In this issue . . . n Optus Hosting Centres Thrive with New Cable Management n Network Transplant for Queensland Laboratory n Adds, Moves & Changes - Eliminating the Nightmare of Patch Cord Tangles High Speed Data Centres Information at your Fingertips New Networks Australia Vol1 No.2 2006 2 ❙ NEW NETWORKS A Word from Bob Fitzgerald T he last six months have been very eventful for our industry. Copper commodity prices have gone through the roof, driven by increased demand from the vastly accelerating industries in India and China. Fibre has certainly become a growth area with FTTX investment in Australia gaining momentum. Our experience as the US market leader in FTTX infrastructure has given great opportunity to stay ahead with solutions and lead the way in the Asia Pacific region. Part of this is ADC KRONE’s involvement as a founding member of the Asia Pacific FTTH Council. In May, our new wireless solutions were made available within the Asia Pacific region. With solutions for both enterprise and carrier applications, we are set to provide the foundation for the wireless boom. The Australian launch was at CeBIT Australia, see page 3 for details on this. As you may have heard, the IEEE have ratified a new standard of 10G copper structured cabling. This has been a long time coming, with ADC KRONE taking the working proof of UTP being able support 10Gig over 100 metres back in March 2004. With this working proof, the IEEE accepted of our practically proven system and we launched CopperTen later in 2004. Many of our customers have already installed the solution, taking advantage of the increased bandwidth CopperTen offers. Peter Meijer’s article on page 8 provides details on the new standard. Another new technology we have recently released is Category 6 leadframe jacks. Replacing the printed circuit board technology on traditional Category 6 outlets, our leadframe design is more robust and reliable. This new product has won us several awards including ATUG and Central Coast Manufacturers Awards. I’m proud to say that ADC KRONE is a company committed to ongoing innovation, paving the way for the next generation of networking. Sincerely Bob Fitzgerald VP & Regional Director Asia Pacific Region ADC KRONE News 3 ADC KRONE Updates Customer Program s 3 New Wireless Solutions Revealed at CeBIT 200 6 7 FutureTech 2006 8 Automated Digital Cross-Connec t 15 Manufacturer of the Year at CCMA Award s Customer Stories 4 Clear Skies for Melbourne Airport 10 Optus Hosting Centres Thrive with New Cable Managemen t 13 Network Transplant for Queensland Laborator y Technical Articles 8 IEEE Ratifies 10 Gigabit Ethernet Standard 9 Adds, Moves & Change s Editor: Sarah Bishop Art Direction: Nora Collins Website: adckrone.com/au Copyright © 2006 ADC Communications (Australia) Pty. Limited Contents NEW NETWORKS ❙ 3 ADC KRONE Updates Customer Programs I was pleased to meet many of you at our recent FutureTech event. This annual event gives us an opportunity to spend time with our key customers and to update you with the very latest information on technical advances, standards and solutions to future-proof your business. Many of you are now members of our TrueNet Rewards program, which has replaced the Club KRONE loyalty program. As with Club KRONE, the program offers one point for every dollar you spend on ADC KRONE products. You can then use these points to buy training or products. More information on the program, including exclusive information and benefits for members, is available at www.truenetrewards.com.au. If you’re not yet a member, I urge you to visit the site and join today. We have also created the TrueNet Integrator program for our installer partners. Members receive ADC KRONE accreditation, allowing them to offer an ADC KRONE warranty on installations. We recently modified the program so that integrators can now apply for the warranty on behalf of the end user, removing the need for the end user to sign the registration form to validate the warranty. We’re sure our integration partners will want to take advantage of the improved TrueNet Integrator program and I encourage you to do so. On another note, I would like to congratulate three of our staff for well-deserved promotions. Scott Whiston has been promoted to Queensland state manager, Carl Holmes has been promoted to WA state manager and Terry Finn has been promoted to sales executive – Enterprise Channels in our NSW office. In addition, our customers in NSW and WA will see two new faces joining our sales team over the coming weeks with Jacqui Heath joining us in NSW and Jason Pullman adding his talents to our WA team. Jacqui will be focussing on our Enterprise Channel partners while Jason will be supporting our Channels and Corporate Accounts divisions. n Damien Rodgers, Sales Director - Enterprise, AU & NZ NEW WIRELESS SOLUTIONS REVEALED AT CeBIT 2006 C eBIT Australia is the country’s leading ICT event, attracting visitors from the corporate IT, telecommunications, information and communications sectors. ADC KRONE participated in the 2006 event in May and it was an excellent opportunity for us to