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- čas přidán 6. 09. 2024
- NOTE: this is a re-upload of a previous video that had TERRIBLE audio levels. Hope you all find this version a much more tolerable experience!
I never got the chance to finish this job but I'm quite proud of how far I got before leaving. I think it is a good study in problem solving and working with existing equipment.
I love how you were able to do literally everything yourself from routing all the lines to the new cabinet to re-tiling the floor all while keeping the entire system online. This is truly astonishing work
Its honestly not that hard. Thats not to say he deserves more than he probably got paid, its a lot of work, but its all reasonably straight forward stuff.
@@ninjaman5j546 haha "Straight forward" is fine for some, but straight forward for others is brain melting. most folks can't plan ahead and organize then tackle one by one these days. "wait you mean i gots ta use me ol brainz and then apply myself...... what you talkin bout willis?"
Back again in 2020 watching old vids, that CZcams has forgotten I've already seen. Missing the Fibre Ninja.
Fiber
Boy oh boy do I miss the Ninja too. I have re-watched all his vids probably 10 times at least. Haven't found anyone else that went into the depths he did.
It's never fun having to remove old phone systems, most communications company's won't touch them for whatever reason. As a Network Admin, I have had to remove my share of them to make way for new and updated equipment. Seeing you do it just brings back those memories of doing it myself but then also the pleasure I got from seeing my clean-up transform that area to a nice, neat and completely manageable area. Job well done!
Dat professional cooling though...
I died. XD
lol
Pretty professional I'd say 😂
Why do companies insist on using server rooms as "STORAGE ROOMS", ARGH, such a pet peeve of mine & is a major no no....if don't have proper organization & COOLING/air flow etc....
What? There's a great spot for that half full mop bucket right by the UPS.
@@RealityGutPunch Is that ups or You Pee Ess? Just wondering. :P
@terry waller Doubt it... all of my clients do the same thing...
Because most people dont have a clue about IT. I work for a 2 billion dollar company and their MDF at HQ had all sorts of junk in it, including a smoker /facepalm
It’s not the problem of cooling or air flow you should be most worried about. IT personal build most systems to be in a locked room/rack. The biggest concern I would have is a rogue employee wrecking things or stealing things.
I know nothing about networking, but even I can tell that you took a disaster and turned it into something very manageable and very clean. Nice work!
your "temporary cable run" is better than most of the permanent ones here in Thailand. Awesome video as usual mate!
Oh, and pfSense! My man!!!
James B Oh? I’d love to know more.
“So in an earthquake that’s coming down.” 😂😂 LOL. Cracking up. Great video!
Every time you said "UPS" as a word I had a cold feeling run down my back. Other than that, great video dude! :)
ups must be a Midwest thing, everyone calls it that nickname.
Glad it wasn't just me haha
It's nails on a chalkboard. Please Ninja, "U. P. S.", not "ups".
LOL. Thanks for setting me straight chrisgo. I'll let all my staff in our datacenter know that from now on our "U.P.S.s" have mad-"ups". (or is it "oops"?) I definitely want to stay hip with all the slang. Is it okay for me to say "voip" rather than Voice over I.P.? For that matter, I can I just say "ip" rather than "I.P." Or "snump" rather than "SNMP"? Or "smutp" rather than "SMTP"? Holly crap! To think of all of the time I've wasted over these years. I should have been using this slang and been saving literal minutes a year! Plus the kids would have thought I was cool. Damn. I've wasted my life!
System Void I worked with the feds, they called it ups, military called it ups, currently working for the largest teleco in the world, most of my Co workers here refer to it as ups too.
How could anyone think that that blue mass at the back was a good idea lol. I liked the end result though, wish you added a clip when everything was completely ready and clean but this have us a nice point of reference. I mostly came here to see the cable makeover and it was interesting to see a different approach: patch panel, switch, patch panel, switch etc., being then wired like this. What we do we put all the patch panels at the upper part (possibly with cable canals) and then switches below (again, best with cable canals) and then lead all the cables to the sites, similarly like you did with the back of the patch panels.
@FIBERNINA ...NOTE: this is a re-upload of a previous video that had TERRIBLE audio levels. Hope you all find this version a much more tolerable experience! ,,, Just your intention of doing this it's Gratefully Appreciated !!!
Wow, like how you did shelving, tile work, drywall patching, outlet installation, and the ceiling too!
Think you can show a quick preview of how you take existing cables and comb through them to make them look good?
Really making me want to go down to my server rack and redo the whole config! I've been adding / swapping a lot of things out lately, so it's not quite a spaghetti mess, but still not as clean as I usually have things!
Still need to get a proper PoE switch as well for my AP's so I'm not using injectors (and I'll eventually have PoE cameras as well). One step at a time...
