A well-known company needed to connect a new mid-range server to an optional expansion server. The new server’s design was fairly mature before space was allotted for the cabling that would carry the 500 MHz data bus between the two cabinets. After requesting proposals from several cable and interconnect suppliers, the company finally selected us because of the simplicity and lower cost of our solution.

The application originally dictated that we use an unshielded 24-pair twinax cable and plastic connector backshells. Also, the connector had to fit a very restrictive volume and plug directly onto the motherboard header pins. To overcome these issues, we designed and built the initial cables in accordance with the customer's equalization, crosstalk, attenuation, impedance and skew requirements. We also created a shroud to protect the header pins from residual torque in the cable, designed the equalization circuit, laid out the PCB for the circuit, and used our direct attach cable termination technology to create the connectors. Furthermore, we created a two-part molded bracket that captured the cables at the back of the server, set the proper length for them and prevented them from twisting.

Several months of testing on the initial cable sets showed high crosstalk and interference in the installation. So we redesigned and fabricated a shielded version of the cable, changed the plastic backshell to die-cast aluminum, and cleaned up the cable grounding system. With those changes, the new cables met the specified performance with room to spare. Our customer’s development engineers witnessed the benefits of our obsession with cable solutions, and we’re proud to be their trusted supplier.