Why Do I Need Structured Cabling?
laura | June 30, 2017 |
In most office settings, people generally pay little attention to what goes on “behind the scenes.” Why? Usually it’s because they don’t understand or have no interest. Think about it, have you really ever wondered how your phone rings or how your computer works? You don’t, your main focus is that they work.
The reason why is actually pretty simple, cabling; more specifically, structured cabling. And though you don’t need to understand exactly how it works, it is necessary to know why it’s so important.
A History Lesson
Let’s first take a brief step back in time and look at where digital communication came from. Believe it or not, this concept celebrated its 173rd birthday this year. In 1844 the Telegraph was invented by Samuel Morse who used it to send a message from Washington to Baltimore, 37 miles away (i.e. Morse Code). This device could transmit about 2-3 dots or dashes per second, and though it may seem mundane compared to today’s technology, the idea remains the same.
In the 1970’s the Zerox Corporation developed the Ethernet and standardized the system with DEC and Intel in 1979, allowing everyone to use it. In 1980 they created the ‘DIX Standard,” a 10 MB per second system. (10,000,000 1’s and 0’s per second). Today’s technology allows us to communicate over 1,000,000,000 different 1’s and 0’s literally every second.
Now you know a little bit about where digital communication came from. But why should you care, right? Well, the fact that you’re reading this either on a computer or phone is a one reason. Somewhere a cable is being used to power the Wi-Fi you’re using. In some room in the back of your office, a data rack full of ports and cables all plugged in systematically is the reason your business is running so smoothly.
Structured cabling is essentially the “digital plumbing” to your home or office. It’s what keeps things organized and functioning properly. With an unorganized system, it is incredibly easy for mistakes to be made.
Think of it as a puzzle, each piece fits into a certain place to form the picture. You form the image by looking at the colors or shapes on each piece. But what if every piece was blank, could you solve the puzzle? Without organization (structured cabling) how would you know which cable or port belongs to which device?
The Benefits
I like that you talk about how structured cabling is essential the digital plumbing of a building. It makes sense that structured cabling is essential to keep a high tech office or building running smoothly and without any major hiccups. This is something to keep in mind because upgrading the cabling to be future proof could be beneficial to allow for upgrades and replacements as servers are replaced, etc.
Hi there, I enjoy reading through your article post. I like to write a little comment to support you.
Usually I don’t learn on blogs, however I would like to say that this write-up forced me to try and do it! Your writing style has amazed me. Thank you, quite nice article.
Very interesting details you have observed, thanks for putting up.
I agree with your point about how an organized system allows changes to be made easily and in less time. As a father of three little boys I’ve learned that organization improves safety and every extra minute is valuable. I think anyone that needs to deal with a lot of data cabling would be smart to find a professional that specializes in that field.