The document discusses structured cabling systems, which provide the foundation for modern communication networks. A structured cabling system includes all cabling, hardware, and pathways that connect devices from the data center to individual work areas. It is governed by standards to ensure flexibility and compatibility. The key components of a structured cabling system are the entrance facility, equipment room, backbone cabling, horizontal cabling, telecommunications closets, and work areas. Implementing a standardized structured cabling system allows networks to adapt over 15-20 years without disruption.

1. White Paper
By: Syed Firas Uddin
September, 2015
Structured Cabling System

2. White Paper: Structured Cabling System 1
Introduction:
As today’s communication networks become more complex as more users share peripherals, as
more mission critical tasks are accomplished over networks and as the need forfaster access to
information increases,a good foundation for these networks becomesincreasingly important. The first
step towards the adaptability, flexibility and longevity required of today’s networks begins with
structured cabling the foundation of any information system.
A structured cabling system is the wiring network that carries all your data, voice, multimedia,
security, VoIP and Power over Ethernet (PoE) connections throughout a building or campus. It includes
everything from the datacenter to the desktop, including cabling, connecting hardware, equipment,
telecommunication rooms, cable pathways and work areas in an organization. It is a system that
provides a very "structured" approach to the entire cabling system. Structured cabling divides the entire
infrastructure into manageable blocks and then attempts to integrate these blocks to produce the high
performance networks that we have now come to rely on. To an organization, this means investment
protection. In essence, a structured cabling system is the lifeblood of an organization. If done right, it
will serve well for years. If not, an organization’s growth and bottom line can suffer as structured
cabling is the most long lived with an expected life span of 15 to 20 years. It is likely that organizations
will replace network equipment three to four times over the life of the cabling system. An investment in
a high quality cabling system is easily justified in reduced downtime, reduced maintenance, and better
network performance. Structured cabling is widely used in data centers, campuses, offices, apartment
buildings, hospitals, warehouses, manufacturing facilities, etc. and is based on two types of cables,
copper and fiber optics.
This white paper explains a brief overview on the structured cabling system (TIA/EIA-568
cabling standards) and its advantages based on which an organization can benefit allowing them for easy
administration of moves, changes and smooth migration to new network topologies enabling a structured
cabling to last for the life of a network.
Structured Cabling System:
Structured cabling system is governed by a set of standards that specify wiring data centers,
offices and apartment buildings for data or voice communications, using category 5 (CAT 5E) or
category6 cable (CAT 6, 6A) and modular sockets.The reason for having a 'Standard' is to define a
method of connecting all types of vendor’s voice and data equipment, over a cabling system that uses a
common media, common connectors and a common topology. This means that a building can be cabled
for all its communications needs without the planner or architect ever having to know what type of
equipment will be used. Network cabling standards are used internationally and are published by
ISO/IEC, CENELEC and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).The TIA issues the
TIA/EIA-568 and the ISO/IEC issues the ISO/IEC 11801 standard for telecommunications cabling in
commercial premises. Here we will discuss structured cabling system based on TIA/EIA-568 standards.
The structured cabling system consists mainly of six subsections which are defined below as:

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Structured Cabling subsections overview
1. Entrance Facility:
The entrance facility is the point where outside plant cables and associated hardware are brought into
the building. The entrance facilities may be used for public network services, private network
customer services or both. The demarcation point between carrier and customer, and over voltage
protection devices are located here. The entrance facility is designated in TIA/EIA-568-B. Design
recommendations are in TIA/EIA-569-B. It includes cables, connecting hardware and protection
devices. Certain design aspects that shall be considered but not limited to are:
- The entrance facility may also house the backbone links to other buildings in a campus.
- Public network interface equipment and telecommunications equipment may be in the
entrance facility.
- The location should be a dry area, near the vertical backbone pathways.
2. Equipment Room:
The equipment room is a centralized space for telecommunications equipment (e.g., PBX,
computing equipment, video switch, etc.) that serves users in the building. An equipment room may
take the place ofa telecommunications room or it may be separate.Theequipment room is specified in
TIA/EIA-568-B.Design recommendations are in TIA/EIA-569-B. Certain design aspects that shall
be considered but not limited to are:
- Each building should contain at least one equipment room or telecommunications room.
- Consider future expansion when sizing and placing the equipment room.
- The room should have conditioned power and backup power.

