cabling in data centers...

[nageov3t]

why is it that cabling in data center's (or really, any environment where you've got a ton of wired servers in a relatively small space) always seems to be either a complete mess / explosion of random cables filling up every available space or tied so tightly together that it's impossible to trace, replace, or pull a cable without it becoming a major project?

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Maybe because that is simply how the person in charge of it wanted it? Each method has its advantages and disadvantages.

 

[ultimatebob]

Try sticking 200 Ethernet cables into a network rack the size of a phone booth, and come up with a way of routing them that's easy to work with. And by the way... you don't have permission to unplug ANY of them because it would take the servers connected to them offline.

It's not easy, man.

 

[homercles337]

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Maybe because that is simply how the person in charge of it wanted it? Each method has its advantages and disadvantages.

QFT.

edit: I wonder how OPie cables his internals with his PC.

 

[Fritzo]

There's no way to neatly add new equipment and integrate it neatly with the existing cabling---this technology has eluded IT for years

 

[SSP]

silly string

 

[OdiN]

We have wire tracers and toners and stuff for a reason.

If there is a bad cable, usually it's just marked and a new one added. The old left there with the end chopped off or something, until it becomes necessary to do cleanup work.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: SSP
silly string

Okay, THAT is just stupid. There is no reason for that type of a setup to be in that much disarray.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: OdiN

Originally posted by: SSP
silly string

Okay, THAT is just stupid. There is no reason for that type of a setup to be in that much disarray.

Bah... My patch panel at work looks even worse than that! It's three racks, with a bunch of cables running from the first rack to the third rack through the middle one. All of the cables are different colors, too... It looks like giant mass of blue, yellow, red, and gray spaghetti

 

[spidey07]

Because of poor planning and poor installation. The only reason why a data center is a mess of cabling is because the person in charge of it is an idiot.

Go into a properly run/designed data center and you'll notice a few things.

1) EVERYTHING is labeled. every cable at any junction on BOTH ends with both labels containing both end locations. there just isn't any reason why one would have to trace a cable, it's all documented.