I am moving my server room and am inquiring what is the best way to do the following:
I have an existing "server room" that all of my ran cables are terminating to. I want to move my servers to a new, bigger room, but I can't move the panel due to the existing cable not being long enough. I want to run new cable from the old panel to the new panel.
How would the wire config be? Can you "piggy-back" the punchdown in the back? Or do I have to reverse wires?
Any help and links would be appreciated. I am an intermediate cabler, so I do know what I am doing. I just don't want to hire someone to do this for me if it is simple.
Any diagrams or links would be really appreciated.
Sorry I meant to add this little diagram of what i was looking for:
Workstation | | Switch/Hub Wall Jack | | Old Server New Server | | Room Room | --------------Patch Panel-------------------------Patch Panel-----------
Assuming all the wiring is terminated on 110 or 66 blocks, what I'd do is get some 25 pair CAT 5e cable (or 50 or 100 pr depending on your need) and run them as tie cable(s) to a new set of blocks in the new room. In the old room, just punch them down as you would patch cables. Specifically, if using 110, punch the 25 pair down to the existing C1 clips that sit on top of the already punched station cables. If using 66 blocks, just run them down the adjacent clips, again, like patch cables. At the new location, punch them down as you would the station cables. There's no reversing involved as all you're doing is extending the cables. As far as performance is concerned, if you do a good job and maintain your twists right up to the punchdowns, you should not see any practical difference in performance as you are most likely not pushing the spec anywhere near max anyway.
Just setup a new panel in each place and use jumper patch cables to bridge from the current panel to the new one. Do NOT attempt to stuff another wire into a 110 block. 66 block might afford better options but it depends entirely on what you've got setup now.
Think of it this way, punching down wire is not designed to allow reusing that wire. When you pull it back out of the punch down clip you need to trim it and use a fresh spot. That loses some length on the end of the wire. Some wires are patched down quite closely and may not have enough slack. Or require skinning back the insulating jacket to expose more of it. All that handling of solid core wire may well break it. Sure, the wire's not "fragile" but unless you're very used to handling it properly you may well break it. Usually all the way back at where it leaves the insulating jacket (on that already too short wire) and now you've got NO slack.
Better to leave the existing panel in place and use the socket side of it to just jumper to a new panel. The cost is trivial and WELL worth it for the peace of mind it can buy for a DIY setup.
You could hide the patch panels behind some sort of panel or box.
I suppose you could do something like using beanies to splice the wires but, ugh, that'd be reallllly tedious and error-prone. Not to mention voiding the CAT5 aspects of the wire.
I'd lean toward just setting up a new panel next to the old one and use jumpers.
Thank you very much everyone. i really appreciate it. I am going to price out some panels and try both ways. I have over 1000' of cable and worse case they are only $90 for a box, so if i screw up, no problemo. i have a couple of "test" slots on the existing panel i will use anyway.
It'd probably help if you described what sort of setup you've got currently and how you want to deal with moving it. If it's a naked patch panel just nailed up to a plywood board that's one thing. But if it's one of them newfangled structured wiring boxes with inserts and such it's a whole other set of issues.
I found a deal on ebay for some 2 foot RJ45 cables. They work great for bridging from the back of my CAV66 to a nearby patch panel. If you end up with two panels side-by-side search around for the shortest possible cables. No sense having a lot of extra wire.
Also bear in mind that Ethernet does have distance limits. 350' (~100m) if I recall correctly. That and take care whatever you use to make the 'interconnect' that you not only don't exceed the distance but that you don't degrade it below which your network speed requires. 10mb can run on damn near anything (wet string). 100mb will likewise work on just about anything as long as you don't push distances. GigE, on the other hand, is quite picky. Just make sure whatever you put in rises to meet at least the specs of the wire you've already got installed. Don't just use cheapie telco bridging stuff if it's not rated at /least/ CAT5.
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