Installing a Physical Network Flashcards
structured cabling
standards developed by the TIA/EIA for the installation of network cables
components of structured cabling
telco room
horizontal cabling
work area
telco room
all cables from computers in the work area lead to this location
horizontal cabling
cables running horizontally from PCs to telco room
most of the cabling
run
a single piece of horizontal cabling
work area
office or cubicle that potentially contains a PC or phone
solid core cabling
single solid wire
better conductor
stiff & will break if handled too often or too roughly
stranded core cabling
several tiny wires bundled together
not as good of a conductor
more resistant to breaking
TIA/EIA specifies that horizontal cabling should always be [blank]
solid core
current standard for number of wires
4 pairs
CAT 5E & up are 4-pair-only cables
IDF
intermediate distribution frame
another name for telco room
width of all equipment racks
19 in
U
unit
1.75” height standard for rack-mountable equipment
1U, 2U, etc.
patch panel
box with a row of female ports in the front & permanent connections in the back
prevents continuous movement of solid core cables
110 block
110-punchdown block
special connector used by patch panels
wires connected using a punchdown tool
TX/RX reversed
inadvertent creation of cross-over cable by switching the sending / receiving wires
66-punchdown block
older technology used in about every commercial phone installation
produces more cross-talk
patch cable
short segment of straight-through UTP stranded core cable
[blank] also have CAT ratings
female RJ-45 wall jack outlets
TIA/EIA max allowed cable length
90 m
leaves 10 m for patch cable connection in work area
demarc
demarcation point
point at which exterior network connections enter the building
line between responsibility of ISP / phone provider & internal network
NIU
network interface unit
modem supplied by ISPs & phone providers for use in private home
serves as demarc
smart jacks
NIUs that have the ability to alert the provider when a disconnect occurs
may also set up a remote loop-back for remote testing
CPE
customer premise equipment
box (owned by customer) into which all cables from the demarc enter
primary distribution tool for the building
multiplexer
special CPE used in phone systems
LAN CPE
usually a powerful switch connected to a patch panel
patch panel typically leads to every telco in the building
vertical cross-connect
primary patch panel for a building
MDF
main distribution frame
room that stores the demarc, phone cross-connects, & LAN cross-connects
planning physical cable install
blue print / floor plan critical
map the runs
cable drop
location where the cable exits the wall in the work area
single run of cable running from telco room to a wall outlet
new run coming through a wall outlet that does not yet have a jack installed
determining location of telco room
distance - won’t require runs over 90 m
adequate power supply - dedicated circuit if possible
avoid humid locations
means of keeping room cool
access - stop unauthorized - allow authorized
scalability for growth
always [blank] patch panels
carefully label
crosstalk
signal sent down paired wire is picked up by other wires
NEXT
near-end crosstalk
closer to end of cable from which signal emanates
FEXT
far-end crosstalk
further from the end of the cable from which signal emanates
attenuation
weakening of a signal as it travels down a wire
signal becomes more susceptible to crosstalk
signal loss / degradation in fiber connections
various imperfections in the glass media
broken cables / open connections
dirty connectors
very small mismatches in clad or core
dispersion
spreading out of signal over long distances
modal distortion
dispersion caused by mismatch between propagation velocities between nodes
when signals sent at the same time arrive at different times - different in wavelength of signals
bend radius limitation
limit to which a fiber cable may be bent without creaking light leakage
light leakage
signal leaving the cable
fiber mismatches
cable technology must match switch technology
SMF connected to MMF
different signal wavelengths (1310 vs 1550)
OTDR
optical time domain reflector
tool used to measure continuity & determine break location
PCI
peripheral component interconnect
older, still common type of expansion slot
PCIe
PCI express
new type of expansion slot - more common
1 or 2 lane varieties
bonding (link aggregation)
ability to use multiple NICs for a single machine
at least doubles the speed of connection by reducing the burden on a single NIC
LACP
link aggregation control protocol
controls how multiple network devices send & receive data as a single connection
link lights
device is disconnected - always check link lights on NIC & switch first
multispeed devices usually have link lights that indicate speed
1-4 lights per NIC
switches - 1 light per port
solid light indicates good connection (no blinking)
many fiber NICs don’t have link lights
activity light
indicates network traffic
blinking in normal operation
no activity - no connection (false connection link light)
collision light
indicates there has been a collision
modern NICs don’t have these
loopback test
sends data out of NIC & tests to see if it comes back
true external loopback tests require loopback plug
why external loop back tests can be more accurate
some NICs only perform internal loopback tests - test internal circuitry - not connecting pins
UPS
uninterruptible power supply
back up battery that plugs into the wall
online UPS
continually charges a battery - powers computer components - computer up until battery is drained
SPS
standby power supply
charges battery - doesn’t power computer unless power goes out
toner
general term for tone generator & tone probe
tone generator
connects to cable with alligator clips or network jack
sends signal along wire at a certain frequency
tone probe
emits sounds when placed near a cable connected to the tone generator
