CABLExpress, a manufacturer of data center and cabling infrastructure, has announced its expanded Skinny-Trunk Solution, a high-density trunking system designed to increase flexibility and improve performance in a structured data centers. The product line now includes the Skinny-Trunk fiber trunk assemblies, the Skinny-Trunk Z-Mount, Skinny-Trunk Harnesses, H-Series Enclosures and the Skinny-Trunk Fiber Jumpers.
RELATED NEWS: CABLExpress enhances Skinny-Trunk fiber optic MTP connector
The Skinny-Trunk Z-Mount is a universal mount, metal bracket manufactured by CABLExpress that attaches to the outside of any standard rack or cabinet. It is billed as the only bracket on the market with molded, angled MTP couplers. The Skinny-Trunk fiber-optic trunking cables snap into the back of the bracket and a Skinny-Trunk Harness plugs into the front, therefore eliminating the need to utilize an additional enclosure inside the rack. This may reduce the use of vertical rack space, saving room for future expansion.
For large switches, the company says the combination of the Skinny-Trunk Z-Mount and Skinny-Trunk Harness also eliminates the need to attach fiber jumpers to a patch panel, which may help to decrease cabling by up to 70 percent. Skinny-Trunk Fiber Jumpers are still available for smaller switches.
The Skinny-Trunk Harness features customized, pre-engineered, staggered lengths that meet the specifications of high-density Brocade, Cisco and other switches. The MTP breakout legs on the Skinny-Trunk Harness vary in length and plug into the angled Z-Mount bracket, which reduces bend radius and insertion loss.
The MTP breakout legs on a Skinny-Trunk and a Skinny-Trunk Harness are only 3 mm in diameter, which may reduce cable congestion compared to breakout legs that are typically 5-6 mm.
"The CABLExpress Skinny-Trunk Solution allows companies to save space, reduce insertion loss and future-proof their data centers," says Peter E. Belyea, vice president of data center cabling for the company. "By using pre-engineered, customized lengths and reducing the overall amount of cabling required, it really cleans up the data center and helps reduce the amount of cooling required."
In January 2010, CABLExpress also announced an enhancement to the 12 fiber optic MTP connector on its Skinny-Trunk 12-fiber trunk assembly. The MTP connector combines an improved ferrule design that features more precise fiber alignment with an enhanced polishing technique during the manufacturing process. As a result, Skinny-Trunks have been successfully tested to reduce insertion loss by 40 percent, which translates to more allowed connections. With the new thermoplastic ferrule design, typical insertion loss on Skinny-Trunk MTP assemblies is reduced to 0.15 dB and the number of connection points may be increased up to 24.
With the improved ferrule design and enhanced proprietary polishing process, customers are able to maintain proper interconnect points to stay within TIA-942 standards and migrate to higher speeds without replacing cable assemblies.
All Skinny-Trunk products carry a lifetime guarantee, and the H-series Enclosures have a five-year warranty.
For more information, visit www.cablexpress.com, www.twitter.com/cablexpress, or call 315-476-3000.
