wiring closet nightmare 1

[cat5ratnest]

I have recently stepped into a position of IT manager of 3 banks. When I went down to look in the wiring closet, none of the cables were labeled from the patch panel to the wall outlets. I have no idea what cables go to where. How can I solve this with the least amount of headache???

Thanks,

Scott

 

[smegecki]

document and unhook everything during off hours or scheduled down time. Schedule yourself more time than you need for unexpected occurences. you'll need a toner and tracker to id any cables you can't see both ends(ie. station cables...)Custom make you own cat5 patch cables for a finished look. Don't use a 5' patch cable where you need a 3'7" patch cable. Make a custom one.

Hope this helps!

 

[mikeydidit]

You can also (during slow times) and trace these one at a time. I did this for several banks a while back. I also upgraded their patch panels to 5E from a very ugly installed cat 5 panel. Replaced all their patch cables with 5E and labled everything for them. Their IT people were having problems at these branches too regular. Now they hardly ever hear for them.

Mike Jones
LSUHSC

 

[smegecki]

I've done it for banks and universities..especially in banks it's nice to do during down time/ after hours so you don't cause any problems while identifying a poorly terminated connection. some connections if you go tugging them will drop. This no good.

 

[h5n1]

nothing much you can do besides what smegecki and mikeydidtit says and schedule a downtime and basically have every single cable tone out and document everything. if you have a good cat5e tester ie...fluke, omniscanner then u can have a nice decent report of each cable and it's length etc....i guess it would be a good idea to visio a drawing of the building and have it nicely documented with drop location and numbering.

 

[buitenhek]

What about a network tester to map the cable plant? A knowledgable cable tech w/tester can be very helpful. My guess is $100??

Regards
Peter Buitenhek
Profit Developer.com

 

[wires]

If you don't want to work in off hours and have a extra person (or you don't mind walking) here is a plan.

Take a Microscanner Pro to each workstation and unplug the network cable from the PC and attach the Microscanner set to length mode. Once the Microscanner figures out there is network hardware on the other end of the wire press MODE again and the Microscanner will begin flashing the link light on the hub or switch in a regular on off pattern.

The Microscanner will attempt to identify the hardware at the other end of the wire as a HUB or PC and the link speed. Switches that autonegotiates crossovers will alternate between being identified as a HUB and PC.

At this point it is handy to have another person in the wiring closet to look for the flashing port. Radio or telephone communication is essential to stay coordinated. Once your partner has located the flashing port have them disconnect the wire at the hub/switch and the Microscanner will drop it's ID and you will be sure you have found the right wire.

Write everything down and draw a map. Make multiple copies and post one in the wiring closet.

The advantage to doing it this way is that you can work during business hours and your screw-ups are limited to one workstation at a time. You will also get to meet many of the users on your network which might be a good thing...

The disadvantage is that if there is questionable wiring that might be damaged by touching it and workstation downtime might get you fired then you would be best served maping during a scheduled downtime.

There are other devices besides a Microscanner Pro that will flash a hub port but I highly recommend the Microscanner to anyone who has to deal with any sort of low voltage wiring.

 

[Jtodd]

The other thing to do that would help reduce down time and/or off hours work is to remove all patch cords that don't have link on the switch. Then you can get all the inactive workstation outlets and switch ports identified, and have less mess to work through when getting to the active stuff. If once the inactive outlets are identified and labeled, you may even be able to extrapolate where and what number ID the active outlets are, thus only needed to take the active ones down to verify that you were correct.

It's not an easy proccess, I know, because I've had to do it a few times here on campus. Fortunately, I can put a sign on the computer lab door that says "intermintant outages".

Justin T. Clausen
Physical Layer Implementation
California State University, Monterey Bay

 

[RandyVSP]

I make a sheet in Excel and update it every chance I get, leaving a copy in a notebook at the closet as well as my own notebook.

My group changes offices like I change socks, so I would go crazy without my notes....

Shame so many installers are so sloppy, but then again, Ive made good money cleaning up messes....

Document everything.....

Randy

 

[Trotski]

Document everything.....

Good Advice!!!

 

[bierhunter]

I think every network I've ever inherited has this problem. It can really be a pain.

If you have access to the switches, you can gathered some of the information during the day to keep your off hours to a minimum. Log into the switch if you can and see what MAC addresses are on what ports. Then you can physically trace the patch cord from the switch port to the patch panel. Combine that with identifying where the workstations are at. That will at least identify some of the locations during normal work hours, so you won't have to run around as much after hours. But of course, that only works if you are able to get the info off the switches.

Good luck. Documenting a network can be quite a task; but once your done, you'll know it inside and out better than anybody.

BierHunter
CNE, MCSE, CCNP

 

[cat5ratnest]

Does anyone have any links or examples of documentation for what a good diagram should look like or any type of documentation for IT management? I'm a tech support guy going into a IT directors position where nothing was documented, NOTHING at all!!

 

[mikeydidit]

It would be fairly easy to do. Put an excel spreadsheet together. Have the columns as

Closet# switch# port# room# or jack# notes

I would have the notes as special ports (powered Ethernet, port specific devices, ATM) whatever you wanted to put there. That would help you troubleshot problems a lot quicker.


Mike Jones
LSUHSC

 

[franklin97355]

It's easyier to do in excel but I would do it in access.

 

[RandyVSP]

I make a Excel sheet for each closet or panel, and label any punchblocks, all dmarks, and hub info. That way I can hold one sheet and it matches whats in the room.

If your the only cook in the kitchen, your safe, but I have 4 other guys helping, plus our network idiot ( being nice here ) so I stress to ALL about letting me know about changes.

I dont document jumper numbers unless its a special item. I try to make standard colors too. I save RED jumpers for the server or main feeds, Grey for workstations, and purple for printer drops. I have blue for whatever else when needed. Most of the time it works OK......most of the time!

Having the sheet in a clear protector is handy too, keeps me from tearing them......

Randy