Local Area Network (LAN) Cabling Brick

Structured cabling standards have been developed and published by NIH. Figure 2 and Figure 3 in the Patterns section of this report illustrate a high-level architectural standard that should be used as a guide when cabling network devices. The cabling standards document referenced in the LAN Cabling brick in the following table should be used for specific implementation guidelines.

For the next five to 10 years, NIH will continue to deploy Category 6 cabling for new installations and does not need to consider deploying higher-grade cabling.

• Category 6 solutions typically are priced at a 15–25 percent premium (including materials and labor) above Category 5e. When comparing the costs of cabling solutions, it is important to consider both materials and labor.
• Category 6 cabling delivers a usable bandwidth twice that of Category 5e. The Category 6 standard specifies a higher-quality cable that will more reliably support gigabit speeds and should be the cable of choice for all new NIH network installations.
• Category 6 also provides additional tolerance for some common cabling problems, such as external noise or sloppy installations. Thus, a Category 6 installation will result in fewer instances of labor intensive cable troubleshooting.

Compared to other network resources, cable and wiring have long life spans, typically lasting seven to 12 years, and sometimes as long as 15 years. Therefore, at least two generations of network technologies are likely to be deployed over whatever cabling system NIH chooses to deploy today.

Poor cabling decisions are costly and potentially disruptive. Correcting cabling mistakes can cost anywhere from 140 percent to 250 percent of the original cost if it needs replacing once it is already in the wall or ceiling.

NIH should focus its backbone on multiple 1Gbps-over-fiber links, leading to 10Gigabit-over-fiber as traffic increases and prices decline. Alternatively, NIH can deploy copper where there is insufficient fiber to run multiple 1,000Mbps links.

• Amp and Corning have typically been vendors for cabling.
• CIT must certify against cabling standards any work that CIT does not perform or complete.
• Tactical and strategic products were selected to leverage NIH's investment in products that are a proven fit for NIH's known future needs. Leveraging baseline products in the future will minimize the operations, maintenance, support and training costs of new products.
• Some baseline products have been designated retirement and containment. These products are either not as widely or successfully deployed at NIH, or they do not provide as much functionality, value, or Total Cost of Ownership as the selected tactical and strategic products.