Wiring Closet Placement - Review: Creating a wiring closet is a very important part of LAN creation, as the wiring closet is generally the site of "aggregation": (It is also sometimes the site of aggravation, but that is a different issue.) By aggregation, we mean that the wiring closet is where:

• all of the horizontal cabling (in-wall wiring runs) comes together,
  
  
• the networking equipment (patch panels, switches, network hubs) lives,
  
  and,
  
  
• the "pipe" or Internet "backbone" comes into the building from an ISP or community service provider.

In the planning activity earlier in this module, the location for a wiring closet was discussed. Check the following summary while looking at the network plan, and ensure that the wiring closet is located:

• near where the "backbone" connection enters the building,
  
  
• away from and not blocking any electrical panels,
  
  
• in a physically secure area
  
  
• away from plumbing
  
  
• away from, and on a separate circuit from HVAC systems (Airconditioning/Heating)
  
  
• air conditioned
  
  
• up to code, (which means that ELECTRICAL PANELS are NOT BLOCKED!)
  
  
• and not in a janitor's closet.
  

The reason for the placement of the wiring closet according to all of these conditions is that both the equipment and data need to be kept safe. More detailed explanations for this are below to help you with the design.

Designing the "closet": Depending upon the amount of space available for the wiring closet, the design and equipment that you choose will vary. Whatever equipment is ultimately chosen, it will be easier to work in the space if the following requirements are fulfilled:

• Elbow Room: Make sure that the space is large enough for you to work in when all the equipment has been installed. This includes having space for your workbench.
  
• Door: Use a standard sized door so that all the equipment will easily go through it! The door should have a good lock on it, and open outwards. The decision of who will get the key to the door, or the combination if a keypad lock is installed, is VERY important.
  
  

TIP: Make sure that the door on your wiring closet opens OUTWARDS! This will give you extra room, and will ensure increased safety for your expensive networking equipment simply because the door won't be able to BANG INTO YOUR EQUIPMENT!!



• Power: Ensure that there are PLENTY of power outlets for all of the equipment that you will require. Some of these will need to be on separate circuits.
  
• Auxiliary Power: Every wiring closet should have an alternative power source, if not two alternative power sources. Redundant power supplies such as a good UPS (Universal Power Supply) can be mounted
  
• Lighting: Lighting and wiring in the room should be wired with consideration to where the data cabling is going to reside, so that the electrical wiring for the lighting will not interfere with the data cabling.
  
• Controlled environment: To keep the equipment functioning correctly, the room that is created should have a controlled environment, meaning that:
  
  • The temperature and humidity of the room should be kept constant. (Note that keeping plumbing in the area to a minimum to keep the humidity down is another reason why the wiring closet should not be in the janitor's closet...). Some vendors websites recommend that the temperature be kept at around 21 degrees celcius, and the humidity at about 30 - 50% maximum.
    

• Workbench: Try to choose items and design the wiring closet in such a way that there will be room for some form of workbench, even if only a small workbench. Hardware is available that allows a "flip up" table to be created, which could be bolted or screwed onto a wall, such that the workbench is available when needed, but can be stored away when not in use to save space (and will ensure that it doesn't accumulate junk.)
  
  
• Free space - plywood wall: Choose equipment that can be arranged so that some wall space will be left free. Screw or bolt a thick sheet of plywood onto the wall. This will allow functional space for screwing or nailing shelves, equipment, wiring harnesses or other items, and/or keeping the required tools handy.
  
  

TIP: It is possible to directly wall mount networking equipment onto the mounted thick plywood: Hinged patch panels and hubs are available specifically for mounting to walls.

Racks:

• SECURE racks well!: Ensure that any "racks" or wall-mounted items can be SECURELY bolted and/or otherwise fastened to the building structure so that they will not fall over. Install a ladder-type rack support if possible. Ladder racks are a great way of managing ethernet cables by keeping them up and out of the way, as well as securing the racks from the top. In order to install a ladder rack, the room that you are working in should NOT have a false ceiling.
  