Even POE injectors can be racked and stacked to look nice! Just understand, I'd probably handle that project I documented a couple years ago differently today. I would not have used those same patch panels and I would not have routed the cabling that way today. My 2-hour video shows an example of what I'd do in that situation today. I realized after it was all built and done that I was screwed! I had a line go bad and I had to repair it. Then I saw that I had successfully buried the backs of the patch panels effectively enough that I'd have to disconnect at least 1 switch and pull it out just to reach the panel. I had left no slack behind the panel to draw on and no way of gaining access without causing a big problem. By leaving long loops behind the panel (and using modular keystone panels), I can unscrew a panel and pull it out by rotating it while still leaving it connected to the adjacent switch and thus gain access to the back of the panel. Lucky for me when I had to do that repair, the problem line was close to the edge and I was able to reach it without doing much damage. I knew that I was lucky and it could have been waaay worse! That's a big part of the design concepts I try to preach here.
Wow, this is beautiful.
Very satisfying to watch you bring harmony back to that space.
you did a great job recovering that disaster/nightmare !
Thanks so much! It isn't often I'm just "unleashed" to make a network right without much limitation.
Hope my re- visiting this video and allowing advertising to roll with a skip restraint will get you a micro fraction of income by my viewership. Love all your crazy hair cable room restoration videos. It's very relaxing to watch videos like bathroom to beautiful. Keep up your awesome inspirational videos. You inspire others to better themselves. Leave clean foot prints clearly laid for the next tech.
This video was a pleasure to watch. Professional job sorting through this whole mess.
The 'floating switch rack' idea is genius!
Until that rogue earthquake strikes...
Holy moly, that is an amazing job. Well done!
+Chucks Basix Oh man, it is such a nice platform! We actually brought in an expert to configure it for traffic shaping and the like. Great router!
love the rehab. that made me shiver at the before.
Thanks! Yeah, me too. I remember sitting down with the owners of the office trying to explain just how messed up this place was and what it would most likely need to be made right. I guess they had arrived at the point where they were open to listening to me.
at 1:14 I whispered "Jesus, f**k!" to myself...
+Alex Turner What's funny is that I was told this was the condition AFTER their network administrator had done some clean up of the cabling (shakes head...)
Great video, wouldn't wish the task of sorting this out on anyone, but it was fun watching you do it XD
Thanks! I'd wish to get another one like this tomorrow! The bigger the mess, the happier I get!!
@@FiberNinjaStudios $$$$😂
This honestly looks like one of the best jobs a man could have :P
Lord help me I hope you were very well financially compensated for all that work. I know too many guys that would have bid that way too low just to get the work
Looks great. I like how someone built a false wall right over one of the lights LOL!
+Travis Piper OMG you caught that! Man, that was such a pain. The light circuit for the network room was shared with a single office on the other side of that wall. So when she would leave at the end of the day, she'd turn out the lights and I'd be left in the dark!
...I'd see that mess and I'd run... They're not paying you enough, I simply don't know how you do it.
Why do I enjoy this so much
cable management, a god dang superpower... you sir are a hero!
Wow just WOW, great job, wish i had the chance to see something like this... I'm in the face of finishing a new server room....
Thanks so much! and good luck with your server room!!
I was wnodering if you had some special tricks or recommendation regarding the server rack.
All the switch and patch panel will be cable by the professionnal compagny that we hired to pass the cable around the office.
Put the ups at the bottom.
Wire everything on the side of the rack so we can upgrade server?
Great question and I actually would probably have done this rack fairly differently now. What I realized with this was how difficult it was to do any repairs to the patch panels after they were run in like that. Mind you, it is rare for a cable to go bad after it has been installed and tested, but I've had to do it. Patch panels like the ones shown here are a nightmare to troubleshoot and even worse to try and repair. I am starting to cover this learning curve in my newer videos on this channel but there really isn't a trick to it. Just build your systems with the thought that you may one day have to make changes, or repairs to it. That simple principle will drastically affect how you build things. It will change the height of the equipment placement, it will add space between equipment if possible so you can reach your hand inside, etc. If you're having a cabling company do the panels and all the inside wiring, at least see if you can request using keystone patch panels as opposed to IDC panels. I cover the reasons in another video here but it goes a long way in making the cabling and connections safer and easier to repair or modify.
The UPS is at the bottom just because it weighs 200 lbs. The height of equipment inside a rack depends on several things:
1. If you are very short on available space, then this is your determining factor for everything that follows. If you have no room to spare, the rack locations will not matter because you'll have no choice but to use every single space on the rack. It means that you're going to be working at heights that will be uncomfortable, require a ladder, etc. If you're in this situation, try first and foremost to get MORE rack space. It will make everything that follows better.
