When you’re responsible for the hidden world of cables and data that allow the modern business world to function, there’s a temptation to grow complacent. As long as the data gets from point A to point B, what’s the difference if the cables are messy or poorly labeled?

As with so many things in life, it’s a game of rewarding your future self (and the organization that you’re serving). When you take a thoughtful approach to managing network cables your job gets easier at every step. It simply requires some additional planning on the front end and a commitment to maintain the system as you go along. 

We’ll talk about some of the strategies and tips you can use to streamline your network cables during installation and maintenance. Trust us, future-you will thank us for reading this article.

Cable length: too much and not enough

When planning how to organize the cables in your space, there’s no substitute for measuring before you terminate the cable. And you have to measure it in the real world. Blueprints are useful, but the reality of running cable through raceways, crawlspaces, and around other obstacles is often a matter of doing it in person. 

Exact length

Obviously a cable that is too short is a waste on every level. But deciding on the proper length requires you to assess a number of variables and competencies. 

The chief factor is terminal crimping, a tedious skill that adds significant labor to nearly any project — and a must-have skill if you intend to cut each cable precisely to length. If you aren’t practiced at cable crimping you’ll end up with a fairly high error rate, requiring you to recut and recrimp until you get it right. You should also factor in the time to test each cable’s performance and the material cost for improperly crimped terminals. 

There’s also the challenge of cable supply: Should you buy reels of color coded cable or bundles of cable in pre-cut lengths? Inevitably you’ll end up needing to stow excess cable if you choose precut lengths. But purchasing ethernet or fiber optic cables in reels will require you to hire or acquire the skill of a professional data cabler. 

You’ll have to evaluate the tradeoffs based on your particular project. In either case you’ll need to plan for cable management and stowage to keep things tidy. 

This is a very different prospect when linking up a server rack than it is for running backbone or horizontal cabling. For backbone and horizontal cabling you have lots of opportunities to stow cable slack in places where it won’t be an issue. When you’re working in a server rack, every inch of excess cable is visible and a potential problem.

Cable Labeling Save Labor

While you can only do so much to reduce thickets of ethernet cables, cable labeling is one thing you do have plenty of control over and should observe with a religious consistency. Following a cable labeling protocol such as the ANSI TIA 606-B Cable Labeling Standard is an excellent idea. Both ends of every cable should receive a label indicating input and output. This will make troubleshooting much easier as well as any moves, adds, and changes (MACs).

Keep Cable Disciplines Separate

Color coding your cables is a simple step that avoids huge headaches in the future. Whether you buy reels or bundles of precut cables, plan out which colors will be associated with which disciplines such as data, telephony, fire, security, backbone, and horizontal. 

It’s best if you can install a cable support system that helps you accomplish this. Choosing your cable supports as an afterthought becomes a choice that is painful to rectify and liable to earn you the ill-wishes of any IT professionals who service the network in your absence. Unipath’s cable support system makes it easy to keep your cable disciplines in order and save installation labor compared to other solutions. 

Common Cable Management Mistakes

Here are some of the common mistakes that teams make regarding network cable management.

Failure To Plan For The Future

This is much simpler to do when working in new construction as opposed to retrofitting an existing building to handle a modern data network. However, the time you take to plan cable routes and access the proper support fixtures based on the space available will save you time, labor, and increase the likelihood that your network will perform well. 

Installing Ad-hoc Permanent Fixtures

Sometimes you just need to install a J-hook because that’s the only support fixture that makes sense. But if you’re not careful, you’ll look back at your network lay-out and discover an array of band-aid quality solutions when you could have easily used a comprehensive solution that looks nicer and performs at a higher level. 

Inadequate Security

Physical security is a major concern for modern data networks. And just as virtual cyber-defences are a must-have, physical security measures will give you piece of mind. We’re talking about installing access control on equipment rooms as well as lock-in-lock-out measures on servers and hiring someone to run physical penetration tests on your system to identify vulnerabilities. 

Poor Cable Labeling And Color Coding

Cables will fail and employees will turn over. Labeling and color coding keep things clear for everyone. They also help simplify MACs. Thankfully it’s the sort of system that you establish at the beginning and is easy to follow thereafter. 

High Stress Cable Routing

Sharp turns, abrasive supports, overfull raceways, and loose bundles make for future problems, as does a failure to accommodate for nearby power cables, HVAC, and other utilities. When planning your network cable routes you need to observe rules such as the minimum bend radius to keep from compromising your cables.

Overloading Cable Support Systems

40% fill is a standard rule for many support systems. That means that even if your raceway or support fixture can hold more cables, you shouldn’t fill it to capacity. When the time comes for MACs, a jam-packed raceway is a nightmare in the making.

Failure To Plan For Expansion

You have to strike a balance between overbuying/overbuilding capacity and only installing exactly what your organization currently needs. Look for ways to add marginal capacity that you can spin up with relative ease. This goes back to the previous mistake of overloading support systems. Leave room for your future self to grow and you’ll thank yourself later.

Shortcuts Equal Long Delays

Resist the urge to take shortcuts as they almost always result in problems down the road. Whether you’re a data cabling professional or a system administrator who is just trying to get a new network spun up so you can start the real work, the time and effort you put into planning will almost always pay off down the road.