FEATURE: CABLING STANDARDS
CommScope: no one-
size-fits-all approach
to enterprise cabling
ICIO Africa caught up with CommScope’s Dave
Hughes at GITEX this year to discuss the key
considerations for those looking to install cabling
infrastructure and how CommScope are enabling
customers the flexibility and ease to scale to adapt
with today’s changing environment.
Q
A
42
As cabling
dictates how fast
a network can
operate, is there
a standard those
installing cabling
infrastructure
should look for in
terms of speed?
I’ll look at this from
three angles. Firstly,
the application
standards
which focus on
the emerging
technologies;
INTELLIGENTCIO
what’s next, what potential speeds
do we need for the future and how do
we design for that at a hardware and
application level? Secondly there are
the bodies such as the TIA and ISO
infrastructure/cabling standards, which
look at aspects such as tolerance for
the connectivity at the physical layer –
specific losses and lengths permitted,
application architectures, etc., which are
correlated to the specific application
standards. The third is concerned
with installation enablement, which
is more focused on best practices, but
again is associated with the TIA/ISO
infrastructure standards. I think the
latter – the training and enablement
aspect – is as important as the
cabling standards themselves. Cabling
standards give you the ‘This is what you
should do’, the best practice elements.
Organisations such as BICSI and CNET
really look at ‘How you should do
this’, the installation methods from an
installers’ perspective.
From a manufacturers’ point of
view, at CommScope we have our
own guidelines surrounding how
to install and design the systems.
So, it’s multifaceted. But from an
infrastructure perspective it’s about
aligning installation practices to meet
TIA/ISO etc, standards, to ensure
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