Q&A with Data Center POST’s Contributing Editor, Kathy Xu

Roman Krawczyk, TiniFiber, Chief Technology OfficerRoman Krawczyk, Chief Technology Officer and co-inventor of TiniFiber, recently spoke with Data Center POST about the company’s plans for attending Data Center World April 3-6 in Los Angeles. TiniFiber’s top priority at the global event is presenting their product, Micro Armor Fiber Solution, to data center and infrastructure professionals to show them the many ways it can help them address a broad range of data center issues. In this Q&A Mr. Krawczyk also goes into detail about Micro Armor Fiber and the problem it solves, and shares insights about how the cloud industry is evolving.

Data Center POST, Kathy Xu (DCP-KX) Question: Tell our readers about your company. What do you do and what problems are you attempting to solve?  

TiniFiber, Roman Krawczyk (TiniFiber-RK) Answer: Micro Armor Fiber is a U.S. patented solution designed as the smallest, lightest, most durable and flexible armored fiber optic cable in the market. The problem we address with our product is the need for an armored fiber optic cable with a smaller outer diameter than that of traditional aluminum interlocking armor (AIA) fiber optic cables. AIA cables are extremely heavy and have a disproportionately large outer diameter, making installation difficult. They take up an enormous amount of space and their lack of flexibility limits their application and overall functionality. In addition, the higher shipping, storage and labor costs associated with the use and installation of AIA have always been a concern.

The solution, Micro Armor Fiber, combines the strength of traditional aluminum interlocking armored (AIA) cables and the size of conventional jackets into one powerful solution. Micro Armor Fiber is approximately 65 percent smaller and 75 percent lighter than AIA. Micro Armor Fiber features a stainless steel tube coiled protection around the inner jacket of the fiber optic cable. This is accomplished by the proprietary Micro Armor Machinery, which is designed to tightly wind the stainless steel coil around the fiber strands, resulting in the smallest Outer Diameter (OD) of any armored fiber cable in the market.  

DCP-KX Q: What do you attribute your company’s success to?

TiniFiber-RK A: TiniFiber’s revolutionary development of Micro Armor Fiber addresses both the armor and non-armor cable markets in a single solution. This solution offers considerable advantages over the traditional AIA widely used today, and it substantially lowers the cost associated with installation time, labor, warehousing, and shipping while adding superior durability and unmatched flexibility. Our armored fiber optic solutions are designed to meet the continually growing needs of data centers, large enterprises, IT, DAS communication networks, PONS/GPONS applications, security and government agencies that require a quality fiber optic cable ready for future upgrades. Micro Armor Fiber core cable offers unmatched bandwidth potential from 1 to 144 strands for both single and multimode usage. 

DCP-KX Q: How do you see the data center industry evolving? What do you think is the greatest challenge in the data center industry?

TiniFiber-RK A: Bandwidth requirements are increasing more rapidly within data centers than anywhere else and being able to effectively manage a data center’s physical layer is crucial for its significant impact on airflow management, cooling and overall power usage effectiveness (PUE). Data centers around the world have been migrating to fiber. Forward-thinking data center design has to incorporate space management considerations within channels and pathways in anticipation of upgrade cycles, and the effect this has on data transmission reliability. If cabling becomes compromised there can be serious consequences resulting in maintenance, downtime and possible loss of data. The impact of cloud services, virtualization, IoT and exponential growth in data demand continue to put pressure on data center performance. 

The impact Micro Armor Fiber will have on data center performance should not be underestimated. As cloud computing growth is expected to soar into the stratosphere, the reliability of network infrastructure will be under immense pressure while power usage and efficiency will be equally strained. Demands on pathway space will continue to grow as bandwidth and data rate requirements increase. Having a durable armored fiber optic cable with the smallest possible footprint is critical to achieving a cost effective strategy to the ongoing upgrade cycle within a data center’s infrastructure and overall ecosystem. 

DCP-KX Q: What new developments are on the horizon for your company?

TiniFiber-RK A: Always on the cutting edge of fiber optic developments, TiniFiber has once again demonstrated it has a unique understanding of the fiber optic industry. Its latest development has major implications for the FTTH market. TiniFiber’s new FTTH cable is a 2-strand, single mode fiber encased with the U.S. patented Micro Armor Fiber stainless steel tube coil. The cable jacket combines the armored fiber with two strength members – resulting in the first ever Micro Armor Fiber optic pushing cable for FTTH applications. This cable will be able to be installed using a pushing installation technique up to 300 feet, something previously unattainable with fiber optic cables.

DCP-KX Q: What would you like to accomplish at Data Center World?

TiniFiber-RK A: For our company, the most important thing is to get the product in front of data center and infrastructure engineers, consultants, and architects as well as facilities, systems and network managers to show them how the Micro Armor Fiber solution can help them address everything from cable mass, space optimization, efficiency and PUE issues to data security, transmission reliability, bandwidth, and upgradability concerns. 

This year’s DCW Global conference theme is all about building the data center of the future, and we are confident that Micro Armor Fiber is the fiber optic cable best suited for this undertaking. We’re excited to show the data center industry this break-through solution. 

DCP-KX: Thank you for your time and best of luck at Data Center World.

Readers, if you are interested in learning more about TiniFiber, please visit http://tinifiber.com/.