2. Think about placing equipment in your rack from an ergonomic standpoint. What you work on the most should be the easiest to see and touch. There may need to be a space for a monitor and keyboard (unless you have a rolling cart or something like that). Less frequently touched equipment can be placed further away from the ideal location but don't go too far because eventually you'll need to work on it and find yourself spending days hanging from a ladder or laying on the floor with your laptop!
3. Cabling needs to have a LOT of slack in it. Notice that I was working on a patch panel at a small folding table next to the rack. There should be enough slack on a panel that you can take it out of the rack and work on it at a better level. If your cabling company isn't aware of it, please let them know before it's too late!
4. Label everything! Get a nice professional label machine and just get into the habit. You may not be the one in the future that has to maintain the equipment, or you may not be on-site and have to walk someone through doing work over the phone. Labels will save so much trouble!
5. It is less important to have patch cables running from patch panels to switches that match port numbers as it is to have short patch cables. I talk about this also in other videos but will be showing major work like this in more detail soon. Keeping your patch cables short and without the need of cable management will save you immense complexity in your network rack (actually, this video shows it really well).
That's all I can think of for the moment. Enjoy!
Tks , I would really like to share my experience, but i'm not sure if the client and my compagnie would approve to put this kind of information online. I'm managing the cable compagnie and there doing a really go jobs. They are also testing every cable. 2 whole rack of patch panel with 2u between each.... With Label and a map of the actual network port. Normaly i will have a KVM connect to all the server i'm just not sure if i put it in the cabinet or not. Don't think soo.
Me: cable management is just easyJet cable swapping. Me after watching this video: cable managing is a super hero's job!!!
This is very satisfying to watch. Great job! You title as well! Awesome. Love to see your home network. Thank you.
Wow! I felt relieved! There are uglier cabling racks than those I've to work with!
Great job! Love watching this kind of videos.
I feel like almost every comm room in the country needs this!!
I did a double take when I saw the c hooks mounted on the ceiling... thought you had screwed them into a ceiling tile and then I saw it was metal.. phew! Looks like a great before & after job.
Actually I replaced that particular ceiling tile with a plywood panel that came pre-finished with a nice laminate white surface (was probably intended for a kitchen counter top). I also ran additional support wires from overhead to deal with the extra weight.
@@FiberNinjaStudios Awesome! I worked for about 7-8 months in telecom and saw quite a few... interesting things. Always refreshing to see someone do a quality job
Very well done..... This is exactly how i would have run a major network, Hats off to you for all your work..
What you started off with is the culmination of 100 field nation tech visits.
Ha! I actually worked through Field Nation for a bit...
truly ridiculous they have the servers and storage in the same room... also this is your second best video!! more like this please!
thumbs up for the pfSense box! Ive got one almost identical to that new one you put in!
Just make sure no body with OCD has to see the tiles. They will probably freak out.
Yeah, my wife pointed that out to me too!! It was my first tile job and I was trying to make as few cuts as possible. I regret doing it that way now.
50mb fiber? I thought wow then realized it was from 2015. I have 1000mb fiber to my house since 2018.
I thought I did some crazy remediation projects. You've got mad skills.
Much respect. I do this all the time but on a much smaller scale.
Also, I've seen it time & time again..... Companies always "under budget" for their servers, server rooms, PCs, etc....trying to save money & in the END, IT COSTS THEM MORE‼️
Great vid.
Cheers, A👍🏻👍🏻
If not being used, it's simple....REMOVE IT! & please, have a good quality qualified experienced IT person manage, install, upgrade, repair your equipment. Don't try to save money & run down to Walmart & pickup networking gear for an Enterprise Setup......not gonna work the greatest.
Man o man, this job is a mess. I'm surprised anything actually works well enough to allow day to day business to be done.....
Your my hero for doing a job like this by yourself. I'd have a crew of at least 3 out with me, lol.
Cheers, A
You don’t need the att fiber media converter. I run direct fiber to my firewall.
You seem to run into conduits with out pull bushings alot, ever though of just cutting the bushing and slipping it over the cables?
I hadn't! I just looked them up and they actually make split pull bushings that look pretty strong! I'll have to check into this then next time I run into a situation like this.
I always learn something new from you. pity I'm watching this video in 2019. but still very very relevant
2020 - and it's still a winner!
It's definitely better and I assume there are some serious budget constraints. Not sure what the point of adding air gaps between the Cables and the switch is though. It would be far cleaner to butt them up against each other and I find if you have two patch pannels to one switch to locate the switch in the middle so you are more likely to be able to see the switch. This is if you choose to mount the switch next close to the patches. The best part is now that it is so much cleaner upgrades will be so much easier!
