Siemon has announced that third-party ETL testing conducted by Intertek Testing Services confirms the company's shielded and unshielded Z-Max 6A connectors and cable exceed all Category 6A performance parameters specified by Amendment 2 of ISO/IEC 11801 2nd edition, as well as the IEC 60603-7-51 component spec for connectors and the IEC 61156-5 component spec for cable. The company noted, "As the ISO/IEC category 6A component performance requirements are more stringent than those set for Category 6A components by TIA-568-C.2, achieving ISO/IEC compliance is considered a stronger indicator of overall category 6A system performance capabilities."
Intertek assessed the following performance characteristics: NEXT loss, return loss, insertion loss, FEXT loss, TCL, TCTL, DC resistance, DC resistance unbalance, PSANEXT loss and PSAFEXT loss. Siemon says both the shielded and unshielded connecting hardware showed headroom across all tested parameters.
Testing conducted by UL verified that Siemon's Z-Max 6A shielded and unshielded end-to-end systems both exceed category 6A/class EA channel requirements specified by TIA-568-C.2 as well as Amendment 1 of ISO/IEC 11801 2nd edition. The channel compliance includes both 100-meter, four-connector topologies and short-reach, 5-meter, two-connector topologies. Siemon points out this short-link capability is particularly beneficial in data centers where cabling channels are typically short. Shorter overall lengths can reduce cabling costs, Siemon says, decrease cable slack and create more-easily managed pathways to improve airflow and thermal management.
"Along with the ISO/IEC and TIA category 6 channel test results, this ETL confirmation of component compliance further cements Z-Max performance leadership," says Robert Carlson, Siemon's vice president of global marketing. He further explains that the connector's high performance, as well as its ability to be terminated quickly, can be attributed to its linear termination module. The module eliminates split and crossed pairs and allows conductors to be laced quickly into position without pair crosses, Siemon explains, thereby maintaining and protecting cable-pair geometry for optimized transmission. This conductor-lacing process combined with the Z-Tool allows both shielded and unshielded Z-Max 6A outlets to be terminated in as little as 60 seconds from start to finish, including cable preparation.
Other features of the Z-Max 6A outlet include diagonally oriented insulation displacement connection (IDC) contact technology. The configuration, which Siemon says is unique, maximizes distance between contacts within side-stacked outlets compared to traditional rectangular contact outlets. Maximizing pair-to-pair separation between adjacent outlets minimizes alien crosstalk and enables up to 48 ports within 1 rack unit space for either shielded or unshielded media.