INTRODUCTION TO STRUCTURED CABLING Compiled by Sonam Dukda Division of Information Technology Ministry of Communication September 2000 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 4 2 NETWORKING ............................................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Objectives ................................................................................................................................ 5 2.2 Choice of Software and Hardware........................................................................................... 5 3 NETWORKING TRENDS............................................................................................................. 6 4 STANDARDS................................................................................................................................. 6 4.1 International Standards ............................................................................................................ 6 4.2 Industry Standards. .................................................................................................................. 6 4.3 Structured Cabling standards................................................................................................... 6 4.4 Highlights of the EIA/TIA-568A standards............................................................................. 7 5 STRUCTURED CABLING............................................................................................................ 8 5.1 Structured Cabling System Design Considerations................................................................. 8 6 NETWORK CABLES ..................................................................................................................12 6.1 Unshielded Twisted Pair........................................................................................................ 12 6.2 Shielded Twisted Pair............................................................................................................ 12 6.3 Fiber-Optic Cable .................................................................................................................. 12 6.4 Evolution of UTP Categories................................................................................................. 13 Network Application Primarily Designed to Support ....................................................................... 13 6.5 Category 5E ........................................................................................................................... 14 6.6 Category 6 & 7....................................................................................................................... 14 6.7 Comparison of Cable Media.................................................................................................. 15 6.8 Category Specifications.........................................................................................................15 7 NETWORK SET UP .................................................................................................................... 16 7.1 Node locations ....................................................................................................................... 16 7.2 Locating Hubs........................................................................................................................ 16 7.3 Selecting Backbone Routes ................................................................................................... 17 7.4 Linking Workgroups at the campus Hub............................................................................... 17 7.5 Checking Proposed Approach ............................................................................................... 19 7.6 Linking Buildings .................................................................................................................. 19 7.7 Selecting Equipment.............................................................................................................. 19 8 SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION ................................................................................................... 20 8.1 Justification............................................................................................................................ 20 8.2 Details to Record ................................................................................................................... 20 8.3 Patching and Jumpering Records........................................................................................... 21 8.4 System Administration .......................................................................................................... 21 8.5 Maintenance and Repair ........................................................................................................ 21 9 SOME GUIDELINES................................................................................................................... 21 9.1 Unshielded Twisted Pair cable (UTP) separation guidelines from Electro-magnetic Interference (EMI) sources................................................................................................................ 21 9.2 Minimum bending radius for a cable..................................................................................... 22 9.3 Recommended Cabling Practices. ......................................................................................... 22 9.4 UTP cabling installation practices ......................................................................................... 23 9.5 Installation of Optical Fiber Connecting Hardware............................................................... 23 9.6 Optical Fiber Cabling Installation.......................................................................................... 23 10 ANNEX I 24 11 ANNEX - II................................................................................................................................... 24 11.1 DETAILS – EIA/TIA Cabling Standards.............................................................................. 25 11.1.1 EIA/TIA-568A................................................................................................................... 25 11.1.2 EIA/TIA-569A................................................................................................................... 25 11.1.3 EIA/TIA TSB-36 ............................................................................................................... 25 11.1.4 EIA/TIA TSB-40A ............................................................................................................ 25 11.1.5 EIA/TIA TSB-53 ............................................................................................................... 26 2 11.1.6 EIA/TIA TSB-67 ............................................................................................................... 26 11.1.7 EIA/TIA-606...................................................................................................................... 26 11.1.8 EIA/TIA-607...................................................................................................................... 26 11.1.9 EIA/TIA TSB-72 ............................................................................................................... 26 11.1.10 EIA/TIA 526-14 (OFSTP-14)........................................................................................ 27 11.1.11 EIA/TIA 526-7 (OFSTP-7)............................................................................................ 27 11.2 Standards Under Development .............................................................................................. 27 11.2.1 TSB-95............................................................................................................................... 27 11.2.2 TIA 568-A-5 ...................................................................................................................... 27 11.3 Preliminary Standards Work.................................................................................................. 28 11.3.1 Category 6 Cabling............................................................................................................ 28 11.3.2 Category 7 Cabling............................................................................................................ 28 12 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 28 3 1 INTRODUCTION DIT recommends the adoption of Structured Cabling standards in the establishment of Network in the country. This paper is intended to serve as a guideline and introduction to the concepts involved in the issue of structured cabling. Many network administrators keep hearing that the network is down because of some or the other reason. Various researches indicate that in many cases, the network is down on account of inferior cabling systems. And installing standards-complaint structured cabling systems can eliminate much of this downtime. Another important factor that needs to be taken into account is that the structured cabling system, though it outlives most other networking components, represents just five percent of the total network investment. The structured cable is the only one that needs to be installed