Ask Slashdot: Clever Cable Management? 374
sooth... writes "What clever ways have network administrators found to cleanly sort varying length patch cables within IDFs, BDFs, and MDFs or simply wiring closets? Pictures or examples are welcome."
Since not everyone is a network administrator, let's expand this to include efficient or clever management of other cables. How do you route your computer cables (internal or external), your entertainment center cables, or any other corded setup?
Tie wraps (Score:0, Insightful)
or whatever they're called in your local slang.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_tie
Re:Do not forget Plastic Spiral Cable Wrap! (Score:5, Insightful)
FYI, don't use lmgtfy in links. The WHOLE POINT of links is to assist people in locating information, and you're kind of being a dick who can't use the web by NOT providing that assistance (no offense, it applies to us all). So providing that assistance indirectly, with a slow, tedious lmgtfy link is almost as bad.
The first step is ... (Score:4, Insightful)
Like any addiction, the first step is to admit that you've got a problem. :)
Seriously, though. You've got to realize that whatever the result of your efforts is, it's still going to be non-ideal, even if it looks as uniform and as neat as humanly possible. The truth is, no matter of initial neatness will prevent someone from coming along and fucking it up, whether unintentionally and with good cause or because they're a lazy git.
At home, I will label both ends of a cable that is likely to be sitting in a pile with other cables (usually - particularly when they're likely to be confused with others and when tracing the cable will be difficult). Just a simple file folder label or piece of tape, usually. Mostly, I don't worry about it, because at home "oops, I unplugged the system" only bothers me and/or my family. At work, it's another story: everything you do should be done to help mitigate downtime and improve your ability to effectively work with the cabling.
On server racks, I prefer a handful of techniques. There are a couple principles I abide by:
* always assume the rack will get messy over time
* your original intent will not be the intent of the next person to come along
* never assume a standard, because everyone has a different idea of how things should be done, and first impressions to that effect can be wrong
* standards only make sense when the implementation requirements/specifications/etc. are identical/universal, eg. with electrical wiring or in a large hosting facility where everything is the same or there is a standard which can be applied to. This isn't usually the case with most colocated racks or with most server rooms, in my experience.
* "Do things right the first time so you don't have to do them again". This applies generally to things like figuring out which cable goes where. "Right" is not necessarily the most aesthetic or "neat" option, but it is the laziest and most time-efficient, with an eye for long-term maintenance.
The techniques are:
For ethernet:
* ethernet should not be bundled approximately 5 per group.
* ethernet cable should be a rainbow of color, with different colors in each bundle. Eg: a bundle should have blue, green, red, white, etc. not multiples of any given color. This helps drastically when determining which cable goes to which system.
* Jack ends should be labeled descriptively and dated at the time of labeling. The description should describe the other end of the cable, not the end you're labeling (eg: sw2j5 for the 2nd NIC in server 5 that goes to switch 2 jack 5, or 'svr5n2' on the other end).
* use generic (not the 'fancy' ones) velcro straps to bundle the cable
* do not bundle the bundles, especially with velcro (because it will stick to the bundle velcro and make things a mess). To hold them up and away, I prefer using 6" ball bungees (http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Bungee-Cord-6-White/dp/B000S5TWWO) or similar,
* DO NOT USE HORIZONTAL CABLE MANAGEMENT PRODUCTS. DO NOT. They make a mess of things and, more often than not, get in the way more often than not. The one exception to this is on a part of the rack where you've got a patch panel or switching which is likely to remain consistent through several server iterations.
* Do not pull the Ethernet to one side of the rack only. "Alternate" the bundles of ethernet to each side (like pigtails, sorta).
For power:
* Do not use the 6'+ power cables unless you need to. The cables are big enough and cheap enough to buy them in shorter lengths so you do not need to bundle them as much and the bundles are neater.
* Label both ends with the name of the system in question (UPS side) and the UPS in question (server side).
* Color code, if possible, by UPS. IE, if you have 2 PSUs per host, the first PSU gets black cables which go to one UPS, and the second gets grey cables which go to the other.