Ahhhh ahhhh! where's all these cables going?!
What does this one do,or this one? ahhhhhhhhhh!,my head is going to explode!
That would be me,kudos to you man,very nice job.
How long did this job take you to complete and how many hours did you have into it? There was a few different skills involved here and you tackled it all. Did you give customer per hour or fixed cost?
"I'd prefer a conveyance system that isnt gonna eat my cables"
Sometimes when setups are so amazingly shitrigged, I kinda admire how they got away with it.
Working for an ISP I see a lot of mad work in technical sites and cant help but think the same aha
Kudo's on promoting nice and neat network racks. Learning some nice tips from you!
I need to start my own IT support company.. this is insane lmao
Okay in an earthquake that's going to be coming down. I love that bit
These videos are so satisfying, but fuck. I'd never have the patience to deal with those messes!
Skimming the comments I am a bit surprised nobody I saw has lost their minds over cable ties instead of velcro strap. A security and CCTV group I am in its a constant thing. People ask how things get that way and I think its evolution. Telephone rooms and power usually end up storage rooms shortly after the customer moves in and the 3ft rule goes right out the door. Eventually computers come along and they need a place for a Xenix box that runs a few terminals so that gets thrown in next to the phone equipment. Years pass and you end up with a Netware server and a 16 port Adtran hub sitting on some repurposed furniture and on it grows until you have multiple switches, internet gear, servers all stacked up on a table in a closet that is 105 degrees because there is no chiller and stuff thrown everywhere. When I was doing Y2K upgrades a customer literally lost their Netware server. I found it eventually in the back of a broom closet covered in boxes and other crap. It was more dust than server all the fans long dead so I couldn't find it by sound had 5 years of uptime on it. I wish I had a camera then and kind of felt bad shutting it down. I say this because I have seen it dozens of times in 30 years of doing this.
Very impressed, great presentation and great job
if you have to remove a server that is running, do you need to disconnect it always? is there a way to move everything without causing a disconnection?
It all depends on how things are cabled and what kind of moves are needed, but certainly there are situations where moving a server doesn't require disconnection. I address this concept along with related issues in some of my early videos about rackmounting cable routing but I will probably talk about it again in the future when time permits. This issue is often the thing that few installers consider when first cabling their racks. It's not until you have to do some work on a system years down the line and realize that you have cabled yourself into a corner that these things become important. Thanks for bringing this topic up! I will definitely put this in my notes for topics to cover in the future.
I would love to see you setup a network for the first time, eg in a brand new building. your fixes on other peoples setups is good but one from day one would be great to see
I would too! I never get the chance. I'm usually the one that gets called when things go horribly wrong...
I don't mind using keystone jacks, you can get 48-port keystone panels. Those looked to be a cheap keystone style, but the ones we use are a bitch to get out once snapped in.
just got a heart attack from thse punch down blocks
GAWD!!!!! That is soo cringy..... There is what????? AT LEAST, AT LEAST $50K worth of equipment in there and they treat it like crap and use it for a storage room.... UGH.... and that cable manangement was driving me insane... ugh. Glad you fixed that.... Good Job, dude.
why would you use PCI-X in the PCIe era? is that even possible in a 1U chassis?
oh my, what a job on your hands bro. appreciate the valuable information
Ditto on disappointment we didn't get to see the end. It would be interesting though to find out how they deviated from your plan with their own work to finish the job...if you find out I would like to know. Different perspectives are useful in some way or another even if it's what not to do!.
A few questions I hope you have time to think about. How did you make that cut in the pipe without damaging cables? It took me near the end of the video to realize you must have done that likely to maintain some of the patch panels moving them without disassembling everything, or not. ;-)
You made me think about some things in a different way. You said IDC would be better than Keystone patch panels. Please clarify...they both connect with punch down but the keystone is with individual jacks vs a punchdown block on the IDC? Is that right?
I got curious and googled dressing cables. There are a lot of good resources that I had not even considered for reference. Very cool. Do you or have you used cable combs, and any thoughts on them? I see how your well dressed bundles inside the cabinet might be a headache if you have to start troubleshooting them. With that nice, neat looking cabinet how would you have done it otherwise without putting them outside it?
Do you make your own patch cables and would you use bulk stranded vs solid copper cabling, or is it more feasible to buy them? With even the RJ-45 connector stranded vs solid isn't real obvious as the sheath stays on...just thinking out loud.
There may be more in your videos regards my questions but I have just started to work through them and it's gonna take a while to get there while I am studying for my Network+ and Security+ certs. BTW...what video editing do you use? Tx for taking the time to put these out.
