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Future Planning

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My organisation owns a few company, and will be merging into one building in the coming 4 years. The building will be of 4 stories.
In the coming 4 years, what kind of technology should we expect? I am responsible of cabling to security of the building. My organisation does not heavily depend on the networks though. What kind of line should i use? The building is going to be contructed and the cabling must go in. I do not want the cablings to go obsolete.

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To Info@sig-nature.com

You said the building will be constructed, and you dont want the cablings to go obsolete. Then there’s only one way to go but it will depend if the company would infact support it. FIBER-OPTIC, and in the next 4 years to come, i am sure they will be somehow a little more cheaper than today and of course more efficient.
If you don’t know much about fiber-optic, it may be necessary to start researching about it and there’s plenty of websites that will give you all the information that you need.

Jun

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Fiber Optic is definately a good choice. Gigabyte ethernet is on the rise but would probably be overkill.

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Fiber optics may be over-kill, and it’s nothing new. Especially since the poster stated the company doesn’t really depend much on the network. I suggest a good CAT 5, Shielded, Plenum, twisted-pair cable routed throughout the building and into outlets.

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Some considerations:

* How about installing “potential.” I.e. install conduits for future fiber optic cable.

* Wireless connectivity inside the building.

Four years is a long time by my Internet Clock. Keep it simple. Install only whatyou need for first year. But install that with future years in mind.

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First, plan a large wiring closet with lots of electrical outlets. This should really be the size of a small to medium office, rather than a “closet.” This will give you room to place wiring racks, hubs, routers, test equipment, etc.

As for wiring, go for eight conductor, telephone grade wire. This can handle most common PBXs, ethernet, and other LAN connection types. This can also be readily installed by most contruction contractors. I would probably install 4 drops per single person office. Two drops will immediately be used for telephone and network. The reamining 2 drops will be available for: doubling up offices, adding direct access lines, adding fax machines, and a myriad of other uses. Also, 4 drop face plates are fairlycommon.

In summary, design a wiring closet that is comfortable to work in. Use common grade wire that can be installed by your building contractor. Finally, design in enough capacity for the future (it is expensive to add wiring in after the fact).

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As all the previous responses indicate, Fibre is a very good option. This allows you the speed and distance to use in your new building(s). The only catch is you will need Fibre cards in your switches/hubs/routers in your various wiring closets. This is not a problem, as even ‘low-end’ switches have the option for fibre ports.

Then you can run your CAT5 or Fibre to the desktop.

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There are really two choices for cabling materials: fiber and Cat5/Cat6. A third option for companies that anticipate a high volume of adds/moves/changes is a wireless LAN. Other than those three, I don’t see anything on the immediate horizon thatshould impact your planning.

Fiber to the desktop is not going to happen in the next