What is Structured Cabling?

What is structured cabling?

“Structured cabling” is basically an organised approach to cabling your network.  It provides cabling infrastructure capabilities throughout your building. It delivers a reliable, predictable and flexibility service, allowing maximum service performance, enabling multiple devices to be attached and gives scope for your business to grow.

When compared with traditional point to point cabling – where a cable is run to and from devices that need connectivity, structured cabling has many more benefits.

Within a structured cabling system, network hardware such as patch panels mean that devices can be connected easily, but also without needing new cables pulling each time a device needs to be moved or taken out. Instead, all patch panels are cabled to a server or network room where all device MACs (moves, adds and changes) take place with the use of patch leads. These create circuits within the distribution point for the devices, from desktops and servers to wireless access points and telephones, to connect easily to the network.

So what are the benefits of having structured cabling solutions for your business?

Well, there are a number of reasons:

1. It looks tidy – less cables trailing round the office
2. It’s easier to manage – you don’t need to trace cables and wires round your office as the changes can be managed far more effectively
3. Lower maintenance costs – fibre optic and copper (Cat 5, Cat 6) cables very rarely fail, but if they do then it is far easier to identify and replace the faulty cable with a structured cabling network
4. Faster speeds – data can be moved around the network far more quickly which is vital in the modern age for the transmission and download of larger files that point to point networking may struggle with.
5. Less chance of downtime – network downtime can cost money in terms of lost productivity. A properly documented cable plan and tidier cabling means that there is less chance for human error, which can have catastrophic business consequences.
6. Ability to grow – structured cabling allows a higher bandwidth which gives more flexibility and capacity as your business grows.

So really, a structured cable network is a business necessity. A properly planned and installed structured cabling network benefits in both the short term and long term through ease of maintenance, reduced down time, increased reliability and faster speeds whilst allowing your business to embrace constant changes in technology and connectivity requirements.

If you need advice or help with your structured cabling requirements, then please contact us.