display our new solutions. CeBIT 2006 saw ADC KRONE’s unveiling of the new Digivance ™ wireless solutions, with a display that generated great interest from many different groups from different industries. The wireless solutions are designed specifically to address the challenges associated with distributing and enhancing capacity and coverage in wireless networks. The Digivance product family is the only purely digital RF transport solution available on the market today and is designed to provide mobile operators with coverage and capacity enhancement solutions for new and existing networks. n 4 ❙ NEW NETWORKS Clear skies for Melbourne Airport M elbourne Airport is a major international passenger and freight gateway to Australia. Renowned for its world-class facilities, the airport serviced more than 20 million passengers last year. Consistently rated highly in passenger surveys, Melbourne Airport has been ranked in the world’s top five airports. THE CHALLENGE To maintain its high level of service and industry- leading practices, Melbourne Airport needed to upgrade and standardise its cabling system. “Our needs and available technology have grown in the decade since most of our cabling was installed,” said Mark Funston, Melbourne Airport’s Information Technology Manager. “We needed to upgrade to ensure network stability and to future-proof the network so we can implement new technologies as they become available.” Managing the network had also become complicated, with no central network map. As a result, patches and changes were delayed while IT workers tried to physically locate cabling. Or, entire swathes of cabling had to be reinstalled because the existing cabling could not be found. This was inefficient and expensive. A third challenge was that external contractors could physically access the network and make unauthorised and unrecorded changes, posing a security risk. THE SOLUTION Working closely with network integrators Airport Data & Electrical, Melbourne Airport set two project goals: 1. To develop and implement a structured cabling standard on which the entire network could be based. 2. To thoroughly document the network for future knowledge. “The solution needed to be cost effective to own and run as well as be flexible, not locking the airport in to any one contractor or manufacturer,” said Sean Dowsett, General Manager of Airport Data & Electrical. “We evaluated competitors, but ADC KRONE was the clear choice.” Melbourne Airport has standardised on ADC KRONE products including Fibre Optic cabling, Terescope free space optics, Category 6 patch panels, patch cords and cabling and HighBand ® 25. Choosing ADC KRONE’s HighBand 25 cross connect solution was essential for Melbourne Melbourne Airport’s new structured cabling standard based on ADC KRONE’s solutions yields immediate benefits and allows future expansion. By Peter Katsianis, Sales Executive NEW NETWORKS ❙ 5 Airport to implement a structured cabling standard. HighBand ® 25 allows maximum network throughput beyond one Gigabit. Designed for the most advanced networks, it was the perfect choice for Melbourne Airport’s future needs as they move towards delivering applications like streaming video. “Our network runs security and surveillance software, among other things. As well as requiring high bandwidth, these are extremely important applications for an airport, and ones that we can’t afford to have slow or break down because of an inefficient network,” explained Mark Funston. The Terescope free space optics solution provides Melbourne Airport with Australia’s first 1.2 Gigabit connection, from the data centre to a remote building for disaster recovery. The Terescope is a line-of-sight device providing reliable wireless connectivity – essential if the cabling is compromised. THE IMPLEMENTATION In September 2004, Melbourne Airport began the first step in the installation process: upgrading its data centre. Peter Loosley, IT&T Services Manager, Melbourne Airport said: “As the centre of our network, the data centre became the standard with which the entire airport would comply. We could then upgrade the rest of the cabling throughout the airport as further refurbishments and renovations took place.” Airport Data & Electrical installed the new, high bandwidth ADC KRONE Category 6 cabling. The HighBand 25 solution allows Melbourne Airport to manage the network more efficiently with the added benefit of being neater with a smaller footprint than other solutions, so it takes up less valuable space in the data centre. “The initial installation into the data centre went off without a hitch,” said Peter Loosley. “It was easy to manage and we had no cabling issues. The only challenges we faced were logistical, such as making sure project managers follow the standard and install the cabling correctly.” THE RESULTS The most important benefit of the ADC KRONE TrueNet installation, according to Mark Funston, “We needed to upgrade to ensure network stability and to future-proof the network so we can implement new technologies as they become available.” Sean Dowsett, Airport Data & Electrical and Peter Loosley, Melbourne Airport. 