Cat 6A solution undergoes 10-GbE traffic test

Ethernet Load Modules from performance test systems developer Ixia (www.ixia.com) were used at a demonstration at Interop this spring to perform “real” data plane traffic generation and analysis of the Berk-Tek (www.berktek.com) and Ortronics/Legrand (www. ortronics.com) NetClear GTX Augmented Category 6 UTP channel solution. Analysis results showed frame rates and characterized data packets being sent.

“Today’s network components are increasingly aware of packet sequences that now require cabling systems combined with more sophisticated active equipment, higher up in the protocol stack, which is critical for efficiently qualifying 10GBase-T,” says Nelson Nurga, principal technologist with Ixia. “As a result, it has become increasingly difficult to test effectively for end-to-end network delivery and measure the performance of these application-aware devices with traditional test gear. To test these intelligent network devices effectively, real application traffic needs to be created.”

The Interop demonstration, says Todd Harpel, director of marketing for Berk-Tek, measured “the real-life impact of network degradation on the qualify of the cabling system delivered to an end user.”

Configurations were pre-configured, hot-staged, and pre-tested at the Ixia lab in Calabasas, CA, and included two four-connector NetClear GTX channel configurations consisting of one 15-meter and one 100-meter channel running live 10GBase-T traffic. NetClear GTX cabling components consisted of the LANmark-10G Category 6A cable from Berk-Tek and the Clarity 10G patch panel, patch cords, and TracJack workstation modules from Ortronics/Legrand.

In addition to the Interop demonstration, the Data Communications Competence Center for Nexans, located in Berk-Tek’s New Holland, PA facility, is using two 10GBase-T load module boards for ongoing further analytics of physical layer component capabilities resulting from increased network speeds and bandwidth.