibres to the patching frame, the challenge
is now to effectively route, splice and manage within the
frame. Construction Products Regulation (CPR) compliance
is also a major challenge. CPR for cable products essentially
‘proves’ the manufacturer’s declared performance for a
cable’s reaction to fire properties laid out in EN 50575.
However, there’s an unfair market in that the majority of
cable products – often available at low prices – claim they’re
CPR compliant, but simply aren’t. It’s bad for our business
but also potentially dangerous for yours.
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Cabling is one of the unsung heroes of the
What will be the market drivers for the future?
The increasing demand for data storage will result in
the need for even more fibre per cable. While we already
have a 144 fibre cable, 288 versions are in development
and plans for a 576 version is in place. Data centres aren’t
getting bigger so all of this fibre has to be fitted into
relatively smaller cables, so new ribbon cable construction
designs are vital. While this change can be found
predominantly in hyperscale data centres, there’s a trickle-
down effect and enterprise data centres are also moving in
this direction.
What does the data centre of tomorrow look
like?
If we were to simply use the existing cabling solutions at
our disposal but increase the amount of cable to meet
the demand placed on data centres, the data centre of
the future would look somewhat crowded so solutions and
products that maximise fibre density within a cable of the
same, if not similar, dimensions is essential. So, from a
cable perspective, data centres shouldn’t, on the surface,
look all that much different in the foreseeable future.
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How is Draka MMS keeping abreast of current
and future industry developments?
As a UK manufacturer – a rare breed in the cable sector
– Draka MMS actively engages with its customer base to
ensure R&D and our product lines not only meet customer
requirements now, but well into the future; hence our work
on new ribbon cable designs with high density fibre. We’re
heavily invested in the data centre sector and therefore
have a high-level strategy for this market and considerable
expertise. Attending events such as the Data Centre
Summit, for example, not only allows us to demonstrate
this expertise and our product lines but to also gain
valuable feedback to keep us on point. n
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