6 ❙ NEW NETWORKS is the network’s vastly improved quality, performance and reliability. “Upgrading and standardising our cabling has meant that we are no longer limited by our network. We can implement software and services as required. We can offer applications like streaming video over the high bandwidth cable, which is great not only for security and surveillance, but also for training and other potential applications,” said Mark Funston. Being able to more easily manage the network has been another important benefit. “The new standard means that senior staff are no longer required for patch management, so we can concentrate on more strategic issues. We know where all the physical aspects of the network are now, so patching can be done by less senior staff without any compromise on quality. We estimate this has resulted in a 20 - 30% saving on staff time,” said Mark Funston. “The HighBand ® 25 system is well documented and foolproof. We can hand work over to consultants and contractors fearlessly. It’s easy for us to check their work and we can be confident of the standards we can expect,” he continued. “The HighBand 25 Patch-by-Exception rule enables our contractors to do around 15 patch jobs at once instead of one or two, reducing costs and wear and tear on the cables,” added Peter Loosley. FUTURE PROOFING THE BUSINESS As Melbourne Airport continues to grow and evolve, the ADC KRONE Category 6 cabling will allow the IT team to implement applications as needed, without the limitations imposed by the older Category 5 cabling. “As the next three to five years unfold, we will find ourselves able to react to advances in technology very quickly thanks to the ADC KRONE network,” concluded Mark Funston. “We will be able to use even bandwidth-hungry new applications and services over the same infrastructure with complete confidence. This will provide a better service to all our network users and will ensure Melbourne Airport maintains its position as one of the world’s best airports.” n “As the next three to five years unfold, we will find ourselves able to react to advances in technology very quickly thanks to the ADC KRONE network” Melbourne Airport’s Mark Funston. NEW NETWORKS ❙ 7 F utureTech 2006 was a great success with a good mix of learning & fun in the beautiful surroundings of Couran Cove Island Resort. The theme for this year was Building for Bandwidth. There were a range of presentations including special guest speakers Michael Boland, Distinguished Engineer, Cisco and Gordon Laing, Principal Technical Consultant, Oracle. These presentations gave the big picture of next generation networks detailing the technology required for the next phase of technological advances. We also had presentations from ADC KRONE detailing the technical trends, standards and solutions to meet these next generation requirements. Of course, there was a great deal of fun to be had in the midst of learning including a great afternoon of watersports, golf, deep sea fishing and more. n FutureTech 2006 8 ❙ NEW NETWORKS A s expected, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.) has ratified the 10 Gigabit Ethernet standard, 802.3an. Widely anticipated during the month of June 2006, IEEE’s announcement came earlier than expected and sets the stage for a surge in 10 Gigabit installations in the months ahead. This new Category of cable is known as Augmented Category 6. ADC KRONE – a long-time, active member of IEEE – was instrumental in proving the viability of the 10 Gig standard when it introduced the industry’s first commercially available product in 2004. Called CopperTen™, it was the world’s first design for an unshielded twisted pair cable that was fully backwards compatible with Category 6 and able to support 18 Gbps of Shannon’s capacity. As a result of its leadership role, ADC KRONE’s CopperTen system – including cable, connectors, patch panels and patch cords – is installed in thousands of buildings around the world. As early as 2007, industry analysts foresee installation of Augmented Category 6 systems to surpass that of Category 5e systems. Universities, colleges, TV studios, government facilities and top financial services companies have been the early adopters of 10 Gig copper solutions. These segments leverage their already installed CopperTen structured information transport systems with cutting-edge technology to help differentiate their services and offerings in an increasingly competitive world. The ratification of the IEEE802.3an standard is the first step in getting worldwide adoption of channels for 10GBE protocols that can run on the less expensive copper cabling instead of optical fibre cabling. Switch and other equipment manufacturers will now be able to progress with confidence towards implementing their 10GBE solutions on copper. Installers and customers can also proceed confident in the knowledge that the ADC KRONE CopperTen solution will meet what the IEEE has specified for 10GBE applications. The question that most in the industry are asking is can we do better than what the IEEE wants for 10GBE, and