At the network level, AI has been the catalyst for an explosive leap in fiber density and connectivity speeds – triggering a series of interlinked changes and challenges across the data center.

The gap between traditional networks and those fit for the AI era isn’t a gentle acceleration – it’s the difference between a country road and a multi-lane superhighway. As a result, typical go-to products and approaches simply can’t keep traffic flowing in modern network environments.

These new realities mean that driving efficiency across every layer of the data center is mission critical for managing the dramatic rate of change, and ensuring operations can continue to scale quickly enough to match the pace of technological advancement. But speed is nothing without quality.

Amidst this fast-moving, complex, and competitive landscape, it’s often easy to push standards to one side in favor of faster deployment. Establishing standardization for new solutions is no small task – and it may feel like an inconvenient pump on the brakes. Yet, it’s more critical than ever if the industry is to deliver sustainable growth at scale, without compromising performance.

Against this backdrop, Leviton Network Solutions is helping operators to navigate these crossroads not only via its suite of innovative cabling solutions, but by redefining how modern data centers should be viewed today.

Rather than treating facilities as one daunting machine, Leviton views it as four distinct subsystems – each having evolved in different ways, demanding a tailored approach. These include: the front-end, back-end, data center interconnect (DCI), and the entry point subsystem.

Using this framework as a map, Michael Lawrence and Mike Connaughton, senior product managers at Leviton, explore how the rise of AI-driven networks has reshaped these cornerstones, and why early engagement and cross-collaboration are essential for delivering future-ready connectivity that aligns and scales in tandem with the entire data center.

The network roadblock

For AI networks, where everything is more interconnected and moves faster than ever before, the stakes are significantly higher. Massive volumes of connections are all working simultaneously, and they must be both fast and reliable. To support this movement, the network components and architecture must be reimagined.

With a more interconnected setup comes amplified risk and room for bottlenecks. Without collaboration or shared understanding across the data center ecosystem, mismatched standards increase the likelihood of bumps along the road.

“Looking back just a handful of years, building a data center was a pretty formulaic, step-by-step process,” explains Connaughton. “Decisions could be made independently, one after the other. That’s no longer the case. Each choice now impacts multiple elements across the facility, and everything must happen faster – so those same conversations get very noisy.”

Critical power and cooling are now intrinsically linked with network infrastructure in a completely new way. “If you’re considering immersion cooling, for example, it’s critical to understand which cable to use, versus the right solution for direct cooling,” adds Lawrence. “We have to know what’s happening across the rest of the facility to provide the best product at the network level. And often, aligning those decisions too late is where bottlenecks appear.”

Mapping the landscape

Leviton’s subsystem approach was born from a simple but important question: how can data center operators be supported in understanding precisely where their challenges lie, in order to identify what they need? Lawrence outlines what these subsystems mean in practice:

“The entry point subsystem is where cables come into the data center – where they’re typically spliced in an enclosure – it’s a very high-density area packed with fiber. In the white space, where the IT equipment sits, we have the front-end and back-end subsystems. And lastly, the data center interconnect (DCI) subsystem is responsible for connecting different campuses or locations together.”

By breaking the data center up into defined zones, signposting both the challenges and opportunities that lie along increasingly complex project paths becomes clearer and more efficient to support a customized approach.

“For instance, when we look at the front and back end, the major challenge is the huge amount of fiber density that has to be managed,” continues Lawrence. “We have to look at how to fit next-generation density into existing footprints. That’s where very small form factor (VSFF) connectors come in. They’re up to three times smaller than previous solutions.”

This subsystem view also reflects the reality that different teams across the data center ecosystem – from facilities to IT – are navigating the same project from different directions. Breaking the work up into designated pit stops demystifies responsibility, and allows individual teams to focus on their unique roadblocks while still working toward a shared endpoint.

“The facilities team and the IT department may be dealing with the same products, but their priorities vary,” adds Connaughton. “Recognizing the subsystems lets us adjust the lens and talk about solutions in a way that’s relevant to the people actually working in those spaces.”