I'd like to know myself but I'll never set foot in that place again. There's some bad feelings between myself and that business and I frankly don't want to see them again. It was a learning experience for sure but they shorted me a lot of money and I put a lot of my heart and soul in that project. --ok enough about that!
How did I cut that conduit? Very carefully! I actually pushed an aluminum ruler inside the conduit to move the cables away from the line I was cutting and to shield them from the blade. In fact, it worked great and I was able to force a wedge in at several places to bend the large conduit open enough to start sliding out cables without damaging a single one. You are exactly right about moving over patch panels. I wanted to avoid as much re-work as possible and this extra effort saved me tons of time!
Regarding IDC vs Keystone, I have definitely evolved my opinion since then but the main complaint I had with the Keystone patch panels used there was that they were of very poor quality. There were plastic frames around the jacks that became brittle and eventually failed. I think I showed that fact as I was tossing them out. What hit me like a ton of bricks during this project was the moment when I had all the panels in and all the switches placed between them and found I had a bad line to repair. I was extremely lucky when I managed to find it on the far end of an IDC panel so I was able to reach it and repair it without having to tear out a bunch of equipment. That's when I started thinking about building rack equipment that you could still reach to repair after it was put in place. I would have certainly built this rack differently now!
I do have and use a cable comb. I have one that can fit a little around 30 cables in a single bundle of Cat5e or 24 Cat6. It's the perfect size because I'd never want to make a bundle larger than that. Massive bundles are impressive but they're also a nightmare to build and repair. I think having a 24 cable bundle is still decent to manage. Regarding how I would have dressed the cables today, I just mentioned it but you're absolutely right in the fact that those bundles are buried inside that chassis. I'm not completely sure how I would have done it today but my immediate thought would be to run the bundles down the sides of the chassis in the middle and not the corners. That way the bundles are easily reached by opening a side panel. I might build a rack support to secure the bundles but that's my first thought.
I never build my own patch cables. Even with the speed I can make them, it's far cheaper and more reliable to purchase them in bulk. I think I can get a patch cable for around $0.50 each for a 6 to 12 inch length at Monoprice. I usually order 50 at a time at minimum. My time is worth more than that. I expect the patch cables to be stranded for flexibility while the premises cabling should be solid. There are many guides that explain this but suffice it to say that stranded is better electrically but solid is better for hand terminations that are usually required. There are other factors but that's pretty much the deal. There are other things to be concerned with when it comes to premises cable selection involving the outer jacket. The jacket has to be fire rated depending on the location in the building. I can go on but will probably just turn this into another video soon!
Good luck with your certs! I used to train techs for the A+ exam years ago. Make sure you get your feet wet ahead of time in the work you want to do. You may find out (as I did) that you hate it and now have to plan your exit strategy! If you find that you love it, all the effort you put in to getting there will feel like nothing!!
I edit with Sony Vegas and have for many years. I'm very comfortable with it and haven't found a single operation I've needed to do that Vegas couldn't handle -even up to motion tracking and the like. Plus, the learning curve for the fancier / professional platforms from Adobe are more than I'm willing to invest time in these days!
Glad you like them! My earlier videos may not be as interesting but I've been so wrong about these that I can't say for sure anymore!!
;-) I knew when I saw your response without even reading it I would need some time to get through it and now you've made me more curious about some things.
The aluminum ruler was a good idea. I like the idea running the bundles down the middle with side panels that can be removed, keeping them inside still.
When I read about the difference in amount of cables in the comb it made me curious and My inner geek got a bump looking at cable purchasing and specs. I can put together a 1 ft. with boots for about $2 at consumer prices and Amazon.ca will charge me average $3 individually. Monoprice seems dominant on the site and offers a patch cable at $2 without boots. Would/do you use patch cables without boots for the relatively protected run from a switch to a panel, primarily to lower costs?
In the process of checking this I exposed myself to things like 24-26AWG for Cat5e, 22-24AWG for Cat6 and even 16-20AWG for the newest Cat6A! Any experience with 6A? Also Amazon has a Monoprice Cat6 slim run at 28AWG(actually considering a purchase there of 10 for $20). This surprised me though considering the specs for 6 vs the smaller wire gauge and loss in frequency? The reviews are good for it though, especially as patch cable. Any experience or thoughts on that?
I also see Monoprice is promoting a 50u thick gold plating on contacts vs a standard 3u which I was unaware of, and bare copper wire vs copper clad aluminum wire which makes me wonder which is more widespread and common, and what most of my cables are made with for that matter. It makes me wonder too about the contacts in the panel jacks as well and if that is a spec made available by most manufacturers. Also Monoprice promotes the bare copper as compliant with fire and safety standards but is that part of the plenum specification or just marketing on their behalf?
