Network Cabling

Network Cabling

Introduction

The regional accounting firm, Smith, Smith, Smith and Smith, is putting up a new building as its head quarters. Since this building will be facilitating the backbone network connecting eight LANs, with two LANs on each floor, it is essential that the planning of network cable should be such that it would help in reducing network errors. A typical network for such a type of business includes one to two dozens of users of computers and our objective here is to design and create the best network system for the firm at low cost and highest degree of efficiency.

Discussion

While planning the cabling of LAN, the firm must take into account the area of work, the telecom room which would facilitate the distribution facility, vertical cabling or the backbone cabling and the distribution cabling, that is the horizontal cabling.

The other factors that network designers should take into account while selecting the switch for LAN include, expandability, cost, speed, manageability and the types of ports or interfaces. Since we have to make sure that we have our networking cables planned in such a way that we encounter less and less networking issues, we have to go through the phases of gathering the requirements, selection and design, implementation, operations and review and evaluation. In the first phase of requirements gathering, all the required information is gathered regarding the business and the building and the site and then this information is analyzed to decide on the exact requirements of the network. (Arnst, Catherine, et al, 1996)

In the second phase of selection and design, the devices and cabling which are appropriate and according to the needs of the firm are selected. In the same phase, prototypes should also be created and tested. In the third phase of implementation, what was analyzed in the first ...