Structured cabling


In telecommunications, structured cabling is building or campus cabling infrastructure that consists of a number of standardized smaller elements called subsystems. Structured cabling components include twisted pair and optical cabling, patch panels and patch cables.

Overview

Structured cabling is the design and installation of a cabling system that will support multiple hardware uses and be suitable for today's needs and those of the future. With a correctly installed system, current and future requirements can be met, and hardware that is added in the future will be supported
Structured cabling design and installation is governed by a set of standards that specify wiring data centers, offices, and apartment buildings for data or voice communications using various kinds of cable, most commonly category 5e, category 6, and fiber optic cabling and modular connectors. These standards define how to lay the cabling in various topologies in order to meet the needs of the customer, typically using a central patch panel, from where each modular connection can be used as needed. Each outlet is then patched into a network switch for network use or into an IP or PBX telephone system patch panel.
Lines patched as data ports into a network switch require simple straight-through patch cables at each end to connect a computer. Voice patches to PBXs in most countries require an adapter at the remote end to translate the configuration on 8P8C modular connectors into the local standard telephone wall socket. No adapter is needed in North America as the 6P2C and 6P4C plugs most commonly used with RJ11 and RJ14 telephone connections are physically and electrically compatible with the larger 8P8C socket. RJ25 and RJ61 connections are physically but not electrically compatible, and cannot be used. In the United Kingdom, an adapter must be present at the remote end as the 6-pin BT socket is physically incompatible with 8P8C.
It is common to color-code patch panel cables to identify the type of connection, though structured cabling standards do not require it except in the demarcation wall field.
Cabling standards require that all eight conductors in Cat 5e/6/6A cable be connected.
IP phone systems can run the telephone and the computer on the same wires, eliminating the need for separate phone wiring.
Regardless of copper cable type, the maximum distance is for the permanent link installation, plus an allowance for a combined of patch cords at the ends.
Cat 5e and Cat 6 can both effectively run power over Ethernet applications up to. However, due to greater power dissipation in Cat 5e cable, performance and power efficiency are higher when Cat 6A cabling is used to power and connect to PoE devices.

Subsystems

Structured cabling consists of six subsystems:
Network cabling standards are used internationally and are published by ISO/IEC, CENELEC and the Telecommunications Industry Association. Most European countries use CENELEC, International Electrotechnical Commission or International Organization for Standardization standards. The main CENELEC document is EN50173, which introduces contextual links to the full suite of CENELEC documents. ISO/IEC 11801 heads the ISO/IEC documentation. In the US, the Telecommunications Industry Association issue the TIA/EIA-568 standards for telecommunications cabling in commercial premises.