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What is structured cabling? A structured cabling system is the wiring network that carries all your data, voice, multimedia, security,VoIP, PoE, and even wireless connections throughout your building or campus. It includes everything from the data center to the desktop, including cabling, connecting hardware, equipment, telecommunications rooms, cable pathways, work areas, and even the jacks on the wallplate in your office. The importance of structured cabling.
Table of Contents Introduction Planning your structured cabling system ...................................2–3 Networking Network applications ...............................4 Network topologies ................................5 Standards Organizations ...........................................6 Key standards............................................7 Cabling Considerations ..........................................8 Choosing cable..........................................8 Copper cable ..................
Introduction Section Name Planning your structured cabling The most important design considerations. If you do nothing else, weigh these considerations carefully. Applications. Your system should support data, voice, video, and multimedia applications now and well into the future. You should anticipate applications involving VoIP, PoE, wireless, and security. Life cycle. Plan on a life span of 15–20 years, with 10 years as the minimum.
Introduction system Other important design considerations. Usage. When planning a network, consider peak loads of all applications, usage patterns, type of traffic, and outlet density. Future technology. In this business, change happens fast. See Bandwidth on the previous page. Location of users. Where are users and how far are they from Last, but not least. Total cost of ownership. This can be tricky. The lowest initial installation cost is not always the least expensive.
Networking Section Name Network applications (or the evolution of Ethernet) Most likely, the network you use now and in the future will be Gigabit Ethernet (1 Gbps) was developed to handle backbone some form of Ethernet. It’s the most common network type, and it’s and server traffic, and is now also deployed to the desktop. When the de facto standard in networking.
Networking Network topologies There are three basic network topologies: star, ring, and bus. Star Topology Star. The star network features individual point-to-point cable runs radiating from a central equipment room, which can house a PBX in voice networks or switches in data networks. The advantage of a star network is that you can connect and disconnect equipment without disrupting the rest of the network. The star network facilitates smooth moves, adds, and changes.
Section Name Standards The importance of standards that would support a multiproduct, multivendor environment. The importance of standards in today’s structured cabling It enabled wiring systems to be planned and installed without systems can’t be underestimated. A standards-based system provides a generic base for building The standards committees meet and review standards every a communications infrastructure without compatibility worries.
Standards Key standards. ANSI/TIA/EIA The Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard is covered in ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.1, -B.2, and -B.3. ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.1: Part 1: General Requirements. This standard covers the general requirements for planning, installing, and verifying structured cabling systems in commercial buildings. It also establishes performance parameters for cable channels and ANSI/TIA/EIA-570-A: Residential Telecommunications Cabling Standard.
Cabling Section Name The importance of cable C abling is one of the most important components of your network and is the most long-lived with an expected life span of 15–20 years. You’ll most likely replace your network equipment three to four times over the life of the cabling system. Plan on cabling to be about 15% of your total network cost. And don’t skimp on the cable or the installation.
Cabling Copper cable Some of the most obvious advantages copper Foiled/Unshielded Twisted Pair (F/UTP). Foil is the offers is that it’s less expensive than fiber cable and most basic cable shield. Cables with an overall foil much easier to terminate in the field. Because copper shield surrounding all the pairs are called F/UTP. is the most commonly installed cable, there is a vast These may also be called FTP cables.
Cabling Section Name Copper cable standards As the need for increased bandwidth grows and applications continually get more complex, so does copper twisted-pair cable. Below are brief explanations of specifications for twisted-pair cabling and the applications for which each is best suited. TIA/EIA-568B specifies several “categories” for both the components and the cable. The ISO/IEC specifies “categories” compatible with lower-level components.
Cabling Comparison of Categories and Classes Frequency Category 7/Class F is only an ISO/IEC 11801:2002 standard TIA (Components) TIA (Cabling) ISO (Components) ISO (Cabling) CAT5e CAT6 CAT6a n/s n/s CAT5e CAT6 CAT6a n/s n/s CAT5e CAT6 CAT6a CAT7 CAT7A Class D Class E Class EA Class F Class 7A 1-100 MHz 1-250 MHz 1-500 MHz 1-600 MHz 1-1000 MHz and is not in a draft stage by the TIA. It’s designed to meet or exceed the requirements of 10-Gigabit Ethernet.
Cabling Section Name Fiber cable Immunity. Fiber provides extremely reliable Fiber optic technology uses light as an information carrier. The cable consists of a core, a single continuous data transmission. It’s completely immune to many strand of glass or plastic that’s measured in microns environmental factors that affect copper cable, such (µ) by the size of its outer diameter. This is the as EMI/RFI, crosstalk, impedance, and more. You can pathway for light rays carrying data signals.
