Pair to exploit intelligent structured cabling

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Apr 18, 2002

Tyco Electronics and iTracs Corp have set up a strategic relationship to develop, market and sell an intelligent structured cabling solution.

Tyco Electronics and iTracs Corp have set up a strategic relationship to develop, market and sell an intelligent structured cabling solution combining Tyco Electronics' AMP Netconnect premises cabling systems with iTracs' real-time infrastructure management system.

The joint solution will enable enterprise customers to minimise network downtime, reduce IT staff workload, and streamline moves, additions and changes (MACs) by automating the management of the physical layer.

It also provides security to the physical layer as well as a complete up-to-date documentation set as the basis for troubleshooting and disaster recovery preparedness.

In addition to this alliance, the agreement includes provisions for sales, marketing and fulfilment of the iTracs active monitoring equipment and iTracs enabled premises wiring by Tyco Electronics.

Tyco Electronics will promote the solution, to be launched in May, to customers building new facilities as well as those seeking the addition of intelligent network management capabilities to existing installations.

"There is a growing demand in the marketplace for intelligent structured cabling, and aligning with iTracs Corporation will enable us to meet that demand with a mature sixth-generation network monitoring system that offers more flexibility and functionality than most competitive products", said Charlie Fox, General Manager for the AMP Netconnect group of Tyco Electronics.

"By allowing us to tap into the retrofit market as well as our installed customer base, iTracs Corporation gives us the ability to reap the maximum business benefits from our entry into the infrastructure management space".

"This alliance with Tyco Electronics is a powerful validation of our technology that gives us access to a huge customer base, one of the largest sales and distribution channels in the industry, and a network of installers", said Tom Reedy, CEO and President of iTracs Corporation.

"It is the strongest evidence yet of the appeal of real-time network monitoring in general and our solution in particular as a means of increasing network uptime, IT staff efficiency and end user productivity.

This relationship also strengthens our ability to better meet the needs of our growing base of enterprise and major account customers".

The iTracs infrastructure management system consists of a series of sensors, patch cords and analysers that are installed on top of the enterprise-cabling infrastructure.

The system self-discovers the network topology in data centres, communications rooms and wiring cabinets; automatically detects both authorised and unauthorised changes; utilises patent-pending technology to quickly pinpoint wiring trouble spots; alerts IT staff to problems via alarms, emails, pages, user-defined scripts and/or photos; and issues work orders or trouble tickets to initiate corrective action.

All iTracs circuitry is isolated from the network, ensuring that the system does not impact data flow or network performance.