A comprehensive infrastructure system that is going to use a cabling system and associated hardware is called a structured cabling system. You will notice that the infrastructure for this is going to have a wide range of uses from a basic phone to a computer network. This should not be a system that relies on devices.
You will notice that it can be further defined as a system of ownership. That is the system will begin at a point where the service provider ends. This is called the point of demarcation or a Network Interface Device.
Each system that you have is going to be different. This is due to some changes in:
- The design of the building the cable resides in.
- The type of cable and connection that is present.
- What the cable is going to do.
- What type of equipment the installation will support presently and in the future.
- How the system is already configured.
- What you have a need for.
- The manufacturer type of warranties.
These methods are what is commonly used to make a complete installation and maintenance program that is standard. The standardization is something that is considered acceptable to allow for the highest possible performance with the most complex operations.
The United States. industry for cabling often accepts the ANSI standard along with the TIA/EIA and sees these as the organization that is responsible for providing the guides for what is acceptable in the industry. You will find multiple guides have been published to call to mind the standards of these places. This is going to help guarantee the cables are properly installed.
These benefits of the standard include:
- A consistent design or installation.
- The physical performance of the items has to be met.
- The examining period allows for expansion and future changes
- Documentation will be the same.
In fact, the industry has a small area that is a standard term for the network installation and that is called a local area network. If you are in a metropolitan area it is a metropolitan area network or wide area networks.
The cabling installation will typically have the standard that covers the entrance, the backbone pathways (vertical and horizontal), the cable types, the outlets in the work area, where the equipment rooms are to be located along with closets for boosters, and even how to cross-connect location, but also multi-user outlet assemblies.
The entrance will be the one that is going to allow the building to be connected to the outside world. This can include the pathways for the cables, connection hardware, protection devices for the circuits and all the transitional hardware.
At the entrance facility, it will house the transition plant cabling to the approved intrabuilding. This is usually going to come from a fire-rated cable to a non-fire rated cable. When you have an entrance facility it is generally seen as the point of demarcation that was mentioned earlier. You will find that these are often covered by the electrical codes that are in place by the government.
Often the location of the entrance point will vary depending on what location of the plan and the type of facility, the architecture, and even the aesthetic considerations will be made as well. You will find four normal points of entry and that will be underground, tunnel, buried or in the sky. In this article, only the aerial method will be covered.
In this method, the service point cable comes in through an overhead method. This is often the lowest in cost to install, but also the easiest to get to if maintenance is needed. You will find that these are going to subject to traffic considerations and where people walk, not to mention these can damage a building and can be damaged by wind or ice; the good news is this type of installation generally happens at the same time the electric is installed.
Backbone Cabling. When you reach the entrance the structured cabling network is going to branch out to the other buildings and floors of the building is called a backbone system. It is called this because it is used to describe the significant network traffic it will handle. You will notice that intrabuilding and interbuilding are of two types. The interbuilding is going to connect two different buildings. The intrabuilding is going to handle all the traffic in a single building.
The best part of the backbone cabling is it allows for the growth of the building. The downside is this is a shorter life expectancy than some of the other cabling methods.
Cabling connectors. The connector is the device that you will have as an interface a piece of cable to equipment or another cable. The connector has the role of playing the devil’s advocate of keeping loss to a minimum.
In fibre optics this allows the light impulses to connect to each other. For copper, it is going to let the electrical signals to get to each other.
The best connectors are going to be aligned and will connect securely to keep from losing any connectivity or even losing the ability to transfer light or electric.
The connector will often have a durability rating that allows for hundreds of insertions and withdrawals without failing. You can calculate this by the mean time between failures.
These are an essential part of the telecommunications network as the cable is. The connectors will align, attach, and even decouple the media to all aspects of the press of the same type to allow for transfer.