  
• GROUNDING: Racks MUST be grounded PROPERLY to building ground. If multiple racks are installed, they can be grounded together using grounding pigtails, then grounded via one line to building ground. To do this, the ground wire can be affixed to the metal plumbing of the building using a grounding clamp, or it may be affixed directly to a grounding rod or plate main building ground.

     

Left: racks are grounded together. The main groundline from the racks then runs to the basement, where it is attached with a grounding clamp to the main building ground via the metal building plumbing. (right)

Click here to view the short film clip demonstrating how to properly ground a server rack ( 204kb download).


• Leave space around racks: If rack-mount equipment is chosen and racks are bolted to the floor, ensure that there is space both BESIDE AND BEHIND racks for access to equipment, but also for ease of mounting equipment. Many rack-mounted devices require side-mounting, which means that there will need to be enough room at the side of the rack to be able to use a screwdriver to mount a device.
  
• Choosing racks: Some racks have slide-out trays to enable easier access for working on or hooking up equipment.
  
  
• Mounting equipment: When mounting equipment, consider the use of the equipment when deciding where it should be placed on the racks. Here are some recommendations:
  
  • Hubs, switches, routers: Mount these devices near the top of the rack, close to eye level, so that you can easily see the little blinking lights.
    
  • Patch Panels: Mount close to the hubs, switches or routers, so that you don't need to have long patch cords between them. Punching down cables into the patch panel is done in the same way that wall jack punchdown is completed.

  Click here to view the short film clip demonstrating how to punchdown CAT5 cable into a patch panel ( 512kb download).

  • Server: Mount at "desk" level, and it is a good idea to have a small and light flat screen monitor atop the server for ease of working at the server like a desk. Leave some space above the server for the monitor.
    
  • Colour code the cables between the mounted equipment: Colour coding the cables that are attached to the equipment will make it easy to see how the network works just by glancing at the cabling. For example, Use RED for server cables (i.e. "Don't touch"), Yellow or orange for crossover cables, blue for all straight-through cables, white or blue for horizontal (in wall) cables, and black for uplinks to the ISP.
    
  • UPS or redundant UPS(s): Mount these at the bottom of the rack - ensure that once mounted, they are hooked up properly according to the manufacturers instructions. Generally, they need to be opened up and the battery attached when first purchased. Once plugged in, the battery (usually a motorcycle battery) will charge using the 110V power, and will provide enough power in the event of a power outage, to allow time to get to, and power down the computers.
    
    If redundant UPS are installed, they should each be on SEPARATE circuits, or on different breakers of a sub-panel, so that if one circuit blows, the other UPS will still be chargeable and functioning.

Devices:

The specific devices that are chosen for the network will vary depending upon the type of network design. However, here are some general guidelines to follow when choosing and or mounting specific devices:

• Patch Panel: A patch panel is a fundamental network connectivity device. All of the ethernet cables running from the network are generally aggregated into a patch panel. This means that they are "punched down" into the back of the panel, which is essentially a large array of network plugins. Cables are then plugged into the ports on the front of the patch panel, to enable specific devices to talk to one another.
  
  Patch panels are supplied with ports in multiples of four, with many types of mounting hardware configurations available. Many patch panels on the market are specifically designed to fit into server mounts called "racks." However, if the wiring closet being designed is not going to have server racks, wall mount patch panels are available. Usually these are hinged to either rotate out from the wall, or to flip open, giving access to the punchdown wiring, as well as access to the front "patch" ports where you'll connect the equipment together using patch cables.
  
  Once the patch cables are installed on the patch panel, neatly wrap the cables together and fasten them with a velcro strap.
  
• Proper labelling of devices: All of the devices will need to be PROPERLY labelled, and a copy of a diagram of the network firmly affixed to the wall and readily visible in the wiring closet. This will be a HUGE help if future network troubleshooting is required.
  
  If you don't think that labelling is important, imagine coming into your wiring closet, having never seen it before, with nothing labelled. Would you be able to tell, easily, what went where and how it worked? That is the position that some networking people find themselves in, and it can be an expensive and difficult position...

With the review of wiring closet creation complete, click here to view the short film clip demonstrating wiring closet creation ( 915kb download).