Choosing what type of Cable to run in your datacenter
by admin on Aug.18, 2006, under Datacenter
Check out my new Cabling Info Page. It is always hard to know if on your next server install should I run Cat 5e cable or Cat 6? Should I buy Cat 6 patch cables? Is Cat6 worth the extra price compared to Cat 5e? Will Cat 5e run GigE, what about 10GigE? Well not all of the questions are answer in the white papers I put on this site but a good portion of them are. There is some good information on the lifetime cost of running Cat 5e vs. Cat 6 vs. Cat 7.
One thing I have noticed just recently is companies like Best Buy are not even selling Cat 5e anymore, Cat 6 is the future and its prices are coming down fast. So when you get a chance check out this new page. One other comment I would like to make because I have seen this done before. If you can’t terminate cable to spec, don’t cable 
and don’t buy Cat 6. No matter how much shielding your cable has if you don’t put the ends on right your cable is worthless.
August 18th, 2006 on 2:16 pm
we’re implementing cat6 as our standard…btw, am trying to find an excel-based tool/spreadsheet someone might already have created to help track multi-site hardware installations w/ circuit orders dates…kind of a ‘punch’ list… any ideas ?
August 18th, 2006 on 4:33 pm
I don’t know of any downloadable ones. I have seen Qwest use such a tool for their circuits that looked really good but that is it. If I run across anything like that I will post on this site.