Signal Integrity and Scale: Addressing fiber connector contamination in Hyperscale Data Centers and Headends

November 12th, 2025 

1:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM CT / 10:00 AM PT / 5:00 PM GMT 

Duration: 1 hour 

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Summary

The rapid expansion of AI and machine learning workloads is driving unprecedented demands on hyperscale data centers and service provider headends, where fiber optic networks must deliver uncompromised signal integrity at scale. As connector counts rise into the tens of thousands, even small amounts of contamination can degrade performance, increase costs, and delay deployments. This session will explore the technical, procedural, and human factors affecting fiber cleaning in large-scale environments, and present proven strategies to ensure reliability without sacrificing efficiency.

Drawing on over 20 years of combined expertise, presenters Rick Hoffman and Tyler Vander Ploeg of MicroCare will provide a comprehensive look at industry standards, contamination risks, and evolving challenges such as particle migration, technician practices, and exponential connector growth. Attendees will gain practical insights from a multi-year laboratory study comparing cleaning technologies, as well as real-world case examples that highlight best practices for lab builds, staging, installation, and ongoing maintenance. This 45-minute session is designed for engineers and installers seeking actionable solutions to maintain high-speed optical networks while managing time and budget constraints.