During the ’60s and ’70s, the early mainframe computers and Telcom switches used complex dense wire-wrap technology. High-circuit-count copper backplanes and midplanes often relied on wire-wrap point-to-point, or pin-to-pin layouts. This involved lots of hook-up wire and singular micro-coax for the clock circuits. The wire-wrap pin backplane connectors at that time typically had round-wired edge […]
Wire and fiber optic geometries offer high-speed cable transmission options
The latest high-speed transmission cables are benefitting from the use of optic-fiber and copper wire options, which are offering unique form factors and customizable solutions. Typically, data-transmission copper wire and optical-fiber conductors are round or cylindrical. The addition of silver plating on the copper conductor facilitates the high-frequency electrical transmission path. Fiber conductors are foundry […]
How the digital-interface standards for cables and connectors are changing
CoaXPress (CXP) is a popular, digital-interface standard developed for high-speed transmission of data, videos, and still images. This interface was introduced in 2008 and has been used in industrial automation for years, with advanced machine vision and robotics applications following suit. It has been driven by reliability and simplicity, which includes its cables and connectors. […]
How system fabric I/O interface cables and connectors are evolving
Newer fabric network input/output (I/O) cables and connectors support higher speeds, reduce latency, and support the latest interfaces — including the IEEE-802.3df Ethernet 200G per-lane specification project and modified versions, such as the RoCE and iWARP Ethernet. Other new cable and connector developments are working to include standard InfiniBand XDR 200G and modified versions, such […]
How HDD and controller connectors and internal cables are evolving
NVMe Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) are a new storage system product family currently going through development and validation. It’s expected that some of these products will be released in 2023 or 2024. HDDs store memory on a spinning disk and are slower than solid-state drives (SSDs). So, why new HDDs? The new devices are said […]
How accelerator IO interface connectors and cables offer more options
Accelerator I/O connectors and cables provide secure, electrical contact and transmission for high-speed data. These devices typically make up one of the largest unit percentages of data-center equipment in terms of use and assembly. This is particularly true compared to top-of-rack (TOR) switching fabric network interface cables, such as Ethernet or InfiniBand. TOR switching is […]
How PCIe interface developments have changed and advanced
By Ed Cady, contributing editor Peripheral component interconnect express, or PCIe, has become the interface standard for connecting high-speed components, such as graphics, memory, and storage. Typically, PCIe interface signaling and physical layer implementation rely on printed circuit board assembly (PCBAs) and edge connectors. Several standardized and non-standardized cabling solutions are available that support a […]
Inside data centers: Cabling considerations for new FibreChannel links
A Fibre Channel (FC) storage area network (SAN) and Inter-Switch-Link (ISL) interfaces are an important part of modern data-center systems, including in hyperscale or enterprise ones. FC SAN is a high-speed network that connects servers and storage devices, and the Inter Switch-Link joins and maintains the traffic flow between switches and routers. A benefit to […]
How cable technology is evolving to meet high-performance networking
Persistent memory has become one key technology for the cloud as speed, efficiency, and volume at data centers advance. In high-performance computing, the cloud often requires data to be moved between multiple physical systems. Data may also be replicated for redundancy and protection, or it can be split across physical systems for performance. High-performance networking […]
Considerations for new datacenter, inside-the-box, twinaxial IO cables
New 50G, 100G, and 200G per lane internal copper twinaxial cable assembly solutions solve emerging DC/Cloud inside-the-box interconnect problems and new technology changes. Internal cable applications and high volume usages have also rapidly increased. For each new speed rate internal cable assembly product, design teams must closely review the detailed specifications for components, processes, and […]
