The power of the dynamic duo is contagious in the network performance arena. In one of the more recent alliances, Belden Electronics Div. (Richmond, IN) and Panduit Corp.'s (Tinley Park, IL) Network Connectivity Group launched their Integrity structured cabling solution, joining a similar alliance between Berk-Tek (New Holland, PA) and Ortronics (New London, CT).
In each case, partners are preaching that one company's quality cabling products engineered to precisely match the other's components will make for the highest-performance networking system possible.
The Belden/Panduit partnership includes Integrity 5e for optimum-performing Category 5E networks. It features Belden's DataTwist 5 unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cable and Panduit's Category 5E Mini-Jack connectors and promises to support Gigabit Ethernet. Integrity 5e+ is intended for high-bandwidth Category 5E applications and supports multimedia balanced-line applications without the need for shielding. Integrity 6 is for bandwidth applications beyond 100 MHz. The Integrity Fiber solution is designed to support current and next-generation fiber-optic applications as well as baseband and broadband video.
NetClear, a technology and marketing alliance linking cable maker Berk-Tek and connector manufacturer Ortronics, seeks to improve the network's ability to tolerate additional noise before the bit- error rate increases beyond an acceptable level.
The technology's code name seeks to show the opposite of prevalent "not clear" network channel capacity-mismatched components that can degrade a network's data carrying capacity. Such mismatches, the alliance says, choke network channels with retransmissions caused by data collisions, marginal electronic transceivers, electrical noise and environment, and marginal or poor cabling channels.
NetClear GT is an enhanced Category 5E solution engineered for optimized Fast Ethernet, allowing for migration to Gigabit Ethernet. It includes Berk-Tek's LANmark-350 UTP cable, and jacks, outlets, patch panels, crossconnect blocks, and patch cords from Ortronics. NetClear GT2 is an enhanced Category 6 solution with more than twice the channel capacity of Category 5E and optimized for applications with data rates up to 2.5 Gbits/sec. NetClear GTO is a fiber solution for high-speed performance in both backbone and fiber-to-the-desk environments.
All NetClear solutions are backed by a 25-year warranty on materials and labor, including a guarantee that all products will be free from bit errors caused by NetClear. Berk-Tek says that each solution is engineered, proven, and independently verified to exceed TIA/EIA requirements for channel performance.
-Steve Smith