Zurich strings Datwyler cabling systems in city data centers

The City of Zurich is using fiber-optic and copper cabling systems from Datwyler in the conversion and construction of its data centers, the cabling supplier has announced. Contractor TurnKey Communications AG is deploying the “largely pre-assembled” cables in two data centers. The total number of links is around 10,000, Datwyler estimates.

As part of a standardization and consolidation initiative, the city’s Zurich Organisation and Informatics (OIZ) group has built a second data center in the metropolitan area, in the industrial area of Hagenholz, to create redundant resources in parallel with those for the existing data center in Albisrieden. Maréchaux Elektro AG won the cabling contract for the two data centers in August of last year. The company in turn tasked TurnKey Communication perform the planning work and actual cabling work.

Turnkey collaborated with Datwyler in selecting the cables. The fiber-optic system, which Datwyler recently developed, offers a modularly expandable approach while supporting up to 96 fibers per rack unit. It is based on sub-racks fitted with pre-assembled slide-in cassettes. On the back of each cassette are two MTP couplers, and they are cabled with MTP mini-trunks. At the front, the cassettes provide OIZ with 12 LC Duplex or E2000 connections as required.

The fiber-optic trunk variants include trunks with 12, 24, 48, 72, or 144 fibers pre-assembled with MTP, LC Duplex, or E2000 connectors. In the central distribution racks the mini-trunks – almost all of them with bend-optimized OM3 multimode fibers – align with 1,500 fiber-optic modules in 270 sub-racks in 4U (including patch management tray) and in the server racks in 210 fiber-optic panels within 1U.

The 10G-capable copper cabling installed in parallel consists of Category 7 type CU 7702 4P data cables and IEC Standard-compliant Cat. 6a RJ-45 modules, pre-assembled to one end. The other end was terminated on-site. For the termination of the copper cables Datwyler supplied 135 3U sub-racks with 1160 modular six-port front panels and 285 1U panels with 24 ports.

Datwyler also supplied 13,300 fiber-optic duplex and 9100 copper patch cables for the connection of active devices.

Acceptance testing of more than 14,000 links in total was carried out on completion of each construction phase, most recently in Spring 2012.

“The cabling installed in our data centers is a really top quality and comparatively economical system solution which will reliably transmit all our future applications,” comments Patrick Eggeler, Manager of Data Centre New Buildings & Operation at OIZ. “It was flawlessly implemented and handed over on time. We are also very satisfied with the planning support by TurnKey and Datwyler, and with the services rendered in relation to the installation.”