Will CAT copper network cable be replaced by optical fiber cable？

Nowadays, with the continuous emergence of cloud computing, big data, 5G and other new services, the scale of the data center is constantly expanding, its architecture and wiring are becoming more and more complex, and the lightweight and gradually reduced cost of optical fiber cable makes the demand for Fiber Optic Cable in backbone network equipment more and more exuberant. In large data centers, the proportion of optical fiber cables is as high as more than 70%, which is much higher than that of copper cable. Many twisted pair supporters are worried that copper cable will be completely replaced by Fiber Optic Cable. Recently, they have specially looked through the specifications and conducted a simple market requirement survey. Based on the application technology evolution of the latest international standard ISO11801:2017 and ANSI/TIA-TIA-568.2-D-based data center cabling, the refinement of the updated contents of international standards, and the application direction of the future data center, it is found that Cat 8 cables 40G can fill the gap in the application of copper twisted pair in 40G transmission applications in China's future data centers.

Although, promoted by the demand for higher bandwidth in the data center, optical fiber cables accounts for a large share of the data center deployment with the advantages of higher transmission rate and larger bandwidth, especially in the backbone application network. But in fact, copper Ethernet cable will still be an indispensable part of the data center, and in the application of special environment such as voice transmission and power supply, in addition, in the application of voice signal transmission and wireless access, POE power supply system and other power supply applications, optical fiber cables can not replace network copper cable.

 First, because copper LAN cable, unlike optical fiber cable, transmits data through electrical pulses and can support voice signals, copper telecommunication cable can be used for voice transmission, while optical fiber cable is not.

  Second, because the glass fiber used in the optical fiber cable cannot conduct electricity, while the copper in the copper communication cable can conduct electricity.

  Therefore, copper network cable can supply power while making data connection, so it is widely used in wireless access, POE power supply system, LED-based power system and so on. Copper data cable is a cable that can not be replaced by optical fiber cable. The TIA standard-TIA 568.2 TIA D describes an indispensable application filed in detail:

1. The copper computer cable section mentions the 25GBase-T based on Cat8 grade and the related content and application requirements of 40GBase-T.

2.Dual coaxial balanced cable DAC part complements 100GBase-CR2100GBase-CR4 and 200GBase-CR4 and so on.

3. Backbone optical fiber cables technology in data center adds a variety of optical transceiver types and application distance definitions of 200G/400G based on IEEE802.3bs and IEEE802.3cm applications. This time, the latest OM5 optical fiber technology is introduced.

4. The latest IEEE802.3bt POE standard is introduced, which will be used in data center buildings in various intelligent systems.

5. The requirement of issuing the maximum attenuation value of 1GB-64GB applications based on single-mode and multi-mode optical fiber cable in SAN networks is defined based on FCIA .

6. The chapter of design principles focuses on the different connection models under different network sizes of EOR,TOR based on international standards.

7. Adding the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of many kinds of network architecture, such as tree, leaf ridge, full network and so on.

8. It is Recommended for application fields of network and cabling architecture for different data center types, such as enterprise data center, IDC, micro-module and EDGE.

In addition, the modular plug termination link (MPTL) as an option to connect devices in the TIA-568.2-D standard will promote the growth of RJ45 copper cable applications, especially in surveillance (monitoring) systems using IP cameras. At the same time, the 28AWG specification network Patch Cord Cable is added in the appendix of this specification, and the smaller copper cable will contribute to the circulation of air and the use of space, so that it can be developed in high-density applications.