Cabling 62.5-micron multimode 50-micron multimode 62.5 µm 125 µm Multimode fiber cable can be used for most general data and voice applications. Both 50and 62.5-micron cable feature the same cladding 8–10-micron single-mode 50 µm 125 µm 8–10 µm 125 µm instead of simply bouncing it off the edge of the core as multimode does. Single-mode cable provides 50 times more diameter of 125 microns, but 50-micron fiber cable distance than multimode cable.
Structured Cabling System Section Name The structured cabling system A structured cabling system, as defined by the TIA/EIA, consists of six subsections: 1 Horizontal Cabling 2 Backbone Cabling 3 Telecommunications Room (TR) 4 Work Area (WA) 5 Equipment Room (ER) 6 Entrance Facility (EF) NOTE: This review is intended to present only the highlights of applicable TIA/EIA standards and is not to be considered a definitive resource for planning your system.
Structured Cabling System Horizontal cabling. The horizontal cabling system encompasses everything between the telecommunications room cross-connects to the telecommunications outlets in the work area. It’s called horizontal because the cable typically runs horizontally above the ceiling or below the floor from the telecommunications room, which is usually on the same floor. For details, see pages 16–18. Backbone cabling.
Structured Cabling System Section Name Horizontal cabling Horizontal Cabling Distances 5 m (16.4 ft.) maximum Work area Phone Telecommunications outlet Patch cable: 5 m (16 ft.); Total patch cable on both ends: 10 m (32.8 ft.) 90 m (295 ft.) maximum 5 m (16.4 ft.) maximum 90 m (295 ft.) maximum Work area Phone Telecommunications outlet 90 m (295 ft.) maximum 5 m (16.4 ft.) maximum Work area Phone Telecommunications outlet Telecommunications room Planning horizontal cabling.
Structured Cabling System accommodate bend radius and fill ratios? What Maximum horizontal distances. are fire and building code regulations? Are there • Horizontal run: 90 meters (295.3 ft.) from the physical barriers or environmental factors, such as telecommunications outlet to the horizontal seismic planning or water levels? You get the idea. cross-connect. Documentation. Plan on thoroughly labeling and documenting all connections in the telecommunications room and at the workstation outlet.
Structured Cabling System Section Name Open office cabling. MUTOA (Multiuser Telecommunications Outlet Assembly). If you have an open office with lots of modular The MUTOA enables the terminations of multiple furniture and anticipate lots of MACs, the TIA has horizontal cables in a common, permanent location, specified two horizontal cabling configurations for such as a column, wall, or permanent furniture, close you: the MUTOA and the Consolidation Point. Both to a cluster of work areas.
Structured Cabling System Backbone cabling Building 2 Backbone Cabling Distances Telecommunications room 90 m (295.3 ft.) horizontal cabling Work area 300 m (984.3 ft.) building backbone cabling Building 1 2000 m (6561.7 ft.) campus backbone Entrance facility Entrance facility Planning backbone cabling. Backbone cabling provides the main information conduit connecting all your horizontal cabling within Performance and applications. Plan on far more bandwidth than you think you’ll ever need.
Structured Cabling System Backbone Topology Equipment room intermediate cross-connect Equipment room main cross-connect a central location called the main cross-connect. Each telecommunications room or equipment room is cabled to the main cross-connect either directly or via an intermediate cross-connect. A benefit of this topology is that it provides damage control. If a cable goes out, Backbone cable only that segment is involved. Others are unaffected.
Structured Cabling System Work area The work area consists of all the components • Make sure the equipment cords, patch between the telecommunications outlet and the cables, and modular jacks all have the user’s desktop workstation equipment. This covers: same performance rating. • Follow standard installation practices and • Telecommunications outlets, including wallplates, faceplates, surface-mount boxes, etc. maintain proper pair twists, bend radius, etc.
Structured Cabling System Section Name TECH TIP A cross-connect is the connection between horizontal cabling and backbone or equipment Telecommunications room Formerly known as the telecommunications closet, Recommended Room Sizes the telecommunications room (TR) houses all the Floor Area m2 ft.2 equipment associated with connecting the backbone 1000 800 500 wiring to the horizontal wiring. It includes: • Intermediate cross-connects • Main cross-connects hardware.
Structured Cabling System Equipment room Entrance Facility and Equipment Room The equipment room (ER) houses telecommunications systems, such as PBXs, servers, Equipment room main cross-connect Entrance facility main cross-connect routers, switches, and other core electronic components as well as the mechanical terminations. It’s different than the telecommunications room because of the complexity of the components.
