What problems are lurking in your computer closet? |
||
|
Above - A real-life computer room before redesign by EGK Systems. There were many problems.
Below, after complete rewire and room design, everything is bolted down and clean. Wires come through the floor via a removable hatch.
The un-retouched photo above shows the custom raised base cabinets. each cabinet has 19" standard racks and doors on the front and rear. The cabinets are angled out from the wall to allow easy access to both the front and rear of the system. The photo was taken before putting new baseboards on - those are NOT wires in the background!
. The entire process was designed, installed and tested without any downtime to the company. Since the rewire and redesign of the computer room, we became the "Maytag Man" in a way because most of the client's network problems went away. Bolting it all down helps a lot, however the biggest boost in reliability came from the new wiring. If you would like to get your computer room into shape, from wire to design through planning and migration, or if you need a hand supervising the work - just call EGK Systems for help. We do the design and consulting, however we do not do the actual wiring. Network wiring should be installed by a specialized, licensed contractor.
|
Network wiring should not be an afterthought!"It works better if you plug it in" - Murphy's Computer LawComputer network problems are often caused by faulty wiresComputer networks depend upon physical connections for their operation. If a network is not wireless, then it needs wiring to allow computers to share information. If the wiring is loose or intermittently disconnected, people will have trouble accessing shared information. If the wiring is of poor quality, electrical signals from nearby equipment could force your network computers to resend information many times until it goes through - a situation that degrades performance for everyone on your network. Always make sure that you are using wire and connectors that are built for the type of network you have instead of using standard telephone wires and jacks. It is common to see "printer problems" arise that are actually network wiring problems - when the wiring is poor, a user's computer can "think" that a network printer is offline or malfunctioning when in fact the connection to the printer is faulty. Sometimes people think that their server is slow when the real culprit is wire that was incorrect or poorly installed. Good installation quality is essentialInstallation quality makes a big difference in reliability. The typical twisted wires of a local Ethernet must be trimmed close to the punch-down point to ensure adequate protection from stray electrical signals. Jacks should be mounted firmly into the wall or patch panel. Many installers are lazy when it comes to carefully installing jacks and wire connections. Cables should not be bent severely or crushed beneath over-tight cable ties, otherwise wires may be broken inside the insulation, which creates invisible defects. If you allow the installer to do sloppy work, it will cost you over and over again in the future. Always inspect the work of your installers. A poorly installed network cable system is a waste of materials, time and money. Hire a professional to do the work. If you do not know how to properly inspect the work of the wiring contractor, hire a consultant to inspect the wiring contractor's work. Ten or fifteen minutes more during installation can save hours later, a few dollars extra for quality installation can save thousands if your business uses its computers heavily. A good design that bolts everything in its proper place helps too. Proper labeling saves time and moneyInsist upon clearly labeled wiring with tags that won't fall off. Make sure that every wire, connection jack or fixture is labeled in a legible, accessible way. Label EVERYTHING at both ends of the connection and adopt a concise naming convention. Having to trace and hunt down wires during network service can take time, which costs you money and perhaps downtime during migrations or upgrades. If you are labeling your wires for yourself, remember that you might not be the next person to work on the system; you also might forget what you did if years have passed since the last time you worked on the wiring. Label, make notes and keep things tidy - it will pay off in the end. I'll never forget the time when the president of a company and I spent hours tracing where the wires were in his building (prior to rewiring the whole building!) - it was a costly and frustrating experience to untangle the mess. The importance of good network documentationJust where does jack number 453 go? Is it a telephone, fax, computer or terminal port? If you keep a your documentation up to date each time you add jacks or move equipment, you can make moving or adding new equipment easy in the future while preventing costly mistakes. There are many commercial programs that work to automate the documentation process, however if you have a small network of 50 or less computers an Excel spreadsheet will do just fine provided you keep it up-to-date. If you don't know what to put on the documentation, consider hiring a professional consultant to create the first documentation set for you. You might even wish to keep your network documentation on your in-house web server if you have one. If you plan the job before you do it, documentation should be a breeze. What you should demand from your cable installerAlways demand a PRINTED test report of your network. Some cable installers state that they do a "cable scan", which implies that they will use sophisticated diagnostic equipment. All such sophisticated equipment that I know of is able to print out results of important tests. If your cable installer says that they will do a cable scan and then cannot produce the test reports, chances are good that the installer used a cheap continuity tester instead. A continuity tester tests whether wires are not broken or mismatched, however that is only part of the picture. Network test equipment helps to prove that your new wiring can handle the speed of your network and resist interference. Proper testing can reveal hidden faults that cause network performance to be slow or unreliable. Since your installer is a pro, he or she should be able to afford the thousands of dollars such equipment can cost. If your installer put new jacks into your wall, have your installer leave the covers off for your pre-final inspection. Have a close look at the jacks on the back side - are the wires neat and secure? Is the outlet secured well to the wall? Are ALL the wires connected? If anything isn't right, get it corrected because many installers will refuse to correct such problems after they leave or have been paid. Insist upon written proof of a good job before you pay the installer.
|
|
