What is Port Replication and Why Should You Care?

I recently attended Dell Technologies World 2018 in Las Vegas, NV. As a representative of the data center cabling infrastructure solutions company, CABLExpress, I was uncertain that the common threads we share would be apparent to the show attendees.

Dell World caters to professionals in the server/storage field, but not necessarily to those that work with the fiber optic cabling infrastructure. I was pleasantly surprised to find I need not have worried; layer 1 was high on their list of concerns.

What is Port Replication™?

Structured cabling and more specifically, our port replication methodology, was a hit with anyone directly involved with data center requirements and cabling support.

Simply put, port replication “mirrors” the ports of active hardware via a patch panel. It supports a standards-based cabling infrastructure design that “replicates” the active hardware ports in the Main Distribution Area (MDA), sometimes referred to a central patching location.

Port replication creates a one to one relationship between the hardware and the patch panel.

Why should you care?

If the attendees at Dell World are representative of those that work in a data center, then no matter what your role, you care about cable management! Everyone I talked to was, or wanted to be, proud of the functionality, performance, and look of the data center that they worked in.

A clean look in the data center derives from good cable management and port replication makes cable management simple! Port replication creates a structured environment by creating a patching area. In the patching area, you only need short length jumpers for all Moves, Adds, and Changes (MAC’s).

When working with short jumpers, it’s easy to always have the right size cable for the job. Since the majority of cable management blunders happen under duress when completing MAC’s, the correct cable length is not readily available. Often a cable with excess slack is used instead.

Cue the notorious statement, “We’ll come back and fix this later.” Let’s be honest, does anyone ever go back to finish it?

Faster installation time

Port replication also allows for a short installation time. You’re able to cable up to a switch just once and leave it alone until something needs to be replaced. Now the port replication panels will handle all the MAC’s. This leaves your switch in pristine, good looking condition for its lifetime, cuts down drastically on errors and saves time.

If you are interested in making the cabling in your data center efficient, please contact the CABLExpress team. We will help design a cabling infrastructure that will not only help you meet the standards of your hardware investments but look great as well!

Are you a visual learner?

Watch as I talk to Rick Dallmann, Director of Data Center Architecture at Dell Technologies World 2018 with visual examples of port replication.