Network Cabling ,cat5 cat6 cabling

Choosing between Cat5e and Cat6 at your Office

24 Apr 2009

Trends


The trend is towards higher speeds, of course. Offices have faster computers, faster Internet and more demanding applications. But does this translate into a need for Cat6 cable?

cat5 cat6 cabling,Data CablingCategory 5e and Cat6 Cable


Cat 5e cable is an enhanced version of Cat 5 that adds specifications for far end crosstalk. Cat 5e cable does not enable longer cable distances for Ethernet networks: cables are still limited to a maximum of 100m (328 ft) in length. Each Cat 5e cable can carry up to 100mb/sec of data.

Cat 6 cable carries 1gb/sec of data and therefore has 10 times the data capacity of Cat 5e.

The Decision Considerations


Cat 6 will not make your Internet speeds faster. Even at fiber speeds, the Internet still only runs at a fraction of Cat 5 speeds. Cat 6 will also not make VOIP phones were better because VOIP uses only 60-90k per phone line. So, VOIP is a very unlikely reason for using Cat6 cabling

The only reason for using Cat 6 is because you are pushing a lot of data over your cable. This is true when you are running applications off of a server as in the case of a virtual PC environment where applications do not reside on the local desktop system. It is also true when you have applications that have very large data files as in CAD/CAM and other demanding graphic design systems.

A secondary, yet important, consideration is cost. Cat 6 cable is twice as expensive as Cat 5e and it also r

equires Cat 6 jacks, inserts, patch panels and switches. This can add considerably to the overall cost of a project. Any Cat 5 component will slow the connection down to 100mb.

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Dell GX270 Motherboards have Leaky and Broken Capacitors

8 Feb 2008

"There is a known problem with capacitors on the GX270 motherboard bulging and corroding... (Actually, this is a problem on a lot of systems... the GX270 and a few others have a more specific problem where the capacitors were overfilled)."


This came to my attention a couple of weeks ago when a client called with a PC that wouldn't boot. "It won't power on at all" she said.


The technician I sent quickly determined that the problem was the Motherboard, but why did it fail?


However we have discovered that the Nichon capacitors were not all produced outside control specifications. Rather the affected capacitors were limited to certain batches made during specific shifts during the manufacturing process. This means that not all GX270 motherboards are affected. Unfortunately, there is not specific way to determine which motherboards are affected and which are not.


Specifically the capacitors were filled with more liquid than required. After an approximate service life of 300 days and when the CPU reaches a core temperature of 64 degrees C they will begin to bulge and eventually overflow onto the motherboard causing a system crash and a "No Post" failure on boot. There is usually no data loss associated with this issue."


A quick call to Dell resolved the issue in no time at all. After I gave the person on the phone the service tag number and a description of the problem, he informed me that the Motherboard was still under an extended warranty (that ended Jan.31 2008) and they would send a replacement.


23hrs later, the board is at our office door! WOW! That was quick! Thanks Dell! I can't say that we've needed much from their tech support, but they certainly impressed us this time around.


This post was written on February 8, 2008 but more recently Dell has admitted to shipping out millions of computers with faulty capacitors on them. Even worse, they replaced many motherboards with more defective motherboards.  If you have an Optiplex GX270, I would call Dell immediately to see if it is an affected unit.