Sample Photos—Computer/Communications Room, Before and After
For a general description of this central hub location, see Computer/Communications Room Components. The before and after photos and descriptions below show how this particular room was reorganized as part of an overall Local Area Network upgrade to the facility.
BEFORE
While we’ve seen worse, this communications area had items loosely scattered about the room amid tangles of cables. A number of the patch panel connections worked poorly or had failed altogether.
Above: Modems, serial adapters, and VoIP gateways in a disorganized and unprotected pile.
Above: This old switch had limited speed, no remote management, and no expansion capabilities, plus assorted patch cords that were difficult to maintain and troubleshoot.
AFTER
Our cleanup and reorganization included the following steps:
- We replaced the old switch with a new managed, high speed switch that dramatically improved performance and maintainability:
- We installed high speed fiber optic backbones to compatible switches in four other key locations (such as the maintenance room wiring closet) to replace multiple copper runs that were too long and prone to electromagnetic interference from factory noise sources.
- By aggregating the runs over fiber we also eliminated the tangle of patch cords and freed up switch ports for local connections.
- We configured remote management via the compatible WAN router so that we could perform upgrades, changes, and diagnostics via the Internet, eliminating the considerable time and expense of most on-site service calls.
- Now we can even remotely detect shorts or opens in all twisted pair Ethernet connections to computers, printers, factory presses, and other devices.
- We mounted the new LAN switch and the WAN router in a single rack-mount enclosure on the same backboard as the other central communication components (demarcs and PBX). The standalone boxes (modems and VoIP gateways) were secured on top of the enclosure. Benefits include:
- Cables shorter and anchored to minimize damage, one of the most common causes of system failure.
- Switch close to the ceiling to protect the critical fiber optic backbone cable and other connections, while providing clear visibility of diagnostic lights and access to ports.
- We replaced all cables with color-coded, high-speed patch cords keyed to an assignment chart for fast diagnostics and uniform expansion.
- We identified the pager connection and implemented the pager boost feature as discussed in the pager project.
- We re-used all of the remaining hardware including the original patch panel and walljacks in order to minimize upgrade costs, but with updated labeling, color coding, and documentation for consistent maintenance with the new components.