Panduit has launched a white cabinet range for dense fiber.

The new units pack more fiber in and make better use of underfloor space for distribution. They are colored white, which the company's marketing material claims can save energy in the data center. At the Data Center World event in London earlier this month, the company was keen to show more concrete gains in density.

Pack tighter, or move premises

"There's a business case around how white can cabinets can save you energy," Stephen Morris, EMEA lead on fiber infrastructure technology, told DCD., "but for me, the exciting part is fiber densification. Data centers are really transforming over the next five years: customers are looking to expand and some are saying they will have to move premises, because they haven't physically got the space."

Panduit's marketing says that white cabinets provide better visibility and are easier to work with, and can also make a small contribution to reducing power demands: "Lighter colored cabinets creates a brighter environment with more reflected illumination, increasing the overall lighting level. This offers the opportunity to use fewer light fixtures, resulting in fixture saving, lower continuous lighting power load, and reduced energy and maintenance overheads."

Morris said that approaches such as greater use of tall cabinets (up to 50U), wall-mounted zone enclosures and zone enclosures designed to sit under a raised floor, can all deliver high fiber levels required by dense computing, without consuming the rack space which that level of computing requires.

Magic closet

Panduit has HD Flex wall-mounted cabinets that can handle 3,000 cables, with a work tray included on which engineers can safely splice external cables to those distributing the links within the facility: "There's a lot of risk, and fibers now have 400 times the value they did. You have to protect the fiber, and make sure that working practices are very robust. It's a little closet of magic."

Under-floor zone enclosures have been possible for some time, but the space under the floor is needed for air circulation to the aisle containment systems. It's only now that densities are getting higher, that data centers are starting to find parts of the floor space that are not required for air flow, said Morris.

Covid-19 case: Last week, Panduit's plant at Cumming, Georgia, had to close temporarily for disinfection after an employee tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. A company statement said the employee self-quarantined and no further cases were detected, with the plant scheduled to have opened this week, according to a report by the Forsyth County News.