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1)Plan your rack
- Include 1 wire management panel for every 48
port patch panel.
- Include spare jacks for future growth – lots
of spares. 10% is not enough. 20% is probably not enough. 100%
is probably too much. Or allow for space for future panels.
(Tip: Fill the space with a blank panel to ensure that the space
stays available for future cabling.)
- Include vertical wire management (this is key)
the bigger the better. (More about this later)
- Include 1 small wire management panel for every
hub and/or switch.
2) Measure your maximum and minimum cord path
using the following proceedures:
- Select a patch panel port in the middle of
the top row on the top patch panel, the cord path should go
up into a wire management panel then to say the left side vertical
management trough, then down to the wire management panel under
the target hub or switch which is farthest away from the patch
panel, then horizontally to the farthest hub port on the right
and finally up to the hub port. This is the maximum cord path
length.
- Select a patch panel port in the middle of
the bottom row on the bottom patch panel, the cord path should
go up into a wire management panel then to say the left side
vertical management trough, then down to the wire management
panel under the target hub or switch which is closest to the
patch panel, then horizontally to the farthest hub port on the
right and finally up to the hub port. This is the minimum cord
path length.
3) Using the following spread sheet ( Or
do the statistics yourself. Remember normal distributions and
standard deviations? ) to calculate the lengths of patch cords
you will need to support your network.
4) Don’t mess around with patch cords.
They can be the biggest problem in your entire network. Buy really
good patch cords, treat them nice (no kinks, no knots and never
any strain) and they will work for you. Treat them like junk and
they will have their revenge on you – take that to the bank.
5) Installing a cord. Select a cord (probably
the middle size), plug it in to the patch panel port and plug
it into the hub port. (Does it look needlessly long or too short.
If so, select a different cord length.) Lead the cord up from
the patch panel, then to the closest side, then down to the hub’s
wire management panel. Leave any excess in the vertical trough.
That’s it.
6) Removing a cord. Double check your documentation
to verify that you have selected the correct cord for removal.
Unplug at the patch panel and make a note of the port you disconnect.
(just in case you did it wrong – you need to know where to plug
it back.) The link light should go out. Remove the cable buy 1)
gently tug on the connector end and observe which cable moves
in the vertical trough. 2) hold both the connector end and the
cable you saw moving. 3) Move them back and for to verify that
you have the correct cable. 4) Pull the cable at the vertical
trough – gently – so the connector is pulled backwards through
the "mess" in the management panel. (This is difficult
to impossible if your cords do not have boots. Next time buy nice
cords – with boots.) 5) Using the same technique, remove the cable
from the vertical trough. 6) Again using the same locating technique,
verify that you are removing the correct cord by looking at the
hub port that is connected to this cord. 7) Remove the connector
from the hub and store it straight if you can. (See our method
or devise your own plan.)
Note: If you did not follow rules 1 thru 5 use
a wire cutter to remove your cords. Your time is worth more to
the boss than those cords. Then contact us for some ways to retrofit
your rack. A lot of us have to live with legacy lunacy.
Don’t forget your power requirements. One
or two power strips attached to the rails of your rack or cabinet
is something you will be glad you remembered. (6’ strips have
up to 18 outlets.) Some people should consider putting their hubs
and switches on UPS systems – if your building ever experiences
partial outages - or if you support remote users through a WAN.
The basic plan of attack here is to eliminate
as much excess cable as possible and provide a path for all the
cords you will need. The vertical troughs provide two functions
- vertical path and storage of excess cable. There is no way of
eliminating all the mess – but you can control it, contain it
and cover it. Also if you take a little extra time when you put
cords into the system they will come out much easier.
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