Ports are in reserve. What is the best way to organize the storage of such a stock?

The question of how many ports need to be created in a given room is always on the agenda when the need for a structured cabling system arises.

First building

When the Customer thinks about creating a structured cabling system for himself, he is sure that he has an idea about it, why he needs it, what and where he needs to connect to it.  

On the one hand, I would like to order fewer ports and not order extra ones, since the port is not free and costs a significant amount of money.

On the other hand, it is known that over time, undoubtedly, in many premises there will be a need for additional ports and it will be necessary to order their installation. It is clear that the cost of installing additional ports (price per port) is several times more expensive than the cost of installing the original ports. And I would like to minimize the creation of new ports during the operation of a building or office.

Since ancient times, from the very beginning of the appearance of structured cabling systems in buildings and offices, manufacturers and installers advised the Customer, in addition to installing the initial “basic” ports, to also provide “additional” ports in each room. The recommended number of ports is determined approximately from the following set of parameters: room area; purpose of the premises; the maximum number of people who could potentially work in it; equipment connected to a computer network.

This is a completely working scheme that has many advantages and advantages. However, over the three decades of structured cabling systems’ life, significant shortcomings and weaknesses of this approach have become apparent.

It turned out that the Customer does not know exactly what he needs from the structured cabling system it is unable to determine the required number and reliable placement of “base” ports. What the Customer needs from a structured system, he begins to understand only after he begins to use what was made for him according to his order. He begins to understand where and how many base ports he needs only after his structured cabling system is up and running.

The Customer had even more vague ideas about what his needs for ports would be in five years, and even more so in fifteen years.

Experience gained

And now, after twenty-five years of living in his building, the Customer can see what happened to the ports of his structured cabling system during this time.

(A) There are ports, but they are not installed there. It was regularly observed that in one room there were not enough ports, and in the neighboring rooms there were a sufficient or even greater number of free “additional” ports. In such situations, the customer regularly had to lay new cable lines, which turned out to be truly “golden”.

(B) Some of the inventory was not used. A significant portion of the planned additional ports were never used. That is, the Customer paid for their installation in vain.

(C) Some of the ports were destroyed. These are the consequences of changing the purpose of the premises, redevelopment of the premises, internal construction work.

(D) Additional ports were unable to accept new applications. In the premises, additional ports were created at the level of sockets at work stations. When the Customer’s structured cabling system was created twenty-five years ago, there were no IP video cameras or Wi-Fi points. And with their appearance in the building (office), the need arose to connect them to a computer network. Additional ports in the rooms, located on the walls at the level of electrical outlets, could not help connect IP video cameras and Wi-Fi points. The customer had to lay new cable lines, which turned out to be truly “golden”.

(E) Outdated documentation. After a few years, the actual state of the structured cabling system was no longer reflected in the documentation. And ten years later, the useless documentation was quietly lost.

The customer understands that owning a structured cabling system comes with associated maintenance and upgrade costs. And these costs are high. And it’s worth considering whether they can be reduced.

New port in an existing building

The troubles with new ports lie in the considerable length of horizontal cable lines, the complexity of their installation, the high labor intensity and cost of working for them in an existing building.

The longer the cable, the more difficult it is to install. And this complexity is nonlinear. The difficulty of laying a cable is proportional to the square of its length. For example, if one cable is twice as long as another, then the complexity of its installation increases fourfold.

The horizontal cable line begins its journey in the telecommunications room (in the floor distribution point) from the cross-panel port installed in the telecommunications cabinet. Further inside the telecommunications closet, then along the trays of the telecommunications room and through the passage that opens into the corridor. In the corridor, the cable passes through a tray located behind the suspended ceiling, approaches the desired room, and through the passage hole enters the desired room and goes out to an outlet inside the room.

What other difficulties? The route of the tray in the corridor may pass through the premises of several tenants and access to their territory may not be very easy. As a result, completion times are difficult to predict.

Dismantling and installation of suspended ceilings. These are construction and installation works and the associated removal of dust and noise. This is a discomfort for employees working on the floor. In addition, the prolonged presence of unauthorized persons in office premises creates a lot of associated risks.

Working in a telecommunications room can also have many time constraints. Typically, cable work in telecommunications cabinets is only permitted at night, when everyone in the building is “sleeping.”

Next building. Twenty five years later

And now the Customer is faced with the task of building a new building for himself.

He will have a structured cabling system in this building. The customer already knows that he has a very vague understanding of the original “base” ports. Why is this unclear? He does not know exactly how his organization is structured and operates.

The customer expects that many changes will occur in his building (office), which will affect the structured cabling system: changes in the structure of the organization, changes in individual departments, redevelopment of premises, internal construction work. There will be changes in his company. The Customer does not know which ones exactly, but he knows for sure that they will be there.

The Customer also knows that new engineering systems will enter his building almost every year and he needs to be ready to accept them. He doesn’t know exactly what these systems are and how they will work. He has a rough idea of them: climate control, lighting control, presence control, digital electricity, energy efficiency management, Internet of things, internal broadcast of mobile communications. All of these systems will require structured cabling ports throughout the building.

The customer already knows that “additional” ports will not help him much in meeting his future needs. He knows that he will order “extra” ports in the wrong places.

The customer needs a structured cabling system and knows they don’t know how many, when, or where ports they will need.

And the Customer in such a situation agrees to listen and consider proposals for planning their further actions on the order of the structured cabling system.

Solving the issue of “ports in reserve”

There is an effective solution to the question of how and where to store “additional” ports in reserve.

We will “store” them as arrays of free ports at consolidation points.

And then most of the difficulties associated with the “additional” ports mentioned above (A, B, C, D, E) will simply go away. The building and the Customer will no longer encounter these difficulties.

“Additional” ports can be rented out to those who wish to do so upon their requests. After the applicant no longer needs the port, the port lease is canceled, the port returns to the consolidation point and again becomes available for the next request.

It is also advisable to “store” the original “base” ports at consolidation points. And issue them for use in the same way.

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Article created by RJ45
Literary editor Eugene.P
P.S. This illustration was created by artist Peter Zakharchenko
especially for this publication.