   Nowadays, there are many types of copper cables in the market, such as Category 5E(CAT5E), Category 69CAT6), Category 6A(CAT6A), Category 7(CAT7) and Category 8 (CAT8)network Patch Cord Cable, while different types of copper cables have different wiring applications, as follows

Let's give a brief description as follows:

Nowadays, there are many types of copper cables in the market, such as  Category 5E(CAT5E), Category 6(CAT6）, Category 6A（CAT6A）, Category 7 （CAT7)）and Category 8(CAT8) network patch cables, while different types of copper cables have different wiring applications, as follows:

1. CAT5E Ethernet Patch Cord Cable .

  Category 5E network Patch Cord Cable (i.e. Cat5e network cable) was developed by TIA/EIA in 2001. it has low attenuation and crosstalk, the maximum bandwidth is 100MHz, the maximum transmission rate is 1000MHz, and it is backward compatible. Compared with Category 5 network cables(CAT5), its performance has been greatly improved, with higher attenuation crosstalk ratio (ACR) and SIGNAL NOISE RATIO (SNR) and less delay error. Category 5E(CAT5E) network Patch Cord Cable are suitable for 100-megabit and gigabit Ethernet, which are common in home networks or indoor cabling.

2.CAT6 network Patch Cord Cable .

  The bandwidth of CAT6 network Patch Cord Cable (i.e. Cat6 network cables) is 250MHz and the maximum transmission rate is 10Gb/s. Compared with the CAT5E network Patch Cord Cable, the internal structure of CAT6 network Patch Cord Cable is better, in which the internal cross frame is used, and the twisted pair winding distance of four pairs of twisted pairs is smaller, so the performance of CAT6of network Patch Cord Cable in crosstalk and echo loss is improved, and the transmission performance is much higher than that of the CAT5E network Patch Cord Cable, which is more suitable for applications where the transmission rate is higher than 1Gbps. In addition, under normal circumstances, the maximum transmission distance of the CAT6 network Patch Cord Cable is no more than 55 meters.

3. CAT 6A network Patch Cord Cable .

CAT6A network Patch Cord Cable (namely Cat6a network cable) is an improved version of Category 6 network Patch Cord Cable, its bandwidth is twice that of Category 6 network Patch Cord Cable , the transmission frequency can reach 500MHz, and the maximum transmission rate is 10Gb/s. Due to the excellent structure of CAT6A network Patch Cord Cable, it helps to eliminate alien crosstalk (AXT), so it can support distances up to 100m. In addition, compared with the CAT6 network Patch Cord Cable , the conductor material of CAT6A network Patch Cord Cable is thicker and more suitable for industrial environment.

4.CAT7 network Patch Cord Cable .

  CAT7 network Patch Cord Cable  (i.e. Cat7 network cables) have a transmission frequency of up to 600MHz, and support 10Gbps transmission rate within a transmission distance of 100m, which is suitable for 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Compared with previous generations of network Patch Cord Cable, CAT7 network Patch Cord Cable  have strong shielding, can effectively reduce attenuation, and are suitable for high-density data center switches, distribution frames and other equipment connections. It is worth mentioning that the transmission rate of CAT7 network Patch Cord Cable can be as high as 40Gbps at a transmission distance of 50 meters and even 100Gbps at a transmission distance of 15 meters. At present, because CAT7 network Patch Cord Cable are not flexible and not easy to manage, they have not been popularized for the time being.

5. CAT8 network Patch Cord Cable .

  Category 8 network Patch Cord Cable (that is, Cat8 network cable) is the next generation twisted pair copper cable standard specified by ANSI / TIA-568-C.2-1, which can support bandwidth up to 2000MHz and the transmission rate is as high as 40Gbbeats, but its maximum transmission distance is only 30m, so it is generally used for the connection of servers, switches, distribution frames and other equipment in short-distance data centers. Because Category 8 network cables are specially designed for 25GBASE-T and 40GBASE-T applications, they are especially suitable for interconnection between data center switch and server .

There is no doubt that copper Ethernet cable still occupies an important position in voice transmission, indoor network, horizontal cabling, POE system and other applications, and will not be completely replaced by optical fiber cable, while copper technology is still in continuous research and development, especially the popularization and application of CAT8 and CAT9, which can meet the connection needs of more devices in the future. Therefore, you do not have to worry about the rapid elimination of copper network cable in the times.