Structured Cabling System Section Name Pathways Simply put, a pathway is the space in which cable runs from one area to another. The standard Intrabuilding backbone pathways. Intrabuilding backbone pathways run vertically TIA/EIA-569-B: Commercial Building Standard for and horizontally between the entrance facilities, Telecommunications Pathways and Spaces defines equipment room, and telecommunications room(s).
Structured Cabling System Cellular floor. These are preformed, steel-lined cells buried in 75-mm (3-in.) reinforced concrete. They come with preset fittings and large capacity header ducts. Trench duct. This solid tray has compartments and a flat top, and is embedded flush with the concrete. Access floor. This consists of modular floor panels supported by pedestals. It’s commonly used in Perimeter raceway computer and equipment rooms. Conduit.
Installation & Testing Section Name Cable installation practices You can invest in the best cable and hardware, but Tension. if they’re not installed properly, they won’t work, or Too much tension will give you a headache. at least they won’t work well. Protect your investment UTP. To avoid stretching, pulling tension should and follow the guidelines as outlined in TIA/EIA-568-B.1. not exceed 110 N (25 lb/ft.).
Installation & Testing Cable testing Once you install your structured cabling infrastructure, Many manufacturers now have their channels you have to test its performance. Just because you pre-tested and verified by independent laboratories, bought the best materials and followed all the such as ETL® Semko. Permanent link test. This test provides installers installation recommendations, it doesn’t mean your system is going to work flawlessly.
Installation & Testing Section Name Copper testers. equipment can help isolate the problem. Better If all these tests seem a little overwhelming, yet, the equipment saves all the test results for they are. But there’s help—professional technicians downloading and proper documentation. and professional-grade test equipment. Trained 10-GbE considerations.
Installation & Testing 10-GbE over CAT6a. distances. Every circuit is measured against the other Augmented Category 6 (CAT6a) and Augmented Class E (Class EA) cabling are designed to support 10-GbE over a 100-meter horizontal channel. The TIA/EIA-568B.2-AD10 (draft) extends CAT6 TECH TIP so there are 96 individual measurements. At this point, it's not possible to test all wire-pair combinations in the field for ANEXT.
Other SectionStandards Name Structured cabling administration Following standard practices ensures current and future Class 4: Multisite/multicampus. – Class 3 identifiers. occupants of a building have all the information they need for – Campus or site identifier smooth operations. Administrative record keeping is detailed in TIA/EIA-606-A: Administration Standard for Commercial Optional identifiers: – Optional Class 3 identifiers Telecommunications Infrastructure.
Other Standards Industrial environments Ethernet/Industrial Protocol. to protection from liquids; and the third number, commonly omitted, The Ethernet/Industrial Protocol (Ethernet/IP) standard, usually refers to protection against mechanical impacts. For example, an called Industrial Ethernet, is an open standard. Industrial Ethernet IP67-rated connector is totally protected from dust and from the adapts ordinary, off-the-shelf IEEE 802.3 Ethernet physical media effects of immersion in 5.
Other SectionStandards Name Data center infrastructure The data center is the building, or portion of a building, that houses computer rooms and support facilities. Traditionally, there were no design guidelines for data centers. That changed in 2005 with the ratification of TIA/EIA-942: Telecommunications Infrastructure Standards for Data Centers, which was developed to ensure uniformity in design and performance. It was created for data center designers who are early in the building development process.
Other Standards Front Back Recommended media. Back Like the TIA/EIA-568-B standards, the TIA-942 recommends: Front • 100-ohm twisted pair cable, Category 6. (At the time of this writing, Augmented Category 6 is still in draft form.) Front • 50- and 62.5-micron multimode fiber optic cable. Laser-optimized 50-micron is recommended. • Single-mode fiber optic cable • 75-ohm coax cable Each cable type is still governed by all the applicable Hot aisle Cable trays requirements in TIA/EIA-568-B.
Other SectionStandards Name Power over Ethernet (PoE) What is PoE? PoE Network Your twisted-pair Ethernet structured cabling system has Ethernet switch another role to play—providing electrical power to low-wattage electrical devices. Power over Ethernet (PoE) was ratified by the IEEE as the 802.3af-2003 standard.
Other Standards Wireless networking To future-proof your network, you need to incorporate wireless that supplement existing copper and fiber networks. It provides technology into your structured cabling system. Plan on complete guidelines on how to install the cabling prior to the wireless wireless coverage, which, oddly enough, means more cabling not implementation, and covers: less. It also means going through the alphabet soup of wireless • Minimum configuration, structure, and topology.
