Tag Archives: technology

Whenever there is an IT systems issue, the resolution can often be delayed by poorly structured cabling. Enterprises often turn to their IT staff or an electrical contractor for cabling, but they would be wiser retaining a professional cabling service with years of experience. The following are important cabling tips for data center management.

Highest Quality for Budget

As expected, higher quality cabling materials are more costly, but have superior performance. For example, gold connectors have greater resistance to corrosion, but they will also be more expensive than lower-quality connectors. If your firm’s cabling will be difficult to access or located in a corrosive environment, cables with gold connectors will be the right choice.

Cabling Capable of Company Volume

Category 5, 5E and 6 are cable types and each has its own capabilities in terms of the amount of data carried, speed of transmission, and distance covered. Consult with a professional network cabling service to discuss your present and future requirements in order to select the proper cabling.

Fiber Optic for the Future

Companies expecting large data volumes in the future or requiring longer distances should select fiber optic cables. Retain expert cabling professionals because fiber optic installation will entail particular requirements that can be complex.

Accurate Measuring for Planning

When the recommended span is exceeded, cable becomes more vulnerable to distortion, degrading data quality and speed. IT staff with limited experience may not properly measure the entire distance by not accounting for corners or obstacles.

Margin for Future Modifications

The office may be reconfigured or cable connections may be moved in the future. Thus, it would be wise to allow some margin for future modifications by providing plentiful slack for each cable installed.

Labeling for Organization

An IT team should know precisely where a cable starts and terminates. Clear labeling enables faster tracing of faults, minimizing downtime and resulting losses in revenue. Cabling service professionals carry out proper labeling as a matter of routine.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of their clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, their teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call their toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

As mentioned in Part 1, a structured cabling system is a type of open network structure that can be used by data, telephony, access control, building automation, and other systems. Its advantages are operational flexibility and economy. Part 2 will describe each of structured cabling's six subsystems below.

The Six Subsystems

1. Entrance Facilities

Entrance facilities house the protection devices, network demarcation points, cables,  connecting hardware, and other equipment that connect to private network cabling or the access provider. Connections between the inside building and outside plant cabling are included.

2. Equipment Room

Featuring environment control, the centralized area for telecommunications equipment is typically more complex than a telecommunications room. Usually containing the main cross-connect, it may also house the horizontal and intermediate cross-connects.

3. Backbone Cabling

Backbone cabling provides the interconnections between entrance facilities, telecommunications rooms, equipment rooms, etc. Typically, backbone cabling is comprised of fiber optic cables, intermediate and main cross-connects, mechanical terminations, and patch cables utilized for backbone-to-backbone cross-connections.

4. Telecommunications Room

Housing the terminations of backbone and horizontal cables to connecting hardware with patch cords or jumpers, a telecommunications room may also house the intermediate cross connects or main cross connect for different portions of the backbone cabling system. This space is a controlled environment containing telecommunications equipment, connecting hardware, and splice closures.

5. Horizontal Cabling

Extending from the work area’s telecommunications information outlet to the telecommunications room, the horizontal Network Cabling consists of horizontal cables and mechanical terminations, along with the jumpers and patch cords located in the telecommunications room. The system may also incorporate consolidation points and multi-user telecommunications outlet assemblies.

6. Work Area

The work area’s components typically extend from the telecommunications outlet/connector end of the horizontal cabling system to the work area equipment. At least two telecommunications outlets should be installed in every work area. If utilized, multi-user telecommunications outlet assemblies (MUTOAs) are a component of the work area.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of their clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Working together, their cabling teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call their toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

Academic institutions can garner all the benefits of the Internet age by integrating information and communications technology (ICT) with their teaching and learning environments. ICT is an extension of the term for information technology (IT), emphasizing the unification of telecommunications, computers, software, storage, and audio-visual components within a network.

The quality of education can be significantly improved through the sharing of skills, resources, content, and faculty development. IT content and resources should be available to both faculty and students throughout the campus. To this end, academic institutions must establish a network in each of their campuses, achieving the same speed of data transfer at each building.

Typically, a campus network is comprised of several local area networks (LANs) that are interconnected inside a specific geographical area. Networking components, such as switches, routers, and firewalls, and transmission media, such as copper cable and optical fiber, are utilized for interconnection and communication between connected devices.

Campus Network Topology

For academic institutions like colleges or universities, a campus area network should be interconnected to various types of buildings, including administrative, academic, library, student center, hostel, guest house, sports facility, conference, technology, training, and laboratory.

A campus network will be interconnected via high-speed Ethernet cabling over optical fiber of up to 10GB capability. For the efficient processing of data and information traffic using distribution, access and core segments, tiered hierarchal architecture is utilized.

