Structured Cabling
Structured cabling eases servicing of the optical transceivers in the data center as transceivers are detachable from the cable. This also allows easier installation since there are no ESD sensitive or bulky transceivers involved in the cabling.
Patch panels and trunk cables add further flexibility to the infrastructure.
Pluggable optical cables require special installation and cleaning procedures to avoid mishandling and bricking these products.
The maximum reach specifications of NVIDIA IB NDR and 400G ETH transceivers assume two optical connector junctions or patch panels in the link, a total of 4 ferule-to ferule connections (See LC-FR4 Connectivity diagram).
MPO Multi-Mode straight and splitter cables: Total length up to 50m (inc. patch panels, trunk, and cables).
MPO Single-Mode splitter cables: Total length up to 50m (inc. patch panels, trunk, and cables).
MPO Single-Mode straight cables: Total length up to 500m (inc. patch panels, trunk and cables).
LC Single-Mode straight cables: Total length up to 2000m (inc. patch panels, trunk and cables).
Patch panels have multiple ports that connect multiple devices together and help organize the cables connecting them. The following diagrams illustrates how to connect the different devices together with either Single-Mode or Multi-Mode cables.
Single-Mode Connectivity Overview
The below image illustrates a connectivity orchestration of two patch panels connected together using Single-Mode MPO trunk cables:
LC-FR4 Connectivity
The diagram below illustrates the LC connectivity of FR4 modules. The dotted red circles point to the 4 optical connector interfaces, a total of 4 ferule-to-ferule connections.
Multi-Mode Connectivity Overview
The below image illustrates a connectivity orchestration of two patch panels connected together using Multi-Mode trunk cables:
The below illustration shows an end-to-end connectivity of NVIDIA interconnect products with MPO connectors:
