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News, Reviews & Issues Are You Playing in the Zone? Understanding all the available options is critical when looking for a network solution that will support convergence, intelligent building systems, data center reliability, Internet protocol (IP) everywhere, "green" buildings and more, all while saving money and improving efficiency. Inspect Before You Connect Fiber connectors are widely known as the weakest and most problematic points in a network making proper handling of the optical fiber connections more critical than ever. The Elements of Fiber Cable Management As business, university and government network managers continue upgrading their networks to transport high-bandwidth broadband services, an increase in fiber usage is essential to meet both the bandwidth and cost requirements. But just deploying this additional fiber is not enough. A successful, well-built network also must be based on a strong fiber cable management system. Megladon® Manufacturing Group, Ltd Announces the Addition of TelRep Midwest to Their Sales Force Megladon Manufacturing Group, Ltd., a leader in passive fiber optic products, announced today the appointment of TelRep Midwest to Megladon's field sales force covering 14 Western states. TelRep Midwest is a recognized leader in the CATV and Telecommunications industries and has recently expanded their line card to include additional fiber optic products. Heard On The Street - January 2009 Heard On The Street is a monthly column of news and trends by Frank Bisbee at www.wireville.com. Find articles and links to network cabling solutions for copper, coax, and fiber. Stay on top of the latest standards, new products, and technology. Free Internet Directory for the cabling industry, generic cable specs, and a calendar of events. Megladon Announces New Product Release of Bend Insensitive Fiber Optic Drop Cables with HLC® ScratchGuard™ Technology Megladon Manufacturing Group answered the request of the CATV industry today by providing bend insensitive fiber for node tail applications. Maximizing the number of customers served by each node has reduced the available space inside the node for fiber management. The result is attenuation and potential intermittent failures which are seen by customers as outages. Draka chooses Megladon's HLC ScratchGuard® Technology Draka Communications announces a major advancement through the combination of Draka's BendBright-XST bend-insensitive fiber cable and Megladon®'s Hardened Lens Connector (HLC) ScratchGuard® connector technology. Megladon’s E2000 HLC® SCRATCHGUARD™ Patch Cords Making Waves In The Marketplace SensorTran, a leader in designing and supplying rugged and reliable fiber optic-based Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) systems and solutions sees the rare and unmatched value in Megladon’s latest product. Megladon Announces New Product Release of Angle Polished HLC® ScratchGuard™ Fiber Optic Patch Cords The SCRATCHGUARD™ Fiber Optic Patch Cords (by Megladon Manufacturing Group) is a critical step forward in quality. The fiber optic connector is a crucial component and the “gateway to the fiber optic cabling network”. Draka Communications - Americas Announces Extended Warranty and Contractor Rebate Program Draka Communications - Americas, a leader in fiber and fiber cable solutions, announces an Extended Warranty Program and Contractor Rebate Program for Private Networks. Megladon Solves Bend Loss Issues With First-In-Class Bend Insensitive HLC™ Fiber Optic Patch Cords Megladon’s Bend Insensitive HLC™ low maintenance solution is dust and scratch resistant which provides an extended life span and lessens the frequency of scheduled replacements saving network managers time and money. ACUTA Offering Hurricane Preparation Checklist to All Colleges and Universities In the wake of the devastation wrought by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, ACUTA began working closely with the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), a technical planning and standards development organization, and its Network Reliability Steering Committee. Copper, Fiber or Wireless? While the debate over which is better—copper, fiber or wireless—has enlivened cabling discussions for decades, it is becoming moot. Communications technology and the end-user market, it seems, already have made decisions that generally dictate the media. Choose Wisely - Network design for fiber optics, part 2 Before you can begin to design a fiber optic cable plant, you need to establish with the end-user or network owner where the network will be built and which communications signals it will carry. Planning for Safety - New requirements for healthcare security Any contractor who has worked in healthcare environments knows the systems installation—whether electrical, fire alarm or security—poses many unique challenges. Building Intelligence: What’s the IQ of Chicago’s UBS Tower? Within the commercial real estate markets, those commercial buildings that lack IQ will lose tenants and overall value over the next five years. More ‘boom’ ahead for security markets Market researchers scattered across the globe appear to agree that various segments making up the overall security marketplace are in bull mode. BICSI transformation begins Major changes to include launch of a 10-step program designed to 'enhance' education and credentialing efforts. 10 GbE and the data center Higher-speed standards are on the way for both data centers and computing applications. Green IT is in style The recent focus on global warming seems to have sparked a renewed interest in the environment, and, in the process, has focused a great deal of attention to the IT industry. CABA Introduces New Daily Newsletter CABA SmartBrief is a FREE e-mail news service that summarizes the day’s most important news as it relates to integrated systems for the automated homes and buildings industry. Graybar Surpasses $5.25 Billion in 2007 Sales Graybar, one of the nation’s leading distributors of electrical and communications products and related supply chain management and logistics services, has announced that it exceeded $5.25 billion in net sales during 2007, an increase of nearly $250 million, or 5 percent, over 2006. How to INTEGRATE systems For those electrical contractors incorporating systems integration into their skill sets, many questions and strategies for doing so may appear. The Rules of the Road - Ten steps to keeping your drivers safe The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently published some startling statistics. Every 12 minutes, someone dies in a motor vehicle crash. An injury occurs every 10 seconds, and every five seconds, a crash occurs. General Cable Announces Long-Haul Submarine Fiber Optic Award General Cable Corporation reports that its subsidiary, Norddeutsche Seekablewerke GmbH (NSW), has been awarded its first submarine long-haul repeatered fiber optic communications link project. Simplifying OTDRs spells profitability for business Communications networks never get any slower or simpler, or stay the same. The same is true of certification testing for fiber optic (FO) cabling. Newly Released Studies Confirm Energy Savings Significant in LEED, ENERGY STAR Buildings Two recently released studies, one by the New Buildings Institute (NBI) and one by CoStar Group, have validated what the green building community has known all along: third party certified buildings outperform their conventional counterparts across a wide variety of metrics, including energy savings, occupancy rates, sale price and rental rates. Technology has a powerful future 2008-2010 You already know that we are dealing with many less than ideal economic conditions and the politicos certainly will remind us over and over. However, the solutions may be in your hands, not some mammoth government program. Growing Green By Giant Leaps In an attempt to make amends with the environment, the U.S. government may be attempting too much of a leap. Abandoned Cable Revisited With Solutions – Stop The Insanity Cabling contractors, service providers, managers, tenants and building owners need to work cooperatively to ensure that all parties understand their responsibilities to comply with the National Electrical Code (NEC) provisions on removing or tagging abandoned or unused communications cabling in buildings. Outlook For ‘Green’ What’s driving the environmental/sustainable construction movement? There’s much more than hype. Green Builds The demand for sustainability in construction projects is on the rise. A Matter of Choice With so much changing in technology and standards, figuring out what components to use in an application can be tricky. Let’s look at some voice/data/video jobs and see what we should use today. Fiber Optics In Security Systems Nowhere are the advantages of fiber optics —low loss, high bandwidth and immunity to electrical interference—more important than in security systems, especially surveillance cameras. As crime and terrorism have become more worrisome around the world, a major deterrent has been continuous monitoring of public places. Blown Fiber Systems See Growth And Acceptance While blown fiber still represents a very small percentage of the premises marketplace, and critics continue to question the system's fiber protection and cost savings, acceptance is being fueled by new standards and the buy-in of some key customers. Optical Connectivity A Good Choice In The Data Center The transmission performance, data-rate scalability, pathway-and-space utilization, electronics port density, power and cooling efficiencies, and ease of installation and testing make optical connectivity the choice solution when compared to 10GBase-T and copper connectivity. International Fiber Systems Joins NetClear ESS Affiliate Program Berk-Tek, a Nexans Company, and Ortronics/Legrand are pleased to announce that the International Fiber Systems (IFS) product line from GE has been added as an approved affiliate vendor for the NetClear ESS (Electronic Safety and Security) program. Hybrid Connector Solution Developed For Harsh Environments Applied Optical Systems (AOS; appliedopticalsystems.com) has developed a long-distance hybrid cabling system designed to carry both electrical and multi-channel fiber optics for LAN and wireless LAN (WLAN) applications in harsh environments. Draka Comteq Optical Fiber Introduces BendBright®XS With ColorLock®XS Fiber Coating Draka Comteq, a pioneer in optical fiber technology, today announces that its latest innovation in fiber coating technology, ColorLock®XS, will be available on Draka Comteq’s flagship bend-insensitive fiber, BendBright®XS in January 2008. FOA Backs "OM3" Nomenclature Convention For Fiber Optic Cabling Systems As the demand for bandwidth increases, so should the common-sense approach to installing fiber-to-the-desk. But there are still those who need convincing on a daily, if not hourly, basis. Fiber-optic technology brings old-fashioned security up to date Many highly sensitive entities are choosing not to replace their fences with cabled security systems, but rather to add cabling—fiber-optic cabling in particular—to their existing perimeter security systems in order to gain the advantages of modern intrusion detection. FOA Creates New Certification For "Fiber Optic Network Design" The FOA has created a new certification program covering "Fiber Optic Network Design." This certification covers the particulars of how fiber optic networks are designed within the context of complete communications systems or construction projects. It is intended for contractors, installers, architects and engineers, project managers and all others who are involved with projects that include fiber optics. FOA Offers New Guide to Fiber Optic Network Design The Fiber Optic Association, Inc, the professional society of fiber optics, has added a new technical bulletin to its website that offers guidance for those designing fiber optic networks. ACUTA Name Change Reflects Evolving Roles That Its Member Play At Colleges, Universities Responding to the changes in its members’ roles on college and university campuses, ACUTA formally announced its name change, becoming the Association for Information Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education. BICSI Reinvests Its Installation Education BICSI, the association supporting the information transport systems (ITS) industry with information, education and knowledge assessment, announces the release of the Information Transport Systems Installation Methods Manual (ITSIMM), fifth edition. NAED News NAED's Life Upgrades Provides Contractors with Selling Tools; NAED Channel Advantage Partnership Announces New Research Project; NAED 2008 LEAD Conference Scheduled for July 17-20 in Washington, D.C.; NAED Launching New Certification Program; NAED Announces “Trip of the Century” Winner; NAED Announces 2008-2009 Board of Directors. NAED Announces 2008-2009 Board of Directors The National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) is pleased to announce its new Board of Directors for 2008-2009. Led by the NAED chair, the Board of Directors is a dedicated group of industry leaders who volunteer their time and efforts to improve the association and the electrical distribution channel. Is your data center efficient? Standardized metrics will help drive the measuring of data center efficiency, but until those metrics are available, data center managers can conduct assessments today. Deploying multimode fiber When selecting a fiber-optic cabling solution for the data center, it makes strategic and good economical sense to choose one that will maximize lifecycle and reduce capital and operational expense. Network & Cabling announces NETcomm Maritimes 2008 Conference Network & Cabling Magazine, Canada’s information transport systems magazine, is pleased to introduce the NETcomm Maritimes 2008 Conference in Halifax, N.S., on September 3 & 4, 2008. Cabling changes in store for 2008 The U.S. economy is troubled and manufacturers are facing an increased downturn. Green is also the color of money Saving money, not corporate social responsibility, is the primary driver in the green IT movement. Security as a service One of the interesting takeaways from the bustling RSA Conference last month was the plethora of companies offering managed security services. Integrated building systems Question: How Do You Integrate an HVAC System? Answer: With BACnet Write This Down - Complete the paperwork, complete the job Some of us have grown up in the trades hearing this statement over and over. Some of us never get it. Others finally realize that, indeed, without the properly completed paperwork, the project never gets completed, and the payments are delayed. But paperwork takes on a whole new meaning when dealing with fire alarm systems and the National Fire Alarm Code, NFPA 72, requirements for documentation. Consistent Innovation Will Prepare Us For The Future As they say, “time flies when you’re having fun.” Being the first woman chair of our association and serving during its 100th year have been once in a lifetime experiences. My tenure has been a lot of fun and educational; I have learned a great deal about our industry and made many new friends along the way. |