the answer is a definite Yes! How much better is being addressed by the various standards bodies. The TIA in America are actively working on specifying Channels, Permanent Links and component requirements that exceed the IEEE requirements. The ISO have decided to publish first their Channel requirements (due before the end of 2006) that exceed both the TIA and the IEEE requirements, and in about a year’s time they will publish their Permanent Link and component requirements. n For more information regarding the IEEE 802.3an standard and ADC KRONE’s CopperTen Augmented Category 6 solutions, including actual customer case studies, contact your local ADC KRONE sales office, or visit the Web: www.adckrone.com/au By Peter Meijer, JP BE MSc.,RCDD, Technical Manager Industry Support. IEEE Ratifies 10 Gigabit Ethernet Standard ADC KRONE helped blaze the trail when it premiered a 10 Gig copper solution three years ago. Product Profile Automated Digital Cross-Connect (ADX) A new revolutionary patented product for the digital distribution frame market. The ADX provides innovative solutions for interconnecting systems at telecommunication network edge and CO exchange buildings. The solutions enable space reductions of 60-80%, increased flexibility and reduced capital and operational expenditure. With the most compact design, it offers decreased power consumption and reduced cabling requirements. To find out more about the ADX solutions, contact your local ADC KRONE sales representative. NEW NETWORKS ❙ 9 F or too long, cable management has been a major issue for Installers and IT Managers alike. As organisations grow in size, they quickly outgrow their cabling infrastructure and cabinets and racks become overcrowded. Even with ample horizontal cable management, patch cords still seem to get tangled. Simple adds, moves and changes can become time consuming and frustrating. It is inevitable that in an RJ45 patch panel system, there will be excess lengths of cord used. This either takes up the space in the patch cord minder or clutters the front of the rack. It can also degrade performance of the installed system. The Glide vertical managers attach to each side of the Glide rack, ensuring that the front of rack is left uncluttered and easily accessible. The use of horizontal patch cord minders is minimised, resulting in a higher amount of rack units available for patch panels or any other patching equipment. This can result in a saving in floor space, which is valuable in high-density environments such as call centres. The Glide system works by managing excess lengths of cable through a series of vertical spools called slack managers located within the Glide verticals. Each Glide vertical also has a rib cage, which is its own set of outer cable managers. The patented rib cages are designed to accommodate patch cords at the front of the rack and terminated solid cables at the rear of the rack. While decreasing the initial installation time, this provides greater access for technicians when maintenance is required. ADC KRONE’s Glide Cable Management System is the solution to long term efficiency in the building distributor, floor distributor or any IT environment where patching is required. No matter how long the patch cords and no matter how many cords are used, Glide provides a neat, well managed and user friendly cabling infrastructure allowing moves, adds and changes to take place quickly and accurately. n By Glen Johnston, Product Manager, Structured Cabling, Asia Pacific Adds, moves & changes 15650-B 1 1 2 2 Eliminating the nightmare of patch cord tangles. 10 ❙ NEW NETWORKS Optus Hosting Centres Thrive with New Cable Management D ata centres that support both space- saving density and heavy reconfigurations without disrupting service or causing day-to-day operations nightmares offer advantages to service providers. A zone distribution design for the data centre improves network reliability while reducing operating costs. The performance of the overall data centre is therefore only as strong as the structured cabling design and managed density infrastructure components surrounding routers, multiplexers, servers, media gateways and other active equipment. Optus is the second largest service provider in Australia, providing over six million consumer and business customers with services that include mobile, local, long distance, Internet, satellite and subscription television. An important value-added service for business customers is hosting solutions in Optus data centres in Sydney and Melbourne. These hosting centres allow customers to lease rack space from Optus to install and manage their own equipment. The hosting centres provide a valuable service for business customers who don’t have a properly controlled data centre environment or just prefer to outsource hosting of business systems to a provider which offers 24/7 support. The original build was designed to minimise initial costs. Five structured cabling vendors provided the category 5e copper, singlemode and multimode fibre, and connectivity solutions for the infrastructure. After several years of operation, Optus looked to improve the way it delivers services with the data centres, ensuring exceptional reliability for existing customers and grow the data centres business. The tender for the new build proposed state-of- the-art components, including category 6 cabling, OM3 multimode fibre, and enhanced cable management that would allow increased density while providing a secure, flexible and manageable environment. The data centre design is a simple, logical cube set architecture with three building blocks—the By Adelle Ly, Sales Director, Carrier, Australia & New Zealand Danny Vertouris, Optus and Adelle Ly, ADC KRONE inspect the OMX-600 Fibre Distribution Frame [...]