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- Take into account any water infiltration issues. Do not locate the room below water level.
- Like the telecommunications room, provide 24h HVAC. Temperature and humidity should
be controlled.
3. Backbone Cabling/Vertical Cabling:
The backbone cabling provides interconnections between telecommunications closets, equipment
rooms and entrance facilities. It consists of the backbone cables, main and intermediate cross
connects, mechanical terminations, and patch cords or jumpers used for cross connection. This
includes vertical connection between floors (risers), cables between an equipment room and building
cable entrance facilities and cables between buildings (inter-building). Backbones may connect
closets within a building orbetween buildings. Backbone cabling is specified in TIA/EIA-568-B.1.
When planning a backbone certain factors must be considered:
- Performance and applications
- Site size and user population
- Redundancy and diverse path routing
- The backbone cabling shall be configured in a star topology. Each horizontal cross-connect
isconnected directly to a main cross-connect or to an intermediate cross-connect, then to a
maincross-connect.
- A total maximum backbone distance of 90m(295ft) is specified for high bandwidth capability
over copper. This distance is for uninterrupted backbone runs.
Cabling types recognized and maximum distances considering main cross connect to horizontal
cross connect are shown below:
Cable Type Backbone Distances
100 ohm UTP (24 or 22 AWG) 800 meters (2625 ft.) Voice*
150 ohm STP 90 meters (295 ft.) Data*
Multimode 62.5/125 μm optical fiber 2,000 meters (6560 ft.)
Single-mode 8.3/125 μm optical fiber 3,000 meters (9840 ft.)
(Backbone distances are application dependent. The maximum distances specified above are based
on voice transmission for UTP and data transmission for STP and fiber.)
4. Horizontal Cabling:
The horizontal cabling consists of the physical media used to connect each outlet in work area to
acloset.It’s called horizontal because the cable typically runs horizontally above the ceiling or below
the floor from the telecommunications room. Various types of cable can be used for horizontal
distribution. Each type has its own performance limitations, size, cost and ease-of-use.It’s specified
in TIA/EIA-568-B.1 and includes horizontal cabling, telecommunications outlets,
telecommunications connectors, cross-connects, patch cords and a consolidation point (if any).When
planning a horizontal cabling certain factors must be considered:
- It should be easy to relocate users and equipmentwithout changing the cable or disrupting users.
Cable shall run to all areas of the building, even if they’revacant for cases of future expansions.
- The current applications shall be considered while planning for more bandwidth
intensiveapplications in the future.

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- Any areas of high EMI such as near elevators, motors, and other equipment should be taken into
account.
- The horizontal cabling shall be configured in a star topology, each work area outlet is connected to a
horizontal cross-connect in a telecommunications closet.
Cabling types recognized and maximum horizontal distancesinvolved in horizontal cabling are
shown below:
Cable Type
4-pair, 100-ohm UTP or ScTP cable (24 AWG,
solid conductors)
2-fiber (or more) 50- and 62.5-micron
fiber optic cable
Cable Area Type Horizontal Distance
Horizontal run( telecommunications outlet to the
horizontalcross-connect)
90 meters (295.3 ft.)
Work area patch cord 5 meters (16.4 ft.).
Total of work area and cross connect patch cords,
equipment cables, jumpers, etc.
10 meters (32.8 ft.)
5. Telecommunications Closet/Room:
The telecommunications closet is where the horizontal distribution cables are terminated. All
recognized types of horizontal cabling are terminated on compatible connecting hardware. Similarly,
recognized backbone cables are also terminated in thecloset. Cross connection is done with jumpers
or patch cords to provide flexible connectivityfor extending various services to users at the
telecommunications outlets.It includes intermediate cross connects, main cross connects, patch cords
and all connecting equipment. The telecommunications closet can also houseauxiliary equipment
such as a PBX, securityequipment, etc.The telecommunications closet is addressed in
TIA/EIA-568-B.1. When planning a telecommunication closet certain factors must be considered:
- Depending on the size of the floor area, it should have at least one telecommunicationsroom
per floor. The recommendation is one telecom closet per 10 sq.m (100 ft.).
- If the floor area is greater than 1000 sq.m (10,763 ft.), or if the distance to the work
areaexceeds 300 feet, there should be additional telecommunication rooms per floor.
- Do not share the telecommunications roomwith electrical equipment.
6. Work Area:
The work area consists of all the components between thetelecommunications outlet and the user’s
workstation equipment.This covers telecommunications outlets, includingwall plates, faceplates,
surface-mount boxes, etc. Also included are patch cables, adapters, connectors, and modularjacks.
Workstation equipment includes PCs, telephones,printers, etc. although they aren’t included inthe
standard.There area few specific recommendations in TIA/EIA-568-B.1:
- A minimum of two telecommunicationsoutlets should be installed in each work area.

