Submitted by: N Vincent Jones

Is this a familiar situation with the data cabling in your offices? Is there just one of these or are there multiple situations throughout the offices, hiding under desks, in cupboards and above ceilings?

The reason for the appearances of these Mini Switches is usually as a company grows or invests in new equipment they find they don t have enough IT cabling outlets to support what they need.

Additional staff will require extra data cabling outlets for PC s and Phones and as new equipment such as Telephone systems are installed, new dedicated IT cabling outlets are required but not always present

The quick fix we see here is to find 1 spare data cabling outlet and add on 5/8/16 way mini switches and plug all the new requirements into that. These can number 1 per room if the equipment installed needs a lot of new IT cabling outlets

However the more of these mini switches are installed the greater the bottlenecks down the IT system. In a lot of cases these mini switches will then link from one to another. In one school we found a main switch linking to a floor serving switch to 4 mini switches in a row in each of the classrooms. Several of them also had 2 connections between switches creating a loop on the network almost shutting it down completely

The end results are:

1. A much slower network

2. Increasingly poor quality on IP phone systems and increased drop outs

3. Several points of failure

4. Trip hazards and fire risks

The Solution

To minimise the effect of these mini switches on your computer cabling network, the aim should be to always run the data cabling back to the central core cabinet in that office, floor, building.

The data cabling should go back to the main switch in this cabinet for the most effective speeds and quality of service

Steps to an overall solution

1. Locate and highlight all the mini switches within the building

2. Determine how many data wiring outlets these mini switches serve as this will be the additional number of cat5e cabling or Cat6 cabling outlets you will require

3. Install new Cat5e or Cat6 cabling as required

4. Re-label, re-patch and swap over network to a single central point

Is your installer: Undertaking your installation when you wish and starting in time to meet your deadlines? The best time for your installation is when it disrupts your operation the least. Would you like installation at night?, the weekend?, during closures for holidays? Would you like the option of 24:7 installations? Will the project start on time to meet your deadlines? Key Questions regarding scheduling What is the lead time for starting work and the projected start date? Ask for the additional costs for working out of hours and weekends

The NM Cabling Solutions Offe

NM Cabling offer a free site survey to locate your mini switches, determine the potential bottlenecks and issues, and to propose a solution to removing these with a total solution

We also offer same rate installations on weekends so your network will not be down while your working day is occurring

About the Author: NM Cabling Solutions is well known Data Cabling Company in London, and offers services of data cabling London and IT cabling London. We are also well experienced to locate your mini switches, network cabling and determine the potential bottlenecks and issues. For more info please visit :

nmcabling.co.uk

Source:

isnare.com

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