Author: Paulo Campos, President, R&M USA Inc.

U.S. data centers are moving quickly from 100G/200G to 400G and 800G, while preparing for 1.6T. The main driver is AI: training and inference fabrics generate huge east-west (server-to-server) traffic, and any network bottleneck leaves expensive GPUs/accelerators underutilized. Cisco notes that modern AI workloads are “data-intensive” and generate “massive east-west traffic within data centers”.

This step-change is now viable because switching and NIC silicon can deliver much higher bandwidth density. Broadcom’s Tomahawk 5-class devices, for example, support up to 128×400GbE or 64×800GbE in a single chip, enabling higher-radix leaf/spine designs with fewer boxes and links. Optics are improving cost- and power-efficiency as well; a Cisco Live optics session highlights a representative comparison of one 400G module at ~12W versus four 100G modules at ~17W for the same aggregate bandwidth.

In parallel, multi-site “metro cloud” growth is increasing demand for faster data center interconnect (DCI). Coherent pluggables and emerging standards such as OIF 800ZR are making routed IP-over-DWDM architectures more practical for metro DCI.

What this changes

As data centers move to 400G/800G+, the physical layer shifts toward higher-density fiber with tighter loss budgets and stricter operational discipline:

  • Parallel optics increase multi-fiber connectivity. Many short-reach 400G links (e.g., 400GBASE-DR4) use four parallel single-mode fiber pairs with 100G PAM4 per lane, which increases the use of MPO/MTP trunking, polarity management and breakout harnesses/cassettes over simple duplex patching. VSFF connectors (for example MMC/SN-MT) are currently becoming an alternative to familiar MTP/MPO connectivity.
  • PAM4 is less forgiving. Operators typically specify lower-loss components, reduce mated pairs, and enforce more rigorous inspection and cleaning to protect link margin.
  • Single-mode (OS2) expands inside the building. New builds often standardise on OS2 for spine/leaf and any run beyond in-row distances, while copper is largely confined to very short in-rack DACs (with AOCs/AECs or fiber used as lengths increase).
  • DCI emphasizes single-mode duplex LC with coherent optics/DWDM, where fiber quality and minimal patching become critical.

The pre-con solution

Pre-connectorized (pre-terminated) cabling systems – including hardened variants – fit current U.S. requirements for speed, performance and repeatability:

  • Faster deployment and predictable performance: factory-terminated “plug-and-play” trunks and panels reduce on-site termination, minimize installer variability, and help teams hit tight loss budgets at 400G/800G and beyond.
  • Higher density and simpler change control: preterm MPO/MTP trunks with modular panels/cassettes pack more fibers into less space and make adds/changes faster with less disruption.
  • Alignment to standards and repeatable architectures: ANSI/TIA-942 defines minimum requirements for data-center infrastructure, while ANSI/BICSI 002-2024 provides widely used best-practice guidance for data-center design and implementation – both encouraging well-defined pathways and modular, repeatable approaches.
  • Resilience for harsh pathways: between buildings, in ducts, and at the edge (modular/outdoor DCs), hardened features such as robust pulling grips and improved protection against water/dirt can reduce rework during construction.

As U.S. data centers push into 400G/800G and prepare for 1.6T, pre-connectorized fiber helps deliver deployment speed, high-density layouts, and repeatable, testable performance – often with less reliance on scarce specialist termination labor.

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References

  1. Cisco. “AI Networking in Data Centers.” Cisco website. (Accessed Jan 2026).
  2. Cisco Live 2025. “400G, 800G, and Terabit Pluggable Optics” (BRKOPT-2699).
  3. OIF. “Implementation Agreement for 800ZR Coherent Interfaces (OIF-800ZR-01.0).” Oct 8, 2024.
  4. Semiconductor Today. “OIF releases 800ZR coherent interface implementation agreement.” Nov 1, 2024.
  5. Ciena. “Standards Update: 200GbE, 400GbE and Beyond.” Jan 29, 2018.
  6. TIA. “ANSI/TIA-942 Standard.” TIA Online.
  7. BICSI. “ANSI/BICSI 002-2024: The Standard for Data Center Design.” BICSI website.