Products Section Name Black Box Copper Channel Solutions UTP Bulk Cable UTP Patch Cables Wallplates Jacks Guaranteed-for-Life Copper Channel Solutions at a Glance* CAT7 S/FTP CAT6a F/UTP Patch Cable EVNSL71-80 Series EVNSL6F-70 Series Bulk Cable Patch Panels Jacks Faceplates Wiring Blocks EYNC770A Series JPM10GF16 Series FMC700 Series WPC7453 Series — EYN10G10FA Series JPM10GF24 Series FM10GFAN Series WPF459 Series — CAT6a 10-Gigabit High-Density Standard EVNSL6A-70 Series EVNSL6A Series EYN1
Products Wiring Blocks Patch Panels CAT6a Channel Solution Description Colors Length/Size Codes* Gray, Blue, White 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 ft. EVNSL6A-70 Series Beige 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 ft. EVNSL6A Series Gray 1000 ft.
Products Section Name Fiber Solutions Bulk Fiber Optic Cable Interlocking Armored Multimode Cable Indoor/Outdoor Multimode Cable Guaranteed-for-Life Fiber Optic Bulk Cable Type Tight-Buffered, Distribution-Style 62.5-Micron Multimode 50-Micron Multimode Description Length Codes For intrabuilding backbone runs; Outer jacket; Aramid yarn. Plenum; 6- and 12-fiber. Plenum; 6- and 12-fiber. Custom Custom EXP3006A, EXP3012A EXP35006A, EXP35012A Tight-Buffered, Interlocking Armored 62.
Products Patch Panels Cable Management Cabinets Cabinets and Racks Standalone Cabinets, Full-Size Distribution Racks Type Description Select™ Plus Cabinets 40" and 42" deep; 2200-lb. weight capacity; Mesh split rear door; Mesh or tempered glass front door; 15U, 38U, 42U high models; Many optional shelves and accessories. Codes* RM2500A Series Premier Aluminum Distribution Racks 1000-lb. weight capacity; 38U and 45U high models; 19" wide; Many optional shelves and cable managers.
Products Section Name Networking and Wireless Networking Switches, Wireless Access Points, Cabling, and Tools Type Description Codes* L2 Managed Gigabit Ethernet Switches Pure Networking™ 802.11g Wireless Access Point with Switch 400- and 600-Style Bulk Coax Cable Hyperlink 400- and 600-Style Cable 400- and 600-Style Connectors 8,16, or 24 1000BASE-TX copper and two dual-media SFP ports; Switch copper and fiber; Allocate bandwidth; Prioritize traffic.
Glossary 10BASE-T: An Ethernet standard that uses twistedwire pairs. 10-GbE (10-Gigabit Ethernet): The fastest Ethernet standard with a nominal data rate of 10 Gbps, ten times as fast as Gigabit Ethernet. Can be run over fiber or copper cable. 100BASE-FX: This Fast Ethernet standard (IEEE 802.3u) supports 100 Mbps, full-duplex data transmission over fiber optic cable. 100BASE-T: A high-speed version of Ethernet (IEEE 802.3). Also called Fast Ethernet, 100BASE-T transmits at 100 Mbps.
Glossary Section Name Distortion: The unwanted changes in signal or signal shape that occur during transmission between two points. Distributed Architecture: 1) LAN architecture that uses a shared communications medium such as bus or ring LANs. 2) Any computer system that uses shared access methods. Distribution Frame: Also called a distribution block, it's a wallmounted structure for terminating telephone wiring.
Glossary NEXT (Near-End Crosstalk): Unwanted electrical noise from a transmitter (near end) into a neighboring wire pair measured at the near end. Noise: Random electrical signals, generated by circuit components or by natural disturbances, that corrupt the data transmissions by introducing errors. Nominal Velocity of Propagation: The ratio of signal speed to the velocity of light in a vacuum. Off-Premise Station: A PBX station in a location separated from the main PBX.
Index Section Name 10-GbE Cabling ........................................................................10–11 over CAT6 and CAT6a.................................................28–29 Testing.........................................................................28–29 Administration Classes .........................................................30 Alien Crosstalk ................................................................28–29 Augmented Category 6..................................................
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What’s the maximum distance for horizontal cabling? What cable is approved for use with 10-Gigabit Ethernet? How are data centers supposed to be set up? Find out the answers to these and other questions in the Guide to Structured Cabling. This guide provides an overview of the standards and practices that govern the planning, installation, and testing of structured cabling systems. It reviews everything from network applications and cabling to the installation and testing of the system.