I also started to wonder at what point would a larger bundle of cable start to crosstalk enough to degrade performance? Would you consider using STP or just decrease the bundle size, or is there any situation STP would be advantageous considering the cost and rigidity?
I am surprised stranded would be better electrically. My research says it has higher attenuation than solid.
I've always been a geek but want to turn it into a profession now and already have my A+. I have a passion for security and the bits and bytes so networking security and cryptography is where I want to end up. It is fascinating how all the components work together.
LOL...it must be pretty obvious by now I am OCD about most of this but I expect it will help me succeed eventually! Tx again for your time! Now back to the books for me.
Happy to answer your questions! I'll probably put some of this into a video soon so it's good to go through them.
Regarding the price of patch cables, I can find without too much work a 1 ft patch cable with a boot and 24 ga wire for around $0.60. Here's a direct link:
www.monoprice.com/Product?p_id=11261
Mind you, I'm not completely sold on the importance of boots on patch cables. Frankly, I'd rather not have them there if they're just going to live in the rack and never need to be pulled through things. If you order them without a boot the cost is even lower. It is also questionable that the wire be as thick as 24 ga if they're just 1 ft cables. If you're willing to go with thinner wire, you will also reduce cost. At those short distances and if you're still just living within the Cat5e world, I've not experienced any issues with smaller gauges and no boots. It will probably not be an issue with Cat6 either if your patch cables are relatively short.
Regarding Cat6 and wire gauge, understand that the size of the wire is very much dependent on the distance it needs to travel. A very long run will demand a heavier gauge cable and Cat6 will only make the tolerances a bit higher that we have been experiencing with Cat5. Still, at this point, I've worked with Cat6 cabling but have yet to encounter any issues with the cabling being too light or any such issues.
Regarding the copper itself and cladding, most of that is a gimmick. Would it be better to have a thicker cladding on the contacts? Sure. But does thinner cladding work any less effective? Not really. I would never pay attention to the contact cladding material if I were you. Unless you're dealing with harsh outdoor environments where there is risk of seals breaking on the contact or something crazy like that, I'd not waste any of your brain's energy on such things. The cladding of the wire itself is another story but it has NOTHING to do with network cabling. This is another area where you can essentially ignore the specs unless you're doing something specialized that demands it. Bare copper is almost always used because it is the least expensive. Aluminum wire I've never seen employed in land-based networking environments. Aircraft tend to use aluminum for their wiring because of weight savings. Aluminum wire has to be twice the thickness of copper to match the conductivity but it will still be less weight than copper. Large copper cabling used for power cable will almost always have a nickle plating on the outside to reduce corrosion at the surface. It will surprise you the first time you strip the insulation away and see a silver cable when you know darn well that's not aluminum you're holding in your hand!
Fire safety has nothing to do with the metal in the cable. It's all about the insulation. The cheapest network cabling you can find will most certainly be insulated with PVC because of cost. However, if that insulation catches fire, it will emit toxic fumes and smoke that is not safe for us humans to be around. So, most of that cabling is only allowed in areas that will not also be used for the HVAC system. It is safe to put in the walls of a residential home for instance because the chances of you breathing the toxic air coming from the inside of a burning wall is pretty slim. However, in many industrial and commercial the space above the suspended ceiling can be used as the return air for the HVAC system. Thus, in a fire, the toxic air from the burning cable would be drawn into the AC system and pumped directly into the breathing air for the building. In this case, you must use "plenum-rated" cable. The insulation is of a material that has a higher resistance to burning but mainly will not emit toxic fumes when burned. It also costs about 4 times the price of non-plenum cable. There are other cable jacket ratings to check out. Most properly manufactured cables (either raw or otherwise) will have a marking on the outer jacket indicating what type of fire rating it has. I find this web page to be the most easy to understand regarding those markings:
www.cablestogo.com/learning/library/standards-specs-certs/cable-jackets
Look for it on any cable you find and see where it falls in this page's tables.
The beauty and magic of the twisted pair cable is the ability to resist outside electrical noise. You can place it directly over power cables running to a welder and it won't care. I don't want to get into the physics of it all but suffice it to say this is why we are using this cable spec today. This is why all other cable specs have gone away. the twisted pair is extremely resistant to outside interference. I have yet to encounter an issue with cross-talk in any system I've worked on in my career. Maybe someone out there has, but I've not seen it in the real world. It may be possible to experience this in the Cat6 world that is becoming more prevalent but I'm not holding my breath. Is it better not to run data and power together? Sure. I try to avoid it as well. But the fact is that this very installation video shows a system that was currently operating just fine before I got there and it has a bunch of problems like that. It's also one of the problems with Ethernet in general: it is so robust that it can tolerate a LOT of misuse before it fails. I have yet to encounter any need for STP but I'm not the end-all, be-all of cabling installations. But in commercial and residential installs I've dealt with, never once was there any need for a shield around the twisted pairs. Maybe there are situations where it would be prudent and I'm open to hearing your stories about implementing STP but I'd really like to see situations where UTP was replaced because it wasn't working first!
