Cabling is the medium which connects your computers and servers together so they may form a common network and communicate seamlessly with one another.
This process begins by installing a twisted pair cable made up of twisted wires surrounded by a protective layer to connect various data lines to a computer or to other network component. The cable is run through walls and ceilings and link a data drop to a patch panel or other termination block that installed in telecom closet or a server room.
There are different cable types, so using the correct one is critical. As today’s technology is advanced so cable protocols are becoming faster and better.
CAT3: It is an unshielded twisted pair configured to carry data up to 10 Mbit/s, with bandwidth of 16 MHz. But it decreased in popularity due to the high performance CAT5.
CAT5: It is copper twisted pair high signal integrity cable that provides an open infrastructure supporting to all LANs up to and including 100Mbit/s Ethernet.
CAT5e: It is an improved version of Cat 5 that supports LAN systems up to 1000Mbit/s with guaranteeing Gigabit Ethernet support on copper.
CAT6: It is a cable that offers higher performance cabling systems, specified to 250 MHz and supports systems up to 1 Gigabit. CAT6 features stricter blueprints for crosstalk and system noise. It gives performance up to 250 MHz.
CAT6a: It is an improvement version of CAT6; operates at frequencies up to 500 MHz and can carry data up to10 Gbit/s operations up to a maximum distance of 100 meters. CAT6a also has improvement in the area of crosstalk.
CAT7: It introduces more exacting specifications for crosstalk CAT6 or CAT6a. It has been created to allow 10 gigabit Ethernet over 100 meters of copper cabling.
And is specified to 600 MHz and is ‘fully shielded’. It is more expensive.
A structured cabling solution determines the rate of data transfer and is defined by ‘category’. BT tests are the most appropriate cabling category for your business, to rigorous industry standards.
So, there are some additional options also:
Bespoke cabling – if you have a requirement for a larger installation, BT offers a bespoke installation service.
Fiber optics – It is suitable for high-speed fiber transmission systems that include Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet technologies, using second generation fibers including OM1, OM2, OM3 and OS1.
Branded scheme – BT offers a range of branded cabling schemes including SYSTIMAX structured cabling.
Standard fiber cabling – the traditional method of laying fiber cable, also known as ‘tight jacket fiber’. BT provides fiber to the desk for highly bandwidth intensive applications.
BT blown fiber – uses compressed air to push the fiber through plastic tubes to its destination on your site. Blown fiber is a safer, quicker and more reliable way of installing fiber.
So, we hope now you can choose the best data cable from the various options.