Datacenter connector
The LC connector has undergone vigorous development in recent years and is now seen as the best option for datacenter applications.
The data centre, with all its components, is a very expensive building. Investments in backup power, efficient cooling and the hardware itself would be unwise if cabling systems took up more of this expensive space than necessary.
Today, structured cabling systems are designed to take up as little space as possible. The interconnect panel with 144 connectors in a single U is slowly becoming the standard. Optical cabinets on a common rack footprint today have a capacity of over 6000 fibers.
None of this would have been possible without the development of the LC connector in the last decade. Not only has the LC connector become a standard in active element transceivers, but also in patch panels.
Adapter size
Typical for LC is the so-called. duplex adapter, i.e. an adapter for inserting two connectors. This duplex connector has the same footprint as the simplex SC connector adapter. Compared to the SC, it has twice the capacity.
Duplex LC adapter
Simplex SC adapter
Thanks to the clever design, advanced interconnection cabinets can accommodate e.g. instead of 12 SC adapters, 18 LC duplex adapters. So instead of 12 fibers, 36 fibers can be connected in the same module. The total capacity of such a rack can therefore be, for example, 2304 fibers instead of 768 fibers with an SC connector.
Transmission parameters
The most important transmission parameter of the connector is the insertion loss. As the LC connector has become a standard in data centers, manufacturers have begun to invest heavily in its development. In a very short period of time, the attenuation values have been reduced to less than half. Compared to the SC connector, this can be up to 0.1 dB better.
Conclusion
By combining small size and high performance, we are able to achieve significant space savings. This alone can mean thousands of crowns per month, because we are able to fit the saved space with active equipment.
There are further savings in the acquisition cost per fibre. Typically, applications built on LC are cheaper, with better lead times (LC connector production is significantly larger, so it is possible to sell at a smaller margin).