Network Drops and Cabling

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Revision as of 12:30, 16 March 2014 by Cswingler (talk | contribs) (Formatting)
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Buildout Plan

Okay, here's what we're doing.

  • Buy all necessary equipment
  • Place all cables 105" (8.75') in the air - this is high enough to clear our loft; and definitely high enough to be out of the way. Hopefully, it's also not so high we can't work on it as need be.
    • TODO: See how tall the hangers end up being - we'll want the bottom of them to be at the 105" line; and the actual mount higher than that.
  • Place laser level up to draw a line, or use a chalk line to put one on the wall.
  • Install all hangers. TIA standards apparently say every 4-5 feet; which should work. Will probably want to double up at drop points.
  • Pull cable from demarc to drop.
  • Place cable in hanger
  • Punch down cable in patch panel and drop
  • Rinse, repeat.

Order of drops

My calculations come up that we should be safe with a single 500' pull box, but it's entirely possible we'll come up short. In the interest of reserving funds, I'm opting not to buy the second pull box until we need it.

We will pull in this order:

  • 3D printer room
  • South wall
  • Front door
  • North wall
  • Woodworking room

Proposed layout

I'd like to get at least two physical drops in every interesting place. Our network backbone and internet link are both pretty narrow (by 2014 standards), which means that it's unlikely we'll see a bottleneck be a small switch attached to a drop point if we need more than the two available.

NetworkDropPlanning.png

Limitations of network drops

We have some challenges to overcome when doing these drops.

  • Concrete Columns - These columns are wide, and concrete. We can't drill through them to put cables in them, nor easily attach things to them. They're also floor-to-ceiling, so there's no good way around them
  • Ceiling - The ceiling, is concrete and 16' up. It's not likely a good place to attach cables.
  • Cable visibility - There's no way around this - we're going to see cabling.


Needed equipment

Some way to attach the cable to the wall. Options are:

Also:

Drops

Table 'o network drops, and length between server room and drop.

Room Number of drops Length from server room to drop (feet) Elevation required per drop Total cable required (feet)
Front door 2 9 9 36
North wall (whiteboards) 2 13 9 44
Woodshop room 2 45 9 108
3D Printer/Laser Cutter Room 2 58.5 9 135
South wall (lockers) 2 39.5 9 97
Total: 420

To Buy

Item URL Cost Qty Total
Network cable hangers http://www.amazon.com/Arlington-TL20-100-Hangers-Communications-100-Pack/dp/B00422M2CG 49.92 1 49.92
Patch panel (12 port) http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=105&cp_id=10514&cs_id=1051401&p_id=7252&seq=1&format=2 17.62 1 17.62
Surface mount wall-boxes http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=105&cp_id=10517&cs_id=1051705&p_id=7089&seq=1&format=2 0.57 10 5.7
Keystone jacks http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=105&cp_id=10513&cs_id=1051309&p_id=5379&seq=1&format=2 1.51 10 15.1
#10 Washers (50) http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-10-Stainless-Steel-Flat-Washer-50-Pieces-32482/100337712 2 2.36 4.72
#10 screws (100) http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-10-x-1-in-Zinc-Plated-Pan-Head-Phillips-Drive-Sheet-Metal-Screw-100-Pieces-24922/202102346?N=5yc1vZc2b0Z1z0y8pv 1 5 5
Grand total 98.06

Also, a laser level on a tripod, if we can loan/rent one from somewhere, is going to be very helpful to make sure these cables are hung level.

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