[Tfug] Cabling

[Zack Williams]

On Sat, Nov 30, 2013 at 3:52 PM, Bexley Hall <bexley401 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>  Zack (?) had pointed me at some "D rings" (?) some
> time ago.  But, I was unable to find them (didn't know what
> to search for).

Yeah, that was probably me. "D-Rings" = Distribution Rings. I buy
these at Border States Electric supply, near Park & Ajo.  They're
usually steel or aluminum, and a 2"x2" one costs $1 or so, last time I
bought them.   They work great if you're looking to run cables along
walls/ceilings, but still have it accessible for maintenance.

Best practice IMO is to use those and double sided strip Velcro you
can cut to length rather than zip ties.  Zip ties installed too tight
can damage the cable therein - Velcro doesn't have the problem and can
easily be removed and reinstalled.   I've also seen Velcro with a
screw grommet and plastic loop on one end where you can screw the
strip into wood or similar, then strap the cable to it.

I'm thinking the other thing you're mentioning is either split loom
tubing (black with a slit down the side and generally horrible) or
Innerduct (orange, much harder, with a pull string, available at
Border States).  I tend to only use Innerduct when dealing with fiber.
  There's also TechFlex tubing, which is basically a braided cable
sleeve (looks/works something like a "Chinese finger puzzle"), which
can be cut to length and melted with a heat gun/hot knife if you need
to pretty up or keep together multiple cables in an exposed cable run.

I'm with Tyler on custom patch cables - I nearly never use them.
Premade cabling is so cheap and already tested, that unless you have
some weird need (strange length, passing through a hole smaller than
the size of a cable end, or absolutely can't have slack anywhere), it
isn't worth making them.  I keep a Fibonacci-esque set of premade
cables sizes, color coded by length: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15, 25, 50

Longer runs (basically anything over 50 feet, or terminating in a jack
- always use keystone jacks in your patch panels and wallplates),
sure, pull bulk cable and put on ends.

YMMV based on your specific environment, but that's what I use and
recommend.   Having a lot of different solutions just gives you more
options.

I'll leave everyone with this link: http://www.reddit.com/r/cableporn

I'm out.

- Zack