I can't remember exactly the reason for stranded being better than solid but I recall it has something to do with the electrons running along the outside surface of the conductor so having a stranded cable provides a greater surface area. Maybe I was drunk at the time but that seems to be what it was. The main advantage to stranded in a networking situation is that it is flexible and more resistant to fatigue. Patch cables can be switched around, revised, etc. but the premises cabling should never be moved after installation.
Congrats on your A+!! I would suggest Network+ and I think there's one for security too. A great place for training I'm aware of in that field is ITPro.tv. Their training courses are much less expensive that any class you will find in town, you can watch their classes live pretty much for free if you want, and they have a bunch of other amenities for the price. If I were going in a network security direction, that's where I'd start. I'd also steer you in the direction of a great podcast called Security Now. It's my weekly classroom session with Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson where they will talk the high-level security issues (not for the layperson). Still, over all, I'd suggest you find what you love by getting your feet wet in the real-world environment you'd wind up with. You may find that you hate it! Better to know before getting into it.
Good luck with your journey!!
Interesting links, Tx. Mono is of course US funds so exchange and shipping and duties if their product is made in china or similar so I will look for a Canadian supplier, and they don't even include Canada as an international shipping destination! It might be a given though, I don't know.
As for everything else your real world experience is what I wanted anyways. ;0) I'll add that to others and figure it all out eventually!...though you make sense as to my way of thinking.
I am not a fan of torrent or other similar but I do like Usenet. I picked up Cabling, Complete Guide to Copper & Fiber Cabling 5th Ed. there and it is interesting. It even references dressing cable as a component of a certification for Data Cabling Installer from ETA. I checked and the exam is offered here but $850 US! Guess that's one cert I won't be getting on my own.
I have heard of Gibson and even get some emails from his site. I'll check out the webcast too. I am done the course already for Network+ and almost done the Security+ but not ready to write exams yet. I use a lot of different resources online in addition to texts. One is Safari Books online where there are some really good video courses on each certification. The more perspectives I get the better I understand.
I'm sure you'll hear from me again when I get through some other videos.
Haha. My church does that. They didn't want a whole room to be used for IT. So because of their genius, they decided to make the room into a prayer room. In the corner you have a noisy cabinet with switches, patch panels and servers. So if I want to do anything in there it has to be done when it is not in use. Very very annoying.
Now that's a new one for me!
I would've probably color coded the jumper cables so I would know what kind of device is being used, VoIP phones, Wifi, Ethernet, Security, etc. just to make it easier on future maintenance
Yeah, for a converged network like this, that may be a good idea but also note that the VOIP phone at the far end is also a network switch so it could be passing traffic on to the desktop workstation too.
How many were working with you to do the job? How long did the job take, start to finish? How are you doing with your OCD? Exceptional video!! Totally interesting!!
In other than a couple of instances, I was alone. I brought in a helper to assist with the mounting of the 200-lb UPS that went into the bottom of the rack, and there were a couple misc. situations where I needed someone at the opposite end of a line for a number of reasons but those were rare times on this job. The entire project took close to a year start to finish. There were long stretches of time away though. This office was almost never unoccupied and it made it very difficult to get blocks of time to shut it all down to do some of this work. That's the main source of the delay but the other was all of the negotiating and setup for implementing a 250+ phone system when the original one was not being properly managed. Lastly, the broadband feed too almost a year to be installed as the provider had to run several miles of fiber to get to this site.
you have more cables than the Death Star
Now I'm convinced no matter which part of the world you are, IT infrastructure is a mess in most of the places. Hi from India.....
Very good job 👏🏻 👍🏻✅ Kudos
good day to you , i 'm hoh from KL malaysia ,is a data and voice technician , for data cabling ,i think more or less is the same ,but for voice ,we use KRONE module c/w wall moulted frame for E-side ( equipment side ) and D -side (distribution side ) for cross connect ,it easy for cable labelling
Great work indeed. Done the right way, adapting as you go.
You called it a "Media converter", but I call it a "Multiplexer". Also, why use a cabinet? Seems like you will have more heat issues, especially with the hot air exhaust of the server facing the equipment on the patch panel side. Now if you installed proper heat shields and fans, it would solve that problem.
How much should I be prepared to spend on a overhaul like this?
He wrote aprox. 6 months kind of part time.
