Data Communication

Data center is regarded as the “central nervous system” of the whole network. If there is something wrong with data center, the network performance will be seriously affected. As high-density cabling becomes a trend, cable management turns out to be more and more important. We can clearly see the results of bad cable management and good cable management from the figure below. Which one do you want? Of course the good one. This article is going to share some tips for good cable management with you.

Before we move to the tips for good cable management, let’s have a look at the advantages of good cable management. First, good cable management keeps cables installed properly, which can avoid the risk of over bending. Second, Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) can be reduced to greatly improve network performance. Third, cables are organized tidily which is good for airflow. Fourth, work efficiency can be improved when the cables are managed well, especially when you need to find out a link problem. Fifth, the cost is affordable, which is a necessary investment to avoid unknown loss caused by cable mess in the future.

Choose the suitable cable manager for your application. Cable manager is mainly used to make proper and neat routing of cables between equipment in racks, protecting cables from damage. Horizontal cable manager and vertical cable manager are two common types for different cabling directions. Before using horizontal cable manager, the rack height and supported cable density must be determined. While using vertical cable manager with angled patch panel, the cables are allowed to directly enter into vertical cable manager which eliminates the need for horizontal cable manager. This can greatly save rack space for other active equipment. In addition, there are some other types of cable managers for different applications. No matter which type you choose, remember to leave some space in the cable manager for future growth and cabling demands.

Use cable tie to bundle cables together or to fix cables firmly to devices. Cable ties made of different materials and designed in different structures are available on the market, such as stainless steel zip tie and velcro cable tie. Stainless steel zip tie is characterized by high strength, high temperature resistance and anti-corrosion, which is a good option for applications in harsh environment. And the self-locking mechanism of stainless steel zip tie can provide firm locking for the cables. Characterized by easy using way, velcro cable tie is also popular with many data center managers. It is a cost-effective choice because it can be reused for many times. What’s more, it can be cut according to the desired length which is really convenient to use. By the way, your choice should be based on the environment and exact requirements for your application.

Apply cable labeling and color code for easy identification of the cables. The cabling system of data center is complicated which contains different types of cables as well as different connection ways. It is difficult for data center managers to remember and identify the types and connection ways of all the cables. No matter it is a power or data cable, it is proved that cable labeling and color code are critical if a problem arises. They can greatly save time and reduce your workload, especially when you need to trace cables. For example, the signal transmission is abnormal and you have to find the source—which cable caused the problem. With the use of cable labeling and color code, you can easily know the role or function of the cable or the connection way.

This article have introduced several tips for proper cable management. It is a simple and inexpensive cable management solution to keep your cables well-organized and make your network performance achieve a high level. Hope the cable management tips mentioned above can do you a favor in your data center cable management.