... manufacturing.” ■ ❙ 15 I need TrueNet ® TrueNet is the high-performance structured cabling solution that meets your unique network needs Your one true network infrastructure solution, TrueNet is the integrated portfolio of industry-leading products from ADC KRONE I NEED ONE TRUE NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTION True End-to-End Solution Now your complete network infrastructure needs are met by a single global... four-day Easter break to minimise the ADC KRONE s HighBand® 25 system with Category 6 cabling plus an OM3 fibre backbone was chosen for QML’s new central laboratory ADC KRONE s solution came out on top,” said Paul Abel “Our existing working relationship with ADC KRONE was strong and the products had been working very well for us There is a level of trust and expectation in our relationship with ADC KRONE. .. In addition, QML’s network is now VoIP-enabled The new VoIP network saves on communications expenses in comparison to PABX and ensures the network is future-proofed QML will also be able to implement Wide Area VoIP in the future, although it’s not needed yet “We have effectively future-proofed our network and ensured ongoing capability, stability and reliability thanks to the ADC KRONE installation... Crowne Plaza, Terrigal ADC KRONE s Berkeley Vale manufacturing facility is the centre of excellence for the region, recently becoming Asia-Pacific Headquarters for ADC KRONE These awards recognise the dedication of the entire ADC KRONE team to business excellence and innovation “We are thrilled to yet again win such a prestigious award”, said John Harris, Manufacturing Director at ADC KRONE “Winning the... arrangement to continue to allow patching by exception NETWORKS NEW ❙ 13 ADC KRONE fits the bill ADC KRONE s HighBand 25 cross connect solution allows for maximum network throughput beyond one Gigabit as well as the Patch-byException functionality demanded by QML The Category 6 cabling is essential for advanced networks like QML’s Finally, the laser-optimised OM3 fibre backbone enables information to... existing and new on-site data centres using ADC KRONE OM3 fibre Once that link was established, the network migration could proceed without network downtime The physical dimensions of the new, 9,000 square metre central laboratory provided a challenge, in terms of designing the network layout.“ We had to work within the bounds of the wall space available, and we had to design the network layout to fit,”... achieved ADC KRONE- certified KLM Group installed the new network KLM Group’s Brett Nash said that the aim was to deliver a network that virtually eliminated errors caused by the cabling system “We needed to effect the physical move with minimal downtime and impact to the business, to avoid a backlog of work” said Mr Nash Thanks to the collective experience of QML’s IT relocation team, KLM Group and ADC KRONE, ... True Performance With TrueNet, you can push networks to the performance edge Innovative products that exceed industry standards support advanced applications today and tomorrow True Reliability Mission-critical networks rely upon trusted TrueNet infrastructure Built and tested in ADC KRONE' s world-class facilities, TrueNet guarantees signal integrity and network throughput AUSTRALIA 2 Hereford Street,... Instead, ADC KRONE proposed an alternative solution ■ 12 ❙ NETWORKS NEW Network transplant for Queensland Laboratory Queensland Medical Laboratory (QML) moves to new premises and installs ADC KRONE s solutions to create a network platform with the capacity to meet future needs of Queensland’s doctors and patients Q ML Pathology has an 80-year heritage of providing pathology services to hospitals and... the ADC KRONE installation The most important consideration for our business is network performance and we feel confident that we’ve delivered that,” concluded Paul Abel ■ NETWORKS NEW or the fourth consecutive year, ADC KRONE has won the title of Central Coast Manufacturer of the Year Along with this prestigious award, ADC KRONE received the awards for Innovation in Technology, Innovation in Manufacturing . network throughput. AUSTRALIA 2 Hereford Street, BERKELEY VALE NSW 22 61 Ph: ( 02) 4389 5000 Fax: ( 02) 4388 4499 TECH SUPPORT: 1800 801 29 8 WEBSITE: adckrone.com/au. Direction: Nora Collins Website: adckrone.com/au Copyright © 20 06 ADC Communications (Australia) Pty. Limited Contents NEW NETWORKS ❙ 3 ADC KRONE Updates