Structured Cabling, Cabling, Washington DC

Data Center Cabling Best Practices – Part 1

4 May 2017

Structured Cabling, Washington DC, New York CityModern data centers are equipped with devices and networking equipment that connect them. These devices demand increasingly greater bandwidth, and so their fiber or copper cabling must perform at a high level. Today’s data centers must be flexible, scalable, reliable, and manageable, making best practices required.



Planning the Infrastructure


Thus, documenting the existing and planned network, along with its equipment is needed. A flexible patching structure will permit the interconnection of devices at desired locations.



Structured Cabling


The structured approach of cabling revolves around the design of runs and connections that ease cable identification, maintenance, repair, and future expansion or reconfiguration. A Main Distribution Area (MDA) and Horizontal Distribution Area(s) (HDAs), along with two-post racks that permit improved access and cable management, will be needed.


MDA and HDA components must be of high quality and capable of bearing expected future loads. Their layout should have horizontal and vertical cable managers. The MDA contains primary cross-connects and core networking equipment. The HDA contains the cross-connects for the distribution of cables to Equipment Distribution Areas (EDAs). Patch cables will connect servers and storage by utilizing patch panels at their respective EDA.


Next, the equipment racks inside the data center must have their layout determined. A horizontal cabling configuration will be used for the distribution of cables from the HDA to the EDA. Flexible connectivity is required by a dynamic data center environment. The goal is the implementation of a system that transmits fiber channel, Ethernet, and other protocols.


Future port and application requirements will also need to be considered. Expansion and technological advances must be anticipated, so the installation of ports and cabling needed in the future should be done now to save on labor costs and downtime if upgrades are needed.



Structured Infrastructure Benefits



  • Cable identification and fault isolation simplified

  • Consistent cabling lays sound foundation for future

  • Future expansions and modifications made easier

  • Standard-compliant components from multiple vendors possible

  • Flexible connections provided


Cabling for Modular Data and High Density/High Port Count Fiber Equipment will be discussed in Part 2.



Union Network Cabling


When union work requires a unionized cabling group, call on Progressive Office Network Cabling for your commercial Cat5e/6/6a and fiber cabling projects. Specializing in cabling for data, voice, security and even the latest WiFi and LiFi solutions. Phone: (202) 462-4290

Structured Cabling,Washington DC New York City

Types Of Cabling Racks

20 Jul 2014

Cat6, Network Cabling, Data Cabling,cabling rackc 2Effective cable management is vital to maintaining tidiness in a data facility. Cabling racks are used to prevent twisting of optical cables and communications wiring. Remember that the cabling process is very clear-cut. Hence, if a single cable becomes misplaced, it can affect the whole bundle is and the repair process can involve a lot of troubleshooting. This is expensive and a waste of time.


The Local Area Network or LAN is made up of multiple networking devices. Some of these components are Unified Threat Management solutions, routers, servers, switches, modems, and cables.

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International Cooperating Ministries – Cabling Project Notes

20 Aug 2012

Project Objectives and Details based on site survey by Richard Elbe


Number of Drops: 110 total cable drops

  • 47 double network drops

  • 1 single network drop

  • 3 network printer drops

  • 3 media box wallplates with (2 HDMI, 2 VGA and 3 RCA Jacks)


Ceiling: Non-plenum, separate ducting allows for Cat6 PVC cable rather than the more expensive plenum cable.

Racks: 6' x 19" Relay Rack

Switches: Five 24,port Netgear Gigabit switches that will leave room for 4 ports per switch for future expansion of the network.
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Data Cabling, Cat5e, Cat6/6a Cabling

US Court of Appeals Veterans Affairs – Cabling Project Notes

18 Jun 2012

Project Objectives (Do not call, this project has been COMPLETED)




Number of Drops: 360 (140 duals, and 20 quads)

Ceiling: Non-plenum, separate ducting

Racks: Enclosed, 19”, will already be installed by customer

Switches: Provided by customer, 48 port

Patch cables: None necessary. They will provide patch cables from wall plate to computers and from patch panels to switches.

Labeling and documentation of all cabling is important. How this looks is important to them. Please provide a spreadsheet of all wallplates and rooms.

  • Location is behind elevators.

  • All workstation runs will terminate in wiring closet behind elevators.

  • We will mount patch panels in this closet on the wall. Use 24port, Cat5e, patch panels.

  • They will mount racks for switches.

  • 4 pairs of fiber will run from the closet to the server room on the same floor. We are to provide the cabling plant for the fiber.

















Office Cabling Network Cabling

Server Room:




  • 2, 24 port patch panels per rack.

  • Cabling plant for fiber to switch closet.


Existing server room


Click HereThey want cable management hardware to be part of the solution. What you see in this room is what they’re cleaning up and looking to make high end and professional in the new location. Photos here include existing fiber. Note the ceiling cable management rack. In the new location these will be in place in the server room and along the ceiling in the main hallways.












New server space - Roughed in area they’re moving to.




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


General Floor Space:



  • Quad drops in each office and cube in the technology area

  • Dual drops in all other offices

  • 6 drops for cable t.v.

  • Wall facing outside is already dry walled and insulated


Part of that wall has large window with wall space under it. Customer is unsure if drops will go there or anywhere along that outside wall.

Includes the outside wall. They’re not sure if there will be drops along this wall. If so it’ll be interesting because of the insulation. Also note that they MAY want drops under the windows along this wall.

There are some pictures of the ceiling details. Also note that the client will already have cabling runners ceiling mounted down the middle of the two main hallways to the server room.



























Special Fiber Optic Line Item Bid:


US Court of Appeals wants this as a line item so they can choose to add this work or not when they’re doing the budget.

Fiber runs between floors. The floor plan represents the 6th floor. 14 runs broken out as follows. A single 6-strand fiber cable will be run from the 6th to each floor in the table below. Three strands will be connected and three will be left as spares.



























# of Runs Floor
3 11th
3 10th
3 9th
3 2nd
2 Mezzanine

12’ ceilings, concrete floors.

Conduit already exists between the floors. We have to repack the conduit we use with fire stop putty to meet fire code. See photos of the “Switch closet” for conduit images.
Network Cabling, Data Cabling ,Cat5e ,Cat6/6a Cabling

Computer Network Patch Panel

23 Dec 2009

Network Cabling ,Data Cabling, Cat5e, Cat6/6a CablingA patch panel is an in-line series of connections mounted onto a frame to enable network cables to be terminated in an orderly manner. Typically, the panel is the termination point of network cabling drops that are installed in a office or residential cabling system.It is numbered and comes in 12-port, 24-port, 48-port and 96-port configurations. The numbering of the panel ports allows for the network installer to label the wallplates to match the corresponding connection at the patch panel.


Patch panels are most commonly used for computer data networks but as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone systems become more common, we are seeing phone systems being terminated into panels. They are wall or rack-mounted. In small offices, a 12 or 24-port patch panel might be wall-mounted to a wooden mounting board. Larger office networks will usually require a rack mounted series of  panels.


The patch panel comes in Cat5, Cat5e and Cat6 types to match the cable being installed. The connections on the panel are RJ45 that are designed to allow for a cable to "punch-downed" into the connector. The connector has 8 punch down points to accommodate the 4-pairs of wires in a Cat5/6 cable.