Chapter 4 Notes
TIA/EIA-568 Commercial Building Wiring Standard (aka structured cabling)- uniform, enterprise-wide
cabling systems, regardless of who manufactures or sells the various parts used in the system.
Demarc- the device or point where a telecommunications service provider’s network ends and the
organization’s network begins.
Structured cabling is based on hierarchical design and assumes the network uses star topology.
Components of Structured Cabling
entrance facility- The location where an incoming network service enters a building and connects with
the building’s backbone cabling. The entrance facility includes the demarc as well as any entry through a
wall to access the demark and may also include cabling and protective boxes.
MDF (main distribution frame) main cross connect- the first point of interconnection between an
organization’s LAN or WAN and the service provider’s facility. Housed in a data room.
IDF (intermediate distribution frame)- a junction point between the MDF and end-user equipment. The
TIA/EIA standard specifies at least one IDF per floor, although large organizations may have several data
closets per floor to better manage the data feed from the main data facilities.
Horizontal wiring- wiring that connects workstations to the closest data closet. The max distance is
100m. This span includes 90m to connect a data jack on the wall to the data closet plus a max of 10 m to
connect a workstation to the data jack on the wall. Three types of cables are UTP STP and Fiber Optic. \
Backbone wiring- the cables or wireless links that provide interconnection between entrance facilities
and MDFs, and between MDFs and IDFs
Vertical cross connect- a component of the backbone that runs between a building’s floors.
Work area- an area that encompasses all patch cables and horizontal wiring necessary to connect the
NICs in workstations, printers, and other network devices to the data closet.
Entrance
Facility
backbone wiring
demarc
MDF
IDF
horizontal
wiring
workstation
Cable Management
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Termination- do not leave more than 1in of exposed cable before a twisted-pair termination
Bend radius- the amount you can bend the cable
Verify continuity- check that cables work as you install
Cinch cables loosely
Protect cables
Avoid EMI
Plenum cabling- if you are running cable in the ceiling, you should use a special plenum rated
cables (less smoke in the event of a fire)
Grounding- follow all grounding requirements
Slack in cable runs- leave some slack in your cable runs
Cable trays are a cable management device that helps collect cables into a single rack
Patch panels- use to organize and connect lines
Company standards and stockDocumentation
o Keep your documentation in a central location
o Label every data jack or port, patch panel or block
o Use color coded cables for different purposes and record the color schemes in your
documentation
o Be certain to update documentation as you make changes to the network
Device Management
The secret to keeping track of devices is naming them systematically-and then labeling them with those
names.
Labeling and Naming Conventions
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Use cable tags to identify each cable’s specific purpose
Label ports and jacks, not just cables
Be a label champion with a labelmaker in your toolbox
Draw diagrams as needed
Use a top-down approach to naming items
Use a consistent naming convention
Rack Systems--NAS (Network Attached Storage)---SANs (Storage Area Networks)----