Many factors influence your choice of data cabling system. Before you choose a particular system, have a detailed discussion with your commercial electrician so that he or she gets a very clear understanding of what you current and future needs are. This article discusses some of the areas that your discussion should cover.
Your Bandwidth Requirements
One way to decide what kind of data cabling you need is to think about your bandwidth requirements. A network that has few workstations on it (such as 20 users) may need a smaller bandwidth than a network that has many users (such as 200 users). Your future bandwidth needs should also be factored in so that your commission data cabling will meet your current and future needs. For instance, if your company is going to double its employee size over the coming three years, you should pick data cables that can transmit that new load once the employees increase in number.
The best way to assess your current bandwidth requirements is to use software that analyzes networks. This software can be purchased or you can use free varieties available on the internet. For instance, Windows Monitor is available for all servers that run using Windows. This software will give you a very accurate picture of your bandwidth requirements which you can use to plan your future requirements based on the current data.
The Network Environment
Different data cabling materials are suited to different environments. For instance, optical fiber data cabling is very good to use in hospital environments because it will not be affected by the electromagnet fields generated by equipment like EMR (electromagnetic resonance) machines. Twisted copper cabling like cat5 is ideal for environments where there is a lot of dirt (such as when cables are laid underground in an outdoor environment). This is because these cables are not susceptible to being scratched or damaged by the dirt. Thus, you need to discuss your environment with the commercial electrician so that you choose cabling that is best suited to that environment.
Your Budget
Different date cabling materials are priced differently so how far your budget can go will influence the cabling method you choose. For instance, optic fiber cable is the most expensive but is very good for high bandwidth requirements. Twisted copper data cabling is available in many versions like cat5 and cat6 with the higher number indicating an improvement over the lower number cabling material. If you have a limited budget, you may be compelled to get cat5 cables instead of the superior cat6 that can withstand a higher level of electromagnetic interference. Discuss your budget with the commercial electrician and pick data cabling that fits within your budget.
The three factors above need to be discussed thoroughly so that the data cabling system picked seamlessly meets all your current and future network requirements.For more information, check out companies such as J.A.G. Power & Data Solutions.
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