Port/Panel Labeling Schemes 4

[dkediger]

Any "best practice" tips on labeling/numbering wall ports and patch panel ports? I've inherited a mid-size (200 drop) network with no labeling at all. Lucky Me!

 

[MasterRacker]

Here is an excerpt from my jack labelling best practice document. I have recently implemented the scheme suggested in the TIA 606a proposed standard. It works really well and is essentially infinitely expandable.
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TIA/EIA 606A is an update to the TIA/EIA 606 Cable Administration Standard. A summary of changes in the latest revision include: establishing classes of administration, accommodating scalable needs, allowing modular implementation, specifying labeling formats to be portable across multiple platforms, and specifying identifiers to accommodate information transfer from design drawings to cabling system administration software.

The most important of these changes is the establishment of classes of administration. In short, the revision proposes four classes of complexity:
--A Class 1 system will have fewer than 100 users and utilize a single telecommunications room;
--A Class 2 system will have hundreds of users and multiple telecommunications rooms in a single building;
--A Class 3 system will accommodate more than 1,000 users in a campus environment (multiple buildings with multiple floors on each building);
--A Class 4 system will include thousands of users in a telecommunications infrastructure that extends across multiple geographic locations. (In this case, you might have multiple campus locations connected over large geographic distances).

This document describes the horizontal link labeling portion of the standard as applied at Company, Inc.

The Generic Form (Class 2 Installation)
All jacks are labeled in the form
ft-ann where
f (number) = floor
t (letter) = wiring closet
a (letter) = patch panel
nn (number) = jack number
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Essentially, if you have only one floor you can ignore that part.

Panels usually have numbered ports so you simply label them as "Panel t-a". Ex.: Wiring closet A has 3 panels so you label them Panel A-A, Panel A-B and Panel A-C. Wiring closet B has 2 panels so they are labeled Panel B-A and Panel B-B. For the jacks you then simply add the pre-printed numbers on the panels.

Jack Examples:
A-B05 = Wiring closet A, Panel A, Jack 05
B-A05 = Wiring closet B, Panel A, Jack 05

Since it's unusual to put in a panel larger than 96 ports I use leading zeros so everything has 2 digit numbers.

Also, since it would be unusual to have 22 panels in a single wiring closet it's pretty safe to extend this to voice punchdowns by calling them "Panel V" (22nd letter). This way the above examples could also be extended to include:
A-V05 = Wiring closet A, Voice Punch 05
B-V05 = Wiring closet B, Voice Punch 05

I highly recommend this system, since it follows a proposed national standard, gives every single jack a unique label and can be easily extended. You can add new panels easily and you can instantly know where a wall jack ternminates. If you eventually have more than one building you change to bft-ann where b = building letter. You don't necessarily need to re-label the existing stuff, and you can continue with a uniform system that gives a unique label to every jack in a whole campus.

Jeff

I haven't lost my mind - I know it's backed up on tape somewhere ....

 

[dkediger]

Thanks - thats what I looking for.