Every building, block, center, and residential complex will be connected by high-speed optical fiber cable. Moreover, every node within a building will be connected with UTP copper cable that supports gigabit speed.

The conference rooms, teaching halls, and common areas inside each campus will be Wi-Fi enabled through the deployment of 802.11 based wireless access points with central authentication, permitting secure network access via laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other Wi-Fi enabled devices.

Internet services, along with common applications, will also be installed at key locations, such as library study halls, allowing students, faculty, and staff easy access via desktop computers and laptops around the clock.

Network Cabling

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

Cabling system designed for the purpose of security have hardly changed the last decade and a half. Delivering video images and access control data to a control room utilizing standard transmission technology is basic and familiar. What has recently changed is the transition to IP-based security products and the rapid increase in business applications, resulting in end-users expecting a greater video, audio, and data integration. All of these items require delivery over one standardized structured cable system.

As opposed to traditional video and access control systems, voice and data communications cabling systems have had numerous transformations. Functioning on structured cable systems, data networks have shifted from the pioneering 1980s proprietary cabling to standards-based cabling using optical fiber and balanced twisted pair. This has resulted in greater transmission speeds and significantly increased network bandwidth. These two elements allow a security installer to achieve integration that is demanded by clients for CCTV, access control, and other applications. Through the adoption of standardized structured cabling, installers will be able to access new streams of revenue and provide tangible benefits to users by unifying all of their systems within one cabling infrastructure.

This change in the utilization and deployment of structured cabling systems was recognized by ANSI/TIA-862-B “Structured Cabling Infrastructure Standard for Intelligent Building Systems”, which was developed by the TIA TR-42.1 Commercial Building Cabling Subcommittee and released February 2016. This standard features the requirements of several standard and developing systems that are able to use the existing cabling of buildings. It also includes Distributed Building Services that do not utilize a building’s infrastructure cabling because of application, connector, historic, and topographic limitations.

A company’s network infrastructure is crucial in the distribution of information using electronic media, including CCTV, access control, data, and voice. Functioning over a structured cabling system, this distribution network is developed for the perpetual flow of data, featuring redundancy at the heart.  Installed with centralized topology, this enabled the most facile sharing of resources achievable, along with the greatest flexibility and expandability possible.

Part 2 will cover Structured Cabling Benefits for Your Business.

Network Cabling

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

Moving your company also means relocating and setting up its structured cabling at the new location. Minimizing disruption is the key for making the transition smooth, and retaining an experienced cable installation company will make this possible. Their resume should include relocation and new construction because they will need to work with vendors, moving companies, architects, and engineers who will also be involved. This will make the coordination of moving your firm’s IT infrastructure seamless.

The move will also involve working with the telecommunication and internet providers to make sure their services are included in the transition plan. The functions they provide are not suspended for an extended period, ensuring swift continuation at the new location.

• When hiring a structured cabling company to assist with your move, be sure they can:


• Move the network fast and efficiently.


• Coordinate with Internet and telecommunication providers.


• Ensure safe packing and transport, and unloading of servers, workstations, and printers.


• Transfer e-mail and website services smoothly.


• Set up office network, servers, workstations, and printers at new location.


• Coordinate with outside vendors, including website, Internet, telecommunication, and e-mail services at new location.


• Design cabling diagram for sound network foundation.


• Set up cabling and wiring infrastructure for new location.

Summary of Expertise

Be sure to work with a structured cabling company that is knowledgeable regarding office relocation, network cabling, communications, cable management, computer data cabling, office cabling, and server racks. This depth of knowledge will help minimize unforeseen problems regarding your firm’s structured cabling needs during the relocation. Their experience and expertise will decrease the stress and pressure of moving your IT infrastructure.

Structured Cabling Services

Modern technology features advanced systems that are reliant on sound IT infrastructure that revolves around high-quality cabling and intelligent design. An experienced structured cabling company will understand the needs and requirements of a client and provide the expertise that will minimize costs and maximize infrastructure.

Union Network Cabling

When union work requires a unionized cabling group, call on Union 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

As mentioned in Part 1, cabling utilized for network infrastructure is a crucial aspect of networking, growing in importance as new technologies are introduced. Although wireless technology has made great advancements, existing computer networks are still using cables for transferring data. Part 2 will cover Fiber Optics, USB Cables, and Crossover Cables.

Fiber Optics

In contrast to older wiring, fiber optic network cables utilize strands of glass and pulses of light to carry data. Although composed of glass, these cables can be bent and have proven their utility in wide area network (WAN) installations in office buildings, especially when long distance runs are necessary and a high volume of communication traffic is typical.

The two main fiber optic cable standards are single mode, the 100BaseBX standard, and multimode, the 100BaseSX standard. Due to single mode's higher bandwidth capacity, it is typically used by long distance telecommunications networks. On the other hand, local networks commonly utilize multimode because of its lower cost.

