I’m exhausted. I’ve been pulling fiber for the last two days. All part of an infrastructure upgrade.
Normally, pulling cable in a modern datacenter is pretty easy. This is not a modern datacenter.
The original cable runs were CAT6 with RJ45 connectors. When the cables were installed, the installation had to be nondestructive. No holes in walls, no holes in floors. Hide the cables as best you can.
One of the cables we removed was to a defunct workstation. It had been run across the floor and then covered with a protective layer to keep it from getting cut or snagged. The outer insulation had been ripped away. There was bare copper showing. Fortunately, that particular workstation hasn’t been in place for a few years.
The backbone switch was mounted in the basement. Not a real issue. The people who pulled some of the last cable didn’t bother to put in any cable hangers. So it had loops just dangling.
There were drops that could not be identified. Those are now disconnected, but nobody complained, so nothing was taken offline.
I’ve found a new favorite cable organizer.
Cable Management Wire Organizer
These are reusable. They open fully and will hold many cat6 and even more fiber. They have the 3M foam double-sided tape on them. This works great against smooth, clean surfaces.
The place where they shine is that they also have a hole designed for a #6 screw. In places where there were no smooth surfaces, much less clean surfaces. The sticky held them in place long enough to drive a screw.
There are no more dangling cables.
My only hope is that there are no more configuration issues with the new switch. *caugh*DHCP*caugh*
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