For many companies, their employees are the backbone of their business. Without your employees, you won’t be successful. That said, every company depends on technology in order to perform daily operations. You could say that without technology, your employees can’t perform optimally; thus, you still won’t be successful. The thing is, many companies have a wide array of technology for their day-to-day work. Computers, laptops, modems, routers, switches, and servers; all of which they pack into a data center. One of the best moves a company can make to enhance their technology and network efficiency is re-cabling its data center. While re-cabling a data center may sound easy, it’s not a straightforward task; there’s a lot of room for error. Luckily, we’ve been in your shoes before and we’re going to teach you what to consider when re-cabling a data center. If you’d like to learn more, our experts break down everything you need to know and more in the comprehensive guide below.
Identify the Reason You’re Re-Cabling and Plan Accordingly
Chances are, you’re experiencing some issues if you’re thinking about re-cabling your data center. The reason could be common such as slow internet or frequent downtime. Alternatively, the reason you’re re-cabling may be more technical, such as increasing enterprise storage or global IP traffic; both of which are growing in popularity. If you don’t know why you’re re-cabling the data center, then your re-cabling attempt may be in vain. Planning is imperative to a successful data center build and re-build, and the first step of planning is naming the reason for the re-build.
Think about it, if you don’t know why you’re doing what you’re doing, how could you possibly know what to do? To determine the reason (or reasons) why, you must recognize the problem. Is your internet slow or is your company growing and you need to support more devices? Each scenario would require a different course of action and without planning ahead of time, you just might waste your time and money.
Use Available Resources To Your Advantage
Unless you’re an IT professional, nobody expects you to know what you’re doing when re-cabling a data center. Even if you have a small data center with only a couple of equipment racks, re-cabling can get complicated quickly. Luckily, we live in the information age where you can learn almost anything for free, and there are plenty of resources to help you. When it comes time to re-cable, you should become familiar with ANSI and TIA, as they determine cabling standards in the United States. Both organizations also have a ton of information and resources available to you for free—take advantage of that. Of course, you can’t overlook YouTube when it comes to “how-to” videos, but beware. You must be cautious when following a YouTube video, as there are just as many (if not more) bad videos out there for every good one. Make sure you’re taking information from a reliable source. You can also contact CableWholesale if you encounter problems, as our team offers free technical assistance. Obviously, there’s no shortage of information and resources available—don’t make the mistake of attempting to re-cable your data center on your own.
Don’t Be Cheap With Your Cables
Your cables (amongst other hardware) can make or break your data center, network reliability and performance, and information security. Far too many people make the mistake of thinking, “an Ethernet cable is just an Ethernet cable” and purchase whatever cable is cheapest—but they couldn’t be more wrong. Not all Ethernet cables are made the same. Even more so, not all companies sell the same quality Ethernet cable. You must do your research and ensure you’re using high-quality cables for your data center. There are companies out there that have no problem using low-quality or even old and used copper wires and putting a new jacket over them. At CableWholesale, all of our cables are made with new top-quality materials. Whether you need an indoor or outdoor Cat6 cable or HDMI cables; we always guarantee the best cables available.
Take the Opportunity To Practice Cable Management
Most data centers have dozens (if not hundreds) of cables, each of which serves a specific purpose. You can imagine how easy it is to get cables mixed up or snag a cable out of its respective place. To prevent downtime, you must take cable management seriously. Cable management is obviously organized, but there are several advantages of having a solid cable management system in place. First, having your cables organized and documented makes resolving a network issue much easier and faster. Additionally, if you implement cable management, you can easily replace faulty cables in the event they fail. If all your cables are tangled, the duration of downtime will only increase and unorganized cables are a headache to sort through.
Consider Adopting a Structured Cabling Approach
Companies can benefit tremendously if they organize their data centers with structured cabling in mind. Structured cabling encourages cable management and follows several standards from the organizations mentioned earlier. Additionally, structured cabling is excellent for companies looking to grow. Between the standards and organization, you can easily add more nodes with the aid of structured cabling. After all, what company doesn’t want to grow and serve more customers?
Regardless if you’re a small business or a company with thousands of employees, you need technology and data centers to operate. Moreover, if you’re a startup company, there’s a good chance you don’t even have a data center yet—even better. Learning what to consider when re-cabling a data center early is only going to make your life easier in the future. Don’t forget to reference our guide here and the other reliable resources mentioned earlier. It’s vital that you get your data center setup properly the first time. If you fail to plan ahead of time, you’re going to have a hard time getting your data center up and running without it causing a headache. The good news is that you can do it; data centers only get complicated if you complicate them. In other words, you have the power to make your data center re-cabling or initial setup very easy.
CableWholesale is your one-stop-shop whether you need switches, Ethernet cables, or equipment racks. Our team consists of industry experts with first-hand knowledge of what you need to make your data center excellent. We refuse to settle for anything less than high-quality when developing our products. You can rest assured knowing that you’ll receive top-notch quality products and customer service when you shop with CableWholesale. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us today. We look forward to working with you.
