Matt Pobursky wrote: > On Mon, 07 Aug 2006 11:03:46 -0400, Martin K wrote: >>> Isn't it just great when they use the same coloured wire >>> everywhere .... >>> >>> Trouble is the wire in the other colours is just so much more >>> expensive ... >>> >>> >> They made it bright yellow so you could find which one you wanted >> easily. > > On the surface the photos are easy to poke fun at but in reality no > network closet I've ever worked on with a large amount of connections > (say >100) looked any different. I *have* seen closets with a lot more cables, done right, that DON'T look like this. The problem is laziness. There's no technical reason for the messes in these photos. With proper layout, cable management trays/raceways in the racks, etc... it CAN look organized and neat. AND labeled. I can send photos of beautifully done systems (if I can "sanitize" them a bit removing identifying markings) that have 1000 or more cables in them. Anyone installing cables like the mess in these photos is completely unprofessional and doing a very very bad job. Worse, they probably don't even KNOW that, because bosses don't have any real-world experience doing the work and have no idea a cable plant IS NOT SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE THAT. Ever. > Once you get past a few dozen cables, making them different colors > doesn't help much. You just end up with a few dozen red, blue, > yellow, green, grey, etc. cables all mixed together. And adding > labels to them just makes them hard to pull and route through the > cable looms or bundles. Labeled cables are also problematic when > replaced later (and they do get replaced from time to time). There are label makers that create virtually flat "wrap-around" labels that are tough and durable. NO, we're not talking crappy P-Touch labels here. Kroy is one example of a labelmaker for cabling that's worth buying at usually six times the price of a P-touch. All good professional cable installation companies will own something similar. Most buy labelers that are typewriter sized and one guy types labels all evening in his hotel room for installation the next day. On one installation job, I personally made over 2000 labels with a P-touch and clear tape that will NEVER come off some cables at a large telco that demanded certain labeling standards, and I'll never do that again. P-Touch labels are not considered "permanent" enough for most serious cable labeling work. Walking a technician on the phone through finding a bad cable in those sites now is a piece of cake. Typically what you see is... people with a telco/Bell System background are labeling and dressing out cables correctly. People from the data/computer background are utter complete slobs. They think the data center should look like the back of their desk. Never hire a computer guy to manage your cable plant in the computer room unless they've been through the telco wringer or are just plain picky about cable standards and labeling. Data guys are slobs in their cable plants. > The best solution I've seen (and use) is to make a routing/connection > chart that includes "FROM" and "TO" connections in tabular form. It's > just like a wire list for any other cabling system and allows you to > quickly find out where any one cable is supposed to be connected. You > can make them in Excel with very little trouble and it allows then to > be searchable and printable in a nice format for hard copy > documentation. Actually putting this on a wrap-around label on the end of EVERY cable (From and To information) is best. Then you also keep a list. And you hang that list in the cabinet from the door with each major system's cabinets in a waterproof jacket. (Ever had a boiler break three floors up and flood your closet? Yeah... I have.) > If you have such a cable routing document you can quickly pinpoint > where any one cable is routed From/To should you need to replace it > or change it's routing. Of course this all falls apart if you don't > update the documentation when you make changes or you didn't do it in > the first place ... Telcos have had this type of from/to/which cabinet/which row/which cross-connect bay type of labeling and documentation for decades. It floors me that Data Center guys still seem to be "learning" it like it's something new. I'd fire anyone who left a cabling closet in the state these photos are in. There's simply NO reason for that type of sloppy work at all. Want to get REAL picky? Go work in a telco environment where tie-wraps and velcro ties are NOT allowed... wax string (9-cord/11-cord), and "nothing" is not an option. You lace in every cable added or removed and the bundles are appropriately labeled and tight and don't move, even in earthquakes. :-) Their cable labeling standard even calls out which colors are allowed. Anything that can hurt/kill you is labeled in "Vermilion". Not red. Vermilion. (Yeah, I still think that's some engineer's idea of a joke left over from long ago when the cable labeling standards document was written.) Label a cable with blue on white... you'll get a write-up at the end-of-installation inspection. That's a reserved color. Black on white, specific font sizes required (not everyone can see that dinky little font some people label cables with) and all information on every cable correct, with the local (From) address on the top of the label, and the remote (To) address on the bottom of the label, complete with row/cabinet code, and equipment identifier and port number. 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