Expanded-Beam Optical Connectivity for Hyperscale Data Centers
Molex offers a set of VersaBeam Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) Interconnect Solutions, which it describes as “an innovative family of high-density fiber connectors optimized for hyperscale data center, cloud and edge computing environments.”
The product portfolio leverages the 3M EBO Ferrule, which expands the beam between connectors to reduce sensitivity to dust and debris while decreasing the need for frequent cleaning, inspection, and maintenance.
Molex explains that VersaBeam EBO users can achieve faster deployment speeds because fewer connections are required, thereby reducing installation time and complexity.
“The best designs often are the simplest, which is true with Molex VersaBeam EBO connectors as customers can make reliable connections with one click,” explains Trevor Smith, general manager for optical connectivity with Molex. “No special skillsets are needed to install these connectors, empowering organizations to rapidly reap the performance and cost benefits of resilient, scalable fiber connectivity.”
Molex’s VersaBeam EBO connectors deliver density without the limitations of a spring-force connector, enabling optical alignment and plug-and-play assembly, the company points out. The connectors are available in singlemode and multimode options, 12- and 16-fiber versions, as well as high-density connectors with up to 144 fibers per connector. These characteristics facilitate flexible system designs, easier cable routing in space-constrained environments, and expedited data center turn-ups, Molex emphasizes.
“Ideally suited for intra-rack and server connections, VersaBeam EBO technology fits more fibers into a very small form factor to maximize rack-unit usage and minimize space,” Molex adds.
“Expanded Beam Optical connectors are the future of high-speed, resilient data center infrastructure,” comments Kevin Twomey, global portfolio director for 3M’s electronics materials solutions division. “We are excited to collaborate with Molex to transform multifiber connectivity in data centers. This technology is a game-changer compared to traditional connectors—significantly reducing contamination risks while boosting deployment speed and performance.”
Because the connectors do not require significant effort or expertise to deploy and maintain, they alleviate concerns about the shortage of highly skilled data center technicians. “Moreover,” Molex says, “both termination times and component counts are reduced, which saves operational expenses, lowers supply-chain complexity, and produces turnup time savings for reduced TCO.
Prior to bringing the VersaBeam EBO portfolio to market earlier this year, Molex collaborated with Ciena. On the heels of that collaboration, Ciena’s senior director of research and development Dave Boertjes commented, “Molex’s VersaBeam EBO brings tremendous value by removing the struggle of connecting our data center infrastructure while simplifying cleaning and inspecting every connection at a lower power density. By utilizing VersaBeam EBO, we achieved a 6x reduction in inspection cleaning, which is critical to speeding deployments and keeping pace with the current landscape.”
3M reported similar success in a field test with a hyperscale data center. That company stated the elimination of cleaning and inspection yielded a total time savings of 85 percent, reducing deployment time by more than 6 hours.