For your commercial operations to run efficiently, you need a dependable and expansive network that drives all the connected devices in your company — AV systems, data centers, Wi-Fi networks, telephones, lighting control panels, security gadgets, and access controls are just some of them. Commercial structured cabling is the essential foundation of your network, providing a seamless connection between cables, hardware, and equipment to ensure constant functionality. Structured cabling is composed of six interdependent components that collaborate to sustain the network. Learn more about them below!
Entrance Facilities
Where does the public internet service provider or private telecom’s cabling end and your building’s own network start? It all happens at the entrance facility. Entrance facilities include cables, connecting hardware, protective devices, demarcation points, and anything else you need to join the cabling systems. The exact places where the cables transition are referred to as demarcation points, or simply “demarcs”. From the demarcation points on, your organization (or that of the third-party property owner) is liable for all cabling costs and concerns.
Equipment Room
At the equipment room, you can find a wide range of essential components such as switches, servers, routers, data processing hardware, power supplies, and anything else needed to support all your telecommunications needs. By serving as the main junction for your structured cabling system, this central spot provides an efficient and organized solution to all of your needs. To ensure your electronic hardware operates properly and avoids damage due to heat, the equipment room is cooled for optimal temperature regulation.
Backbone Cabling
Creating a secure network and maximizing efficiency for your business requires the installation of Backbone cabling, otherwise known as Vertical Cabling. This intricate system of cables links equipment rooms, telecom closets, access provider points, and entrance facilities to ensure uninterrupted connectivity. As its name implies, this “backbone” serves as a unifying force that binds every component of the system to form a single infrastructure. To ensure that commercial cabling is installed and organized in a systematic, efficient way, cabling contractors abide by the ANSI/TIA-568 and ISO/IEC 11801 standards.
Telecommunications Room/Enclosure
A telecommunications room shares many of the same features as an equipment room, providing a similar level of functionality. These comprehensive enclosures, whether they are individual rooms or specialized cabinets, are the homes for termination points and cross-connects for backbone cables as well as horizontal ones. Telecommunications rooms are often outfitted with patch cords, connecting hardware, and jumpers as necessary components. The telecommunications room might also house telecommunications hardware that operates only in a small section of the building. If your building has multiple stories, you must have one telecommunications room per story to ensure maximum connectivity.
Horizontal Cabling
Horizontal cabling serves as the essential physical link between telecommunications rooms and information outlets in the work area, providing a vital connection. This technology seamlessly interconnects every information source to the primary framework.
Work Area
The work area is an organized workspace where the end-user equipment can be easily accessed. Outfitted with devices like telephones and computers, workstations are equipped to plug into information outlets located in the wall.
ADD Communications: Your Trusted Cabling Contractor
Whether you’re starting a project from scratch or expanding an existing system, ADD Communications is here to help. ADD Communications is North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia’s top choice for commercial cabling and fiber optic wiring. If you need commercial structured cabling services, contact us today to schedule a consultation with our experts.