USB Cables

USB (Universal Serial Bus) cables, which feature twisted pair wiring, are typically used to connect a peripheral device, such as a mouse, to a computer. Dongles or special network adapters also permit the indirect connection of an Ethernet cable to a USB port.

Serial & Parallel Cables

As numerous PCs during the 1980s and early 1990s did not have Ethernet capability, along with the fact USB did not yet exist, now obsolete serial and parallel interfaces were occasionally utilized for networking PCs together. As an example, null modem cables connected the serial ports of two PCs, allowing 0.115 to 0.45 Mbps data transfer.

Crossover Cables

A null modem cable belongs in the category of crossover cables because it joins two network devices of the identical type, like two network switches or two PCs. Ethernet crossover cable usage was most commonly found in home networks years ago when two PCs were directly connected. Currently the majority of home networks are equipped with routers featuring crossover capability, making crossover cables unnecessary.

Union Network Cabling

When union work requires a unionized cabling group, call on Union 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

The TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association) and the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) are the primary organizations that oversee the development of structured cabling standards for the industry. Committees formed by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) provide assistance through testing and setting performance specifications for various standards.

Compliance with standards ensures the functioning of systems at specified levels, backward compatibility, and a greater selection of equipment will exist. General global recognition of standards permit utilizing equipment sourced from various countries inside computer systems. Requirements for the components of optical and copper cabling including cables, assemblies, connectors, cabling spacing and pathways, administration, field testing, and installation are standardized to make worldwide acceptance possible.

Technicians in North America typically use TIA standards, while the rest of the world uses ISO standards. Examples of organizations that set regional and national standards organizations are CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization), CSA (Canadian Standards Association) and JSA (Japanese Standards Association). Their standards are generally compatible with TIA and ISO.

Different terminology used by TIA and ISO Associations sometimes cause confusion because they refer to the same item. For example, what the TIA terms as Cat5e is what ISO terms to be Class D. However, adherence to standards set by TIA and ISO ensure system cabling requirements are properly implemented in the categories below.

• Insertion Loss – Decrease of signal strength down the transmission line.


• Return Loss – Measurement of signal reflections on the cable.


• NEXT – Near End Crosstalk Loss due to signal coupling.


• Propagation Delay / Delay Skew – Elapsed time for signal to reach other end of cable or the delay between signal arrival at far end on slowest and fastest cable pairs.


• ACR – Difference between insertion loss and NEXT.


• ELFEXT – Identical to NEXT, but for cabling system’s far end.


• PSANEXT / PSAACRF – Power sum alien crosstalk at near end / Power sum alien crosstalk at far end.

Due to ever-increasing data rates, the efforts of the standards organizations are assuming greater importance in terms of ensuring proper system design.

Union Network Cabling

When your work requires a unionized cabling group, call on  Progressive Office Inc. 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

The selection of proper cabling has become more crucial and also more complicated, but the process can be made easier by knowing about the choices available and updates regarding the development of Category 8 (CAT 8).

There are several organizations that determine the standards for cabling, such as the ISO (International Organization for Standardization), IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission), TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association), and CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization). However, our discussion will primarily focus on ISO/IEC and TIA.

As its standard calls for 10Gb/s rates of transmission, 10GBASE-T cabling is the fastest in the market. Unable to support 10Gb/s, Category 5e does not receive 10GBASE-T standard recognition.  In addition, advisories by the TIA and ISO/IEC and TIA state that new class E/category 6 cabling should not be installed to support 10GBASE T. As a result, the cabling options for new installations that meet the 10GBASE-T standards for carrying data up to 100 meters are only found in the class EA/CAT 6A, class F/CAT 7, or class FA/CAT 7A.

Regarding data centers that are newly built, ISO, along with other standards organizations, have determined that CAT 6A should be the minimum grade. The task force overseeing IEEE 802.3 40GBASE-T have drafted the baseline objectives for the future 40 Gb/s standard, which is well beyond the capabilities of CAT 6A.

Cabling of a higher category traditionally matches and surpasses the electrical and mechanical standards of what preceded it. In addition, it is backwards compatible. Although TIA calls for cabling systems to perform at CAT 6A minimum, it will not be adopting CAT 7 or 7A as determined by ISO/IEC. TIA is naming its next class of cabling, Category 8, to differentiate it from ISO/IEC standards for CAT 7 and CAT 7A.

Interestingly, the proposed performance for CAT 8 will not be meeting or exceeding CAT 7A standards for up to 1 GHz. For example, regarding parameters for internal crosstalk, CAT 7A is superior to CAT 8 by more than 20 decibels.

Union Network Cabling

When work requires a unionized cabling group, call on Progressive Office Inc. 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