What is Cable Management?
We’ve all seen it whether at home or in a business setting, messy cables. More so for businesses than residential, the importance of cable management is major. From a small IT closet to a large data center, proper cable management is a win for everybody.
What is Cable Management?
Cable Management is used to describe the way cabling is routed, organized, and supported. This involves organizing your cabling and connectivity hardware in a way that makes it easy to identify components and troubleshoot problems. This makes future upgrades and repairs easier while keeping your IT spaces professional.
Why Is Cable Management Important?
Efficiency
When organizing electrical or optical cables in a cabinet, a proper installation will save time and can decrease issues down the line. Cable installation projects vary but for the most part, you could see how difficult it could become to properly situate each cable to make it easy to work with. Just like anything else in life, problems will arise down the line, and having too many unorganized cables it can make identifying the problem hard or even nearly impossible. That is why we say cable management is crucial for any organization. Power consumption is also a great concern in data closets. Cables, and patch cables, installed in a messy or unorganized manner lead to heat buildup. While it is not enough to cause a fire, HEAT=RESISTANCE, RESISTANCE=HIGHER POWER BILLS. In small applications, it's not that big of a deal. In larger applications, companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars keeping their data centers cool. Cabling installation practices are some of the things they look at to reduce energy consumption costs.
Safety
Safety is always a priority and proper cable installation is no different. The National Electrical Code requires 3 feet of clearance around active electrical equipment. In-network closets across the nation, this is ignored. This leads to tight spaces and even potential injury as technicians contort themselves inside of data rooms trying to maintain the networks we all need. Improperly installed cable also can be a tripping hazard. This not only leads to injury but oftentimes can cause damage to a cable or associated equipment, which leads to downtime, which leads to lost productivity, etc, etc,...you get the point.
Diagnosis
We said it before and we will say it again. Identifying a network problem in a sea of cables is difficult even for an experienced technician. Throwing in unmarked or loosely organized cables is a sure way to guarantee a costly service ticket. Correct cable management from the beginning can make life easier for installers and clients alike. When going to troubleshoot the problem with your cable, an organized network room using various color codes can help make resolving those issues easier and more timely.
Air Flow
While cooling has already been mentioned, it is of such importance that it should be mentioned again. An important aspect of network functionality and longevity is the proper flow of air during and after an installation. Proper airflow around your network cabling is essential for maintaining operational efficiency in your network. Not only does good airflow increase energy efficiency, but keeping temperatures low and consistent is beneficial to cabling and network hardware performance. If cabling gets too hot, termination points can expand, cables can lose efficiency, and network speeds can slow. In extreme cases, temperatures may reach dangerous levels. Bundling your cables systematically and properly will open up a path for air to circulate and prevent temperatures from rising.
The low voltage industry is always changing (the only thing that is constant). New categories and best practices are always being modified and improved. Proper cable management creates a better environment for upgrades later down the line when and if your organization needs it. Having the most current technologies helps your business work more efficiently and properly. Check your current cable installation or network room and evaluate whether re-organization can and should be done. If you are looking for a provider to assist in best practices and completion, reach out to a team member today.