Standardization is an integral part of our world and most of the time, we don’t even notice when it exists. For example, wherever you are in the world today you can send a jpg file to someone else and they’ll know what it is and be able to open it. Let’s look at another example from the shipping industry. A 40-foot container will always have the same dimensions, measurements and weight – all of which are 100% clear to any container manufacturer, shipping company or port around the world.
But what happens when there is no international standard for something we use frequently? For example, when you travel to a different country and need to take a power adapter with you because every country has a different standard. In cases like these, this lack of standardization can be a simple nuisance, but in others, it can give rise to far more severe challenges.
In this blog post, we’ll be discussing the importance of standardization in the cabling industry. But first, let’s start with a brief overview of international standardization and its benefits.
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Often defined as “one requirement, one test, and one document,” international standards serve as a blueprint that enables all stakeholders in the supply chain to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. These standards are important for a wide range of reasons and have economic, societal and technological benefits. They can be compulsory or voluntary, and in both cases, they always specify minimal requirements (a threshold). Companies choosing to follow these standards will need to comply with this threshold.
In order to define and uphold these international standards, standardization bodies were created. Each of these organizations is made up of industry experts who represent a wide range of stake holders – from manufacturers and suppliers, to users, consultants, and even governments.
By standardizing requirements, regulations and specifications of products and services, international standards:
While cables and connecting hardware are passive components, they are used in active systems – making them critical to the safety and reliability of these systems. For this reason, multiple national and international standardization organizations are involved in the standardization of cables and cabling systems, including:
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There are three levels of international standards that govern the cabling industry.
Level 1: component level
These standards define the minimum performance requirements for cables and connectors and procedures for testing them. The main international standardization body responsible for defining these standards is the IEC.
Level 2: cabling system level
At the cabling system level, ISO and IEC joined forces to create the Joint Technical Committee ISO/IEC JTC1/SC 25 and developed the series of International Standards ISO/IEC 11801 for telecommunications infrastructures. This is a group of standards that defines the minimum system-related requirements for factors such as design, generic cabling topologies, distance specifications, and outlet configurations. Common terms related to these standards are link and channel, performance category, conformance and compliance.
Level 3: protocols for active communications system such as Ethernet
IEEE is the main organization that defines the standards for active systems and data communications transfer, for example, data-rates, signal quality, etc. The original IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard is continually updated with additional specifications that address new use cases and environments.
Here’s an example of how these different standards are used for data communications cables and cabling systems:
So ultimately, the ability of a planner, manufacturer and customer looking to install a data center with confidence depends on these international standards. If everyone involved in the process knows what Category 7 is and what it means, then these complex systems can be simplified into a language that works universally and that everyone understands.
The following are examples of the most well-known cabling system standards:
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From the very beginning of our activities in in the cabling industry, Teldor has focused on providing our customers with high-quality, safe and reliable cabling solutions. For this reason, in addition to ensuring that we comply with (and often exceed) recognized international standards in the field, we strategically invest a significant portion of our resources in leading and participating in both national and international standardization activities. This commitment comes from the understanding that cable manufacturers, suppliers and distributors have a common goal to raise the threshold in this field and push the technology forward.
To this end, we are active in four main standardization organizations – IEC, ISO/IEC, IEEE and the Standards Institution of Israel at three different levels of participation:
In addition to being active in international standardization activities for cabling systems, Teldor is also active in the domestic arena for the following reasons:
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One of the most common questions about standards relates to the differences between standard compliance and certification, which is why we wanted to clarify this differentiation in this blog post.
Both standards and certifications are important and each has its own goals and benefits (which are often complementary). For this reason, in addition to ensuring compliance with all of the relevant cabling standards and actively participating in standardization activities, Teldor also ensures its cable solutions are certified by leading global and regional certification bodies when required. These include UL, ETL, etc. as well as Lloyd’s Register (LR), RMRS DNV-GL, and ABS in the Marine and offshore industries.