Feature

Backbone of the IT infrastructure

Driven by IT/ITeS and MNC networking rollouts, the cabling sector is becoming increasingly sophisticated. By Chirasrota Jena

Indian enterprises have realised that IT is a strategic tool for business. Companies have undergone the first wave of technology adoption and are looking at advanced technologies for operational efficiencies, higher profitability and a faster growth. India is now considered as a hot destination for multinational companies in the IT and ITES sectors. Structured cabling vendors have also set up shop in India translating into higher growth for the cabling segment. The Indian structured cabling market is estimated to have grown at a CAGR of 25 to 30 percent for the past two-three years. As per market estimates, the structured cabling market in India is estimated to around Rs 746 crores in CY 2006 including the passive components, up from Rs 574 crores in 2005.

That said, a realistic picture of the enterprise structured cabling market (excluding passive components) in India is slightly different. As per UK-based research firm, BSRIA revenues from pure enterprise structured cabling solutions is projected to be $95.1 million in 2006 up by 16 percent from $81.4 million in 2005. Besides IT driven enterprises such as data centres, knowledge centres, BPO outfits, and disaster recovery centres are fuelling the growth of this market segment in India. As bandwidth-hungry applications get deployed they are pushing the limits of data transmission on the LAN. In this scenario it’s only natural that vendors are introducing the latest technologies.

Deepak Kumar, senior manager, Communications Research, IDC India, “UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) cabling continues to enjoy the dominant share of the market. However, with the growth of BFSI and data centres, more rooms has been created for STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) and Fibre solutions. This trend is likely to continue, also because higher-speed UTP solutions like 10G Ethernet are yet to be tested in zero-tolerance environments.” 10 Gigabit Ethernet over UTP is the next significant advance in structured cabling. Network managers need to future proof Category6, which they have been installing but which has proved to be incapable of operating at 10 Gigabits over the full channel distance. Cat6a UTP LAN cable is gaining acceptance. This is also referred to as a 10G cabling system. A lot of development activities are initiated in developing prototypes to support 10G speed on a 100-metre channel at 500 MHz.

Dileep Kumar R, product manager, Enterprise Networks, ADC Krone says, “The global data centre cabling market is poised to grow from $680.9 million in 2006, at an average growth rate of 26.8 percent, to $2,235.1 million by 2011. In India we would see a healthy growth of 18 to 20 percent in the enterprise structured cabling market. The Indian market is primarily a UTP market. Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6a are the three UTP cabling systems that are available for data communication. Cat5e cabling is now considered for small enterprises although it can support Gigabit Ethernet. Cat6 cabling dominates the market.” With the recent ratification of IEEE 802.3an 10Gigabit Ethernet standards (or 10GBase-T), Cat6a will start gaining market share and support 10Gigabit Ethernet for the full channel distance. Meanwhile, fibre optic cables are used in the backbone.

As the network gets bigger it is difficult to manage the critical network infrastructure. Intelligent Systems known as Intelligent Physical Layer Management System (IPLMS) are gaining acceptance. Projections over the next three years show an increase in market share for both Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches. Undoubtedly, Indian enterprises are buckling up to ride the communication boom.

"If grounding is not done properly, a shielded solution is worse than a UTP one. This is the reason for considering a UTP solution for 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Hence we feel CAT 7 may not make it big in India" - K. Surendar Country Manager Dax Networks

K. Surendar, country manager, Dax Networks says, “Enterprises are demanding cabling products that deliver standards compliance, reliable performance and backward compatibility. The demand for bandwidth has grown dramatically during the year, resulting in the need for faster switches and routers.”

Intelligent cabling systems

Cabling systems are becoming smarter, especially those deployed in the enterprise. These systems provide for real-time management of the physical layer, which enables immediate troubleshooting of network-related problems, if any, besides optimising utilisation and efficiency. An intelligent structured cabling system can track IP-based devices in such a way that the network manager can access, control and manage them from a central location. This is critical considering today’s distributed computing environments and the acute need to troubleshoot them remotely. There is a scarcity of network management staff and therefore remote access and management of devices is a must. An intelligent structured cabling system can help. Besides this, there is a growing trend towards interoperability and security. Rajesh Kumar, country manager, The Siemon Company says, “Technologies such as 10G, blade patch cords and intelligent cabling systems are providing optimum utilisation and efficiency, besides real-time management. Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) is also gaining momentum, as there is an increase in the deployment of wireless access points and VoIP in the country. PoE aids users in utilising spare pairs in existing data cable to transmit power required for devices like VoIP and WLAN.” Intelligent Cabling (physical layer management) is expected to reduce the cost of network ownership by solving issues like unplanned downtime, inefficient manual moves, adds and changes (MAC), redundant ports, inaccurate records and the like.

"Technologies such as 10G, blade patch cords and intelligent cabling systems are providing optimum utilisation and efficiency, besides real-time management" - Rajesh Kumar Country Manager The Siemon Company

Kumar of IDC adds, “The ratification of the IEEE 802.3an standard in mid-2006 provides support for copper-based cabling systems, especially in the slightly longer term time frame, when switching equipment will be available on a wider scale.” With the increased acceptance of VoIP and wireless solutions, PoE is also fast catching up in mid-span, entry level of cabling. When it comes to fibre, OM1 and OM2 is getting phased out and the market has shifted to single mode (SM). PoE is expected to grow with an increase in the deployment of VoIP and wireless access points. Currently all major players including Systimax, Tyco, ADC Krone, and Molex, Siemon and Dax are offering PoE over mid-span, which is largely preferred for existing installations and a few end-span solutions for new installations.

Cat6a continues to rules the roost

Over the past few years, Ca6 has gone from strength to strength. IT managers are faced with a dilemma considering slashed budgets whether to go in for a solution that will need replacement after a few years or to future-proof their investments in horizontal system with something as advanced as 10G-UTP. In this backdrop, the growing acceptance of 10G is heartening. Owing to all this, the awareness level of Indian buyers towards technologies like 10G-UTP and Cat7 is particularly high but in a country such as India even Cat6 will continue to be widely accepted. Says Kumar, “We are the first to commercially launch and install 10G on copper and 10Gigabit Ethernet cabling on UTP. Initial deployments of 10Gigabit Ethernet over UTP were in the data centre, storage area networks and backbone. Now with the standards ratification, we will see 10G Base-T UTP cabling system being used for horizontal cabling as well.”

In the recent past early deployments of 10G Ethernet in data centres and for applications that require large bandwidth have occurred. Moreover companies use their networks for voice, video and data by introducing more IP devices on the network, which leads to a demand for the next-generation of Ethernet technology. Companies that want to future-proof their networks, will start using this technology helping it gain momentum in the next couple of years. This is an emerging technology and has only two to three percent of the cabling market. However, we believe this technology is here to stay for the long term. Cat7 may not make it big in India as Cat6a takes care of the need that it aims to satisfy and is available in UTP and STP to boot. Milind Tamhane, Vice President, Manufacturing, D-Link India Ltd, “Testing Cat6a requires new jigs, fixtures adaptors and these are just being made available. Cat6a is said to be better than Cat7 as the latter is bulky and heavy. The challenge in Cat6a has remained with Alien Cross Talk. All efforts are towards minimising Alien Cross Talk over the 100 meter Channel at a bandwidth of 500 MHz.”

In the recent past, the introduction of standards like 10G Ethernet over copper has been noteworthy. There have been many early deployments of 10G-over-UTP and Cat 7 as well, which augurs well for the days ahead. Initially there was a lot of hype over 10G-UTP structured cabling but it is fast gaining acceptance. The hype is getting translated into market orders. Opines Kumar of Siemon, “This is a sign that Indian businesses are embracing what’s new in the market in an attempt to protect their investments in technology over the long term. Punjab National Bank, one of the leading nationalised banks in the country has sourced 10G solution from The Siemon Company considering their bandwidth-intensive network. There are one or two Cat7 deployments as well but they account only for a minuscule percentage of the overall structured cabling market in the country.”

Once the IEEE, which is currently working on the 10G-UTP standard, ratifies it, the standard will be known as Augmented Cat 6 or Cat6a and will deployments will mushroom. Businesses may deploy this technology even at the backbone and this is where it will compete with fibre. Even if you compare it with fibre in terms of cost, it is going to be cheaper when it comes to the cost of acquisition, installation and maintenance. The total cost of ownership (TCO) will be lower than fibre. Cat7 is a fully shielded solution that has many disadvantages. Says Surendar, “Termination of a shielded solution is not only difficult and but also time consuming. For example if grounding is not done properly, a shielded solution is worse than a UTP one since the shield will act like an antenna and attract unwanted signals into the transmitting pair. This is exactly the reason for different standards to consider a UTP solution for 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Hence we feel CAT 7 may not make it big in India.”

Opportunities Galore

The primary growth for this is the exponential growth in the service sector, boom in the real estate and infrastructure development, ITES, telecom, e-Governance are the major verticals. Market growth in structured cabling is the direct result of increasing network deployment and the demand for higher bandwidth. Says Milind, “Apart from the IT/ITES vertical, educational institutes have become important. Another trend is commercial buildings, which are network ready with an infrastructure to support data or voice connectivity. Economy and technology are the two drivers of SCS (Structured Cabling System). This has been very favourable to the cabling industry. The banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector, BPO and telecom are sharply focusing on wiring all their branches and managing data centres.”

Companies with data centres are leaving no stone unturned in getting their networks up to global standards and implementing the best infrastructure solutions. As a result, cabling vendors are offering end-to-end solutions tailor made for data centres. Intelligent cabling solutions largely suit BFSI clients but other verticals are also evincing interest. Retail and construction are on the radar. As government is a major IT spender in India, vendors are planning to tap this segment as well.

10Gigabit Ethernet is the preferred technology for backbone connectivity and single mode fibre and OM3 laser optimised multimode fibre are being deployed. Optical fibre is used mostly in backbone connectivity for both building and campus backbones. The higher off-take of fibre optic cable will be dependent on the success of broadband services in pilot cities, which have been initiated this year. Several broadband service operators, in fact, have already laid out kilometres of fibre anticipating huge demand. Informs Rajesh, “As far as fibre to the desktop is concerned, it definitely offers advantages in terms of high bandwidth throughput but its adoption has been slow owing to the high cost vis-a-vis structured cabling options (copper). India’s bandwidth requirement is exponentially growing and optical fibre being the preferred option here will have a directly proportional growth.”