With just a few weeks left in 2019, many enterprises are taking a hard look at their operations and considering which new technologies and solutions will best position their business for success in 2020 and beyond.

One area where enterprise networks have seen some changes in the past few years is the data center. There has been a trend toward fewer, larger data centers, often referred to as hyperscale data centers. Analyst firm IDC defines a hyperscale data center as a facility that has at least 5,000 servers and is at least 10,000 square feet. Analyst firm Synergy Research says there are now more than 500 hyperscale data centers in the world. These larger data centers require extending their networks over wider areas and that can be a problem for locations still relying on legacy copper cabling.

Network Extension

In most data centers, the big internet access services providers all terminate their services in one data center location. These services are then extended to the right server cage or rack for the designated customer. The data center needs to be able to extend those services with minimal latency to ensure quality of service is maintained.

A data center could add Ethernet switches and run copper cabling to extend these services across their facility, but data can only travel for 100 meters on a copper cable. A switch is required to extend the distance another 100 meters. Every time a switch is added, so is latency. If those services had to be extended for the full length of an average hyperscale data center it could mean three or more extensions.

To get a single connection beyond that distance requires fiber, which can be a great solution that results in minimal latency. Not to mention that transporting data over fiber has an inherent security benefit, which is not critical, but added security can never hurt.

Media Conversion

At Transition Networks, we offer simple, secure and innovative solutions to ensure reliable connectivity to, and within, the data center, that uses existing infrastructure.

Our media converters allow enterprises to extend data center services over fiber without having to add additional switching technology within those links and without the latency that is introduced with Ethernet switches.

Transition Networks offers a variety of media converters, including copper-to-copper, copper-to-fiber and fiber-to-fiber with 1G and 10G connections. While many enterprise data centers find 1G to be adequate, 10G is coming on strong. With 10G there are further limitations on the distance with legacy copper cabling, so a repeater can be used to avoid upgrading the cabling.

Iron Mountain

One data center that Transition Networks has successfully worked with is Iron Mountain. The company stores critical financial, insurance, healthcare, government and other highly-regulated customer data in its facilities. So, the ability to provide standard, repeatable and consistent data center services that are also very secure and easy to manage is a top priority for the company as well as crucial for its customers.

Through its adoption of Transition Networks’ media converters, Iron Mountain has a more versatile and secure fiber integration system in place enabling them to manage services for their customers more rapidly, comprehensively and consistently. Iron Mountain now has more flexibility and scalability, allowing the company to cost-effectively move a variety of circuits around an entire campus, reaching long distances and across a network infrastructure, all while meeting the company’s high security standard.

Iron Mountain chose Transition Networks’ Managed ION 19 Slot Chassis, an intelligent, high-density, multi-protocol system supporting a variety of network interface devices. An end-to-end fiber integration solution can be achieved by connecting a module in a high-density ION chassis with either a module in another ION chassis or a stand-alone Transition Networks’ media converter.

Learn more about by visiting the Iron Mountain case study.

Partnering with Transition Networks for Success

As you evaluate your technology solutions and service providers for 2020, contact Transition Networks to learn how we provide simple, secure and innovative solutions to ensure reliable connectivity to, and within, the data center, using your existing infrastructure.