In an increasingly constrained and competitive landscape, the risk of teams becoming disjointed is growing. By breaking the challenge down and aligning priorities early, the ecosystem gains a shared understanding of the route ahead – making it easier to build one unified solution.

One destination

The key to navigating this complexity and avoiding costly wrong turns lies in early engagement that kickstarts strong communication and collaboration across the supply chain from the get-go.

“Early dialogue between vendors is essential to ensure designs are developed with the whole infrastructure in mind,” says Lawrence. “One of the biggest challenges now is future-proofing. Everything is moving so fast, and we have to be sure we’re installing enough fiber to support the next generation of AI. If we get that wrong, it’s an incredibly expensive mistake.”

With power, cooling, and connectivity now tightly interwoven, collaborating with each of these key stakeholders from the outset has become a necessity. Decisions made in isolation can ripple across the facility, creating inefficiencies that are difficult and costly to correct down the line.

“The design process itself is far more interconnected than it used to be,” adds Connaughton. “Someone has to install this new generation of products, and they need to understand how to do it quickly and repeatedly. So, installers need to be part of the conversation early, especially given the shortage of skilled labor. Being future-ready now means having the right people at the table from the start.”

The toolbox

Delivering more capacity in less space is perhaps the single greatest challenge at the network level. Leviton’s Strata portfolio – a full suite of fiber optic cabling solutions – is designed specifically for the ultra-high densities AI networks increasingly demand.

“Data centers are running out of space and power,” says Lawrence. “Everything needs to be condensed – and that’s not just about the fiber, it’s about connectivity choices. For decades, MPO (multi-fiber push-on) connectors have been the standard for parallel transmission – typically carrying 12, 16, or 24 fibers. Now, VSFF connectors are delivering 16 fibers in a footprint that’s three times smaller. That hardware is what enables these high-density applications.”

At the entry point subsystem, Leviton’s IDX splicing solution addresses the need to deliver vast volumes of high-density fiber into the facility. Supporting up to 6,912 fibers in a single enclosure, it allows splicing to take place within a compact area before the fiber is distributed further into the data center.

“These solutions are about maximizing efficiency and managing density,” adds Lawrence. “But they’re also about speed of deployment – not just for the end user, but for installers across the entire chain.”

To address the growing intersection between connectivity and cooling, Leviton’s Torrent family of next-gen cabling is designed specifically for compatibility with cooling fluids. As air traditional cooling races towards its limits, direct-to-chip and immersion cooling are rapidly gaining momentum – bringing new challenges along with them.

“One of the big questions is ownership,” says Connaughton. “Is immersion cooling a facilities issue or an IT issue? And then there’s the cabling attached to the server. That cable degrading or becoming faulty in the fluid is simply not an option.”

Through Torrent, Leviton is working with fluid vendors to establish best practices and drive collective standardization. Crucially, this approach recognizes that it’s not just about ensuring today’s cables can function in liquid cooling setups, but the cable itself cannot impact the fluid and pose a risk to the cooling system.

“It’s about removing roadblocks before they appear,” adds Connaughton. “We’re developing these solutions to ensure operators have the ability to select the right cable now, so it doesn’t become a problem later.”

As the industry rushes toward ever-higher densities and faster speeds, the sheer volume of products and solutions required to support operations is increasing – all while supply chain constraints and labor shortages remain. Navigating the road ahead won’t happen in isolation.

“It’ll take the entire data center ecosystem,” concludes Connaughton. “From vendors and installers to end users – keeping those conversations going is how we deliver future-ready solutions at speed.”

Across the data center, complexity isn’t going away. Instead, traffic is only getting heavier and facilities will have to navigate greater congestion with more twists in the road. Collaborative innovation, early alignment, and a willingness to rethink the route are mission critical – not just to keep up, but to stay ahead for the long haul.

To learn more about Leviton’s network cabling infrastructure for AI and hyperscale data centers, visit Leviton.com/strata