B-3
Cabling and Technology Information
Cabling and Technology
Information
Note on 10GBASE-T Cable Requirements. The Category 6 networking
cables that work for 1000BASE-T connections may work for 10GBASE-T, as
long as the distance is less than 55m and the cable installation has been tested
for compliance to IEEE requirements. But, for the most robust connections,
you must use cabling that complies with the Category 6A or Category 7
specifications, as described in the TIA-568-C (ANSI/TIA-568-C.2) and ISO/IEC
11801 standards.
10GBASE-T is a sophisticated technology that relies upon high quality cable
installations. It is sensitive to Alien Near-End Crosstalk (ANEXT) which can
arrive upon the cable due to cables placed in close proximity to the data
cables. HP recommends that cable dressing be done carefully and in
compliance with recommendations in the TIA TSB-155A.
Like 1000BASE-T, 10GBASE-T requires testing of all the crosstalk and return
loss parameters described above, and also ANEXT.
In addition to ANEXT, 10GBASE-T is more sensitive to external electrical
noise in the environment. HP recommends that radio transmitters and other
sources of high frequency continuous wave radio frequency be kept away from
LAN cables.
When testing your cabling, you must ensure to include the patch cables that
connect the switch and other end devices to the patch panels on your site. The
patch cables are frequently overlooked when testing cable and they must also
comply with the cabling standards. For 10GBASE-T, Category 6 patch cables
are sensitive to movement once link has been established, and could cause
link to drop if moved. Therefore, HP recommends using Category 6A patch
cables, or using cable management options to tie down (dress) the Category
6 patch cables so they cannot move.
Technology Distance Specifications
Table B-2.
Technology Supported cable type Multimode fiber
modal bandwidth
Supported distances
100-FX multimode fiber any up to 2,000 meters
100-BX single mode fiber N/A 0.5 - 10,000 meters
1000-T twisted-pair copper N/A up to 100 meters
2.5Gb/s HP Smart Rate
twisted-pair copper
N/A up to 100 meters
5Gb/s HP Smart Rate
twisted-pair copper
N/A Cat 5e - up to 100 meters
1
Cat 6 - up to 100 meters
2
Cat 6A - up to 100 meters