The new MRJ21 XG system from TE Enterprise Networks is a pre-terminated “plug & play” 10 Gb/s copper cabling solution designed to support agility and save valuable floor space in the most demanding of data center infrastructures.

This pre-terminated solution supports 10 Gb/s (10 Gigabit Ethernet) throughput in all architectures where copper cabling is required and enables the data center manager to quickly add capacity or services.

“With the increasing penetration of 10GBASE-T switches and blades in the data center, the need to quickly deploy a 10 Gb/s copper system with minimal white space consumption has become critical”, says TE’s Data Center Business Line Manager, Thorsten Punke: “The MRJ21 XG system answers this challenge in three ways: firstly by offering dramatic space savings, secondly by allowing much higher density, and thirdly by providing unparalleled 10 Gb/s throughput to support cloud and virtualized environments.”

The MRJ21 XG system comprises pre-terminated trunks, panels and modular connectivity and is compatible with TE’s Universal Connectivity Platform (UCP). The unique MRJ21 XG trunk cable typically occupies 5% less volume than most other zone cabling solutions and up to 37% less than traditional twisted-pair systems. This lower cable volume, when deployed in the data center, can reduce containment costs, and presents less of an obstruction to the airflow entering and exiting the servers and switches. The result is a positive impact on both initial CAPEX and ongoing OPEX expenditure.

The system has the versatility to be deployed in traditional cross-connect architectures, office LAN environments and the latest server/core-switch configurations. In addition, it can support all data rates up to and including 10 Gb/s, giving future-proofed connectivity to environments where 1 Gb/s servers may be substituted for 10 Gb/s at a later date.

The unique MRJ21 XG plug design supports four separate 10 Gb/s transmission channels over a single trunk cable, giving guaranteed throughput performance and quick installation. Direct connection to UCP compatible cassettes allows up to 32 RJ45 ports (eight per cassette) to be presented in a 19-inch panel. For high-density copper cross-connect applications, a fixed 48-port 1U panel is available. Manufactured using shielded cable to give the highest level of signal immunity to crosstalk in the lowest cross-sectional area, MRJ21 XG trunk cables can be ordered with a plug supporting 45° rear cable entry, allowing bend-radius maintenance in space-constrained installations.

Having the ability to view the entire physical layer within the data center has become an essential capability.  Responding to this need for managed connectivity, an AMPTRAC-enabled UCP cassette and 19-inch panel are available for integration into TE Connectivity’s network analyzers and ICM (infrastructure configuration management) software.