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- The 4-pair UTP patch cable from thetelecommunications outlet to the workstationequipment
should be no more than 5 meters(16.4 ft.).
- An electrical outlet should be installed within3 feet (9.1 m) and at the same height.
- Run an independent pathway to control centers,reception areas, and other high-activity
spaces.
- UTP wiring should follow the two approved pinning methods of T568Aand T568B.
The above system makes structured cabling organized providing a better network infrastructure which
can run multiple diverse systems for an organization with a single easy-to-manage network that lowers
both installation and OpEx costs.
Structured Cabling Advantages:
- Consistency – A structured cabling systems means the same cabling systems for Data, voiceand
video.
- Support for multi-vendor equipment – A standard-based cable system will supportapplications and
hardware even with mix & match vendors.
- Simplify moves/adds/changes – Structured cabling systems can support any changes withinthe
systems.
- Simplify troubleshooting – With structured cabling systems, problems are less likely to down the
entire network, easier to isolate and easier to fix.
- Support for future applications – Structured cabling system supports future applications like
multimedia, video conferencing etc. with little or no upgrade pain.
- Reduces cabling bulk and congestion – An organized and planned infrastructure allows for the use of
smaller diameter trunk cabling and cleaner cable management.
- Allows time savings – The network cables and ports tracing becomes a much easier job with a
structured cabling system in larger networks.
A structured approach in cabling helps reduce maintenance costs too. Structured cabling system is
the norm for small, medium and large networks.
Market Outlook:
Saudi Arabia is the largest ICT market by far in the Middle East. For example, the Saudi Arabian
telecommunications and information technology industries represent over 55% and 51% of the total
Middle East markets, respectively. Yet, while many of the world’s ICT markets are maturing, the Saudi
Arabian market remains substantially under developed by global standards and remains on a rapid

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growth trajectory. The size of the Saudi Arabian ICT market provides excellent operational scale. As the
Saudi society is young and growing rapidly, its consumer market is weighted heavily towards
technologically literate people. Saudi Arabia's unique access to energy makes it an attractive location for
a range of activities across the ICT value chain. For example, ICT enabled services providers (such as
data centers) will be able to utilize Saudi Arabia’s unique access to low-cost power and state of the art
communications infrastructure to efficiently service global customers. Equipment and component
production are also highly energy intensive and require significant use of petroleum derivatives such as
chemicals and plastics. These advantages in Saudi Arabian market translate into considerable cost
savings for hardware manufacturing and assembly activities for vendors.
Widespread presence of large scale data centers, campuses, offices, apartment buildings, hospitals,
warehouses, manufacturing facilities, etc. across Saudi Arabian landscape with many global and local
organizations ramping up their operations and foot print in the region proves to be a viable market for
structured cabling systems.
Conclusion:
Many companies are investing huge amounts of money in the latest technology to increase the
speed and capacity of their communications systems in order to gain the greatest competitive
advantages. Structured cabling allows businesses to build a proper foundation for their communication
needs to last well ahead meeting the future demands. However, the ability to run any application, to any
work area, at any time comes only with the proper planning and installation of a high performance
structured cabling system.
There are number of technologies available as well as standards to follow. The implementation
of a proper standardized structured cabling system will ensure a systematic infrastructure to an
organizations network. All these must be understood and put together with intelligence. A properly
planned and installed system will allow companies to spend their time, attention and scarce capital
resources in other areas for years. The ultimate goal is to run anything, anywhere, at any time without
any hassle with a structured approach for an organizations valuable network.