I really wonder how much do you charge for a project like this? For sorting that our other thank skills/knowledge you also need lots of patience and nerves of steel!
pfSense in a production environment. Is that really something that should be relied on over an enterprise solution? I'm not knocking what they have installed, I'm just wondering. I too run pfSense and have experienced issues with the internet dropping out at the modem from time to time and my pfSense box sometimes not picking up on the re-connection of an upstream link. I've read for days this is sometimes an issue and not bug related. What's your take on it?
Can you come and fix my work's server room and communication closets & hubbels in MN? I've debated offering to redo it on a weekend or something at least in the main server room
Hey mr Ninja, could you recommend a small networking cabinet for home please? big enough for a dell poweredge R610 and cisco switches please?
ENGINEERS THE UNSUNG HEROES OF OUR WORLD.
Never heard someone call UPS's UP's haha :D
I'm not sure where I got that term but it might just be a vernacular that is used around the IT community here in this part of the world.
Just as cringe-worthy as the term WAP. :P
dwC4u Seriously makes me wince. I'm a customer facing engineer for a wireless company and have to bite my tongue a LOT.
Lol I say the same thing
I say the same thing and clients actually know what I am talking about when I say it.
That looks like a Silent Night or Vigilant fire alarm system.
Ladder racks suspened from the structure above the ceiliing supports would make a much neater install. Cable combs make a MUCH neater install and get rid of so much excess cabling.
That would have been a very nice thing to do but the circumstances of this project ruled out such things. I never had the chance to comb out some of these large bundles due to time constraints to keep the network running during the promised time frames. The ladder rack would have been installed once the older equipment was removed but I wasn't around to see this job to it's conclusion.
Ton of work!
Server rooms should be clean rooms to a certain degree. With those servers and switches etc.. running all the time they just harbor dust. And we all know that shutting down servers and switches to dust them out is a crap shoot as most places can't afford to "be down".....
What a NIGHTMARE! @FiberNinja when you go into these places, is there any IT staff at all? At what point do you disperse the network out of a single room?
Not having an IT "staff" is usually the cause of situations like this. Most small business have absolutely no budget / need for a full-time or even part-time IT staff.
And as far as "single room" networking goes, it is the goal I always aim for. If I have to pull a few new lines to make it happen, I'd rather have every line be a "home run" than have multiple switches spread all over the building.
AWESOME WORK
Good Luck!
How much do you do? Electrical, IT (that's a gross oversimplification), wiring, wall-mounting, floor-bolting. How many years did it take you to acquire this skillset?
I don't know about this guy, but it took me about 10 years (on top of the logical configuration for routers, switches, servers, etc.).
Don't get into tech. It's a grossly underappreciated job. Get a trade. You'll be a master something in 5 years, you'll likely be in a union and you'll get paid overtime. None of that is in I.T.
Too late. "I didn't chose the tech life, the tech life chose me." But how is information technology not a trade? Also I'd prefer to not be part of a union, but that's a personal decision.
@@Jamesaepp I.T. is sort of like being a millwright I guess; so a trade it could be. And I agree - there's many reasons not to like unions. That said, all the traditional trades (electrician, plumber, etc.) have been around forever and hourly rates, overtime, on-call rates, pensions, etc. have been established and are common. None of that really exists in I.T.
Take this job as an example, this guy is there doing the work overnight. He's probably not getting overtime and has the privilege of showing up at opening time the next day to make sure everything works; so he'll likely be working most of the day after he's worked all night. Most of the jobs in I.T. I've worked, I've been salaried and none of that is paid. In my case my salary has always looked good on paper, but if you add up the O.T. and on call hours; it goes from $35/h to like $20/h; and you basically get no personal life. If he's consulting; clients are super fucking cheap and expect I.T. to be cheap just the same. YMMV, but my experience is mirrored by all the senior I.T. guys I know.
There are some complications. If you're not a licensed electrician, than getting paid to do electrical work might be illegal. Even doing networking runs out-of-house (as a contractor) might be illegal. All depends on the state and locale.
i wouldn't touch that job without a blank check. holy cow. not sure why you wouldn't put up a cable ladder or tray to bridge to the new rack location. velcro straps bruh, velcro!
This is a good "consumer-grade" video
whoa... I don't even network but even i could see the wildnes that was wild in that server room.
probably should have a failover router for an office that size. a lot of people stuck with nothing to do if there happens to be a single point of failure.
God, there were so ma y single points of failure in that place! Still, it wouldn't be that much extra effort.
Excellent result, learning loads along the way :)
Great job. Looks like a fun one to be hands on.
Oh it definitely was a fun project!
When he said the server was in a rolling cabinet like it was a bad thing I was confused, then he mentioned earthquakes, never even thought about stuff like that lol.
Hi. Whats happened to Fibre ninja? Would love to see more vids like this.