The growing adoption of cloud-based infrastructure and services is driving the requirement for more bandwidth, ultra-fast speed and extremely low latency. To keep up with these evolving demands, data centre operators are pushed against the wall to build faster, more power-efficient and, importantly, cost-effective data centre operations.
Changing Data Centre Needs in a Hyperconnected World
A growing number of internet users and devices, the popularity of video streaming, online gaming, and other high-bandwidth consuming services, and ubiquitous social networking are leading to changes in data centre cabling and architecture. The exponential increase in social media traffic, the rollout of 5G services, and a shift from traditional office-based work to remote locations are just some trends reshaping consumer expectations and demands.
The demand will only increase as several emerging applications are likely to drive growth and file sizes to an all-time high, demanding more computing power, bandwidth and low-latency transmission. The number of connected devices is likely to go beyond 30 billion by 2025. Upcoming applications like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), autonomous cars, high-resolution videos, MRI imaging, telehealth, animation and visual effects are pushing consumption in industries like media and healthcare.
Scaling for 800G: Why Data Centres Must Evolve
All these trends are not only driving cloud adoption but are also pushing the need to increase compute power and ensure high performance. Data centre traffic is set to touch 180 zettabytes by 2025. Gartner predicts cloud service spending will reach $700 billion by 2025. Traditional approaches can no longer keep up.
To stay relevant, data centres must be scalable, energy-efficient and cost-effective. Speeds are quickly moving from 100G to 400G and now 800G to enable high-speed, high-performing data transmission. This is only possible by leveraging the performance of fibre optic cables, particularly as hyperscale data centres demand high-speed fibre connectivity.
The Multimode Fiber Advantage
Optical fibre, especially multimode fibre, with its proven transmission capacity and resilience, has emerged as a preferred technology for data centres to meet the ever-growing demand for higher bandwidth and low latency.
Multimode fiber provides a low-cost way to transport high data rates over short distances — a key reason for its widespread use in high-speed connections between servers, switches and storage. It typically connects fibre optic devices with large cores, transmitting light in different modes across wavelengths ranging from 850 nm to 1300 nm.
Cost and Performance Benefits of Multimode Fiber
Multimode fibre has transitioned from LED light sources to 850nm Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) sources for multi-megabit transmissions, making it more affordable than single-mode counterparts.
Its larger core size allows it to capture light from a transceiver more effectively, leading to cost savings on alignment, power consumption and maintenance. Though multimode fiber may initially cost more, these savings ensure better cost efficiency over time.
It enables high-speed data transfer, improved response times and superior network performance, with flexibility to support different data rates and formats. Advances in optical technology, including transmission of multiple wavelengths over a single multimode fibre, make it vital to next-generation data centre networks.
Multimode Fiber: Powering the Journey to 800G
Over the years, HFCL has developed various multimode optic fiber cables that help the data centre industry seamlessly transition to 800G, addressing the exponential growth in bandwidth demand and speed.
Adopting multimode fibre cables is a game-changer for data centres. They enhance performance, control costs, offer compatibility with various networking equipment, and provide the bandwidth while ensuring improved cost economics makes it central to the data centers journey to 800G.