The Media Cross Connect0 pages

White Paper

The Media Cross Connect
An Important Tool for Next Generaton Lab Management
As a network equipment manufacturer, service provider,
carrier, or enterprise, chances are good that you have
encountered challenges in your test lab. Companies
are facing increasing competitive pressures to bring
products and services to market in shrinking timeframes.
At the same time, the tests needed to ensure delivery
of quality products and services are becoming more
complex. Today’s test labs are moving towards test
automation with sophisticated automation software.
However, the physical connectivity of equipment
remains a laborious manual process.

MRV’s Family of Physical Layer Switch Solutions

In this article we will examine the network infrastructure of many labs, showing how relying on the manual configuration of
test networks adversely affects the productivity of a test lab. We will then introduce the Media Cross Connect, an important
tool for managing and automating the configuration of test networks, optimizing your lab for responsiveness and best use
of capital expenditures, and setting the stage for the next generation of lab management.

The Manually Configured Lab
Today’s test lab is outfitted with more sophisticated hardware and software than ever before, all designed to help test
engineers perform their job more effectively and efficiently. While powerful automation tools exist to facilitate the logical
execution of tests, little is being done to address the configuration of the physical connections that network all these
devices together.
There are a number of shortcomings in the lab environment where labor-intense manual configuration inhibits lab
productivity.

More Effort Spent on Test Set-up than on Testing

Manual patch panels require interconnection between multiple test beds for testing and sharing of resources. For each
test performed, test equipment must be physically moved, cabled to proper equipment, configured, in complex scenarios,
and then disconnected to prepare for the next test.
The constant swapping of these cables leads to either chaos or increased management effort. Either way, valuable time is
spent trying to manage the lab instead of actually testing. Software programmable test configurations let you take control
of this labor-intense portion of lab-life.

Not Enough Working Hours in the Day

The limiting factor for test velocity in most labs is requiring engineers to be physically present to run tests. Scripting
tests ensures that they run consistently every time, but with manual recabling, queuing a series of dynamic test scripts is
impossible since the cabling cannot be changed within the scripts. Round-the-clock testing, often referred to as a “Lights
Out Environment”, would increase the lab’s production without having to increase personnel.

Re-Testing: Time is Money

In the case of test labs, moving cables around frequently increases the chances that a problem will arise: a wrong
connection is made, a cable or connector is damaged, or a fiber optic component is contaminated with dirt. All these
incidents compromise the accuracy of tests, waste precious test hours, and result in re-testing that wreaks havoc in your
lab’s testing schedule. “Wire-Once” configurations eliminate physical manipulation of cables and decrease the number of
problems introduced by human intervention.
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