Cable Wars: Cat 6 vs Cat 7 vs. Cat 5e?

stone22 asks: "My company has decided to install a gigabit link. This will be initially used only for testing purposes, and on the longterm as a backbone for our corperate network. We allready decided to use copper, but what standard ? I've heard about problems using cat 7 cables (cross talk, bulky cables, non-standard connectors) so I could really use some hints from all you cabling experts out there."

Re:Sigh.

[Dahan]

Seriously, in our lab tests, Cat 7 DID have some problems with a number of our servers

Maybe because there's no such thing as Cat7, despite what cable manufacturers might like you to believe? I could put crap on a string and call it Cat7 cable. Category 6 [tiaonline.org] cable is the latest standard for twisted pair cable. While Category 7 may be in the works, it's just marketing for now.

And why did the first post get rated a "4" when it posted info from a NIC manual saying NOTHING of value about cables or comparisons?

It made it up to 5, actually, because it was both informative and insightful. If you want to run GigE, you'll be using NICs and switches. In which case, RTFM for the NICs and switches and they'll tell you what kind of cable to use. What do you mean his post said "NOTHING of value about cables or comparisons"? His post explicitly said Cat5e is what you need if you want to go with copper, but he would recommend fiber:

I would also say that fiber is a better backbone that Cu, and CAT 5e has always worked FINE with GigE - because that's what the fucking manual says.

Sounds like you were more interested in bitching about his post than actually reading what he had to say.

but I suppose it's always nice to have a first-hand confirmation from someone who's actually looked at the question.

And isn't a first-hand confirmation from the manufacturer of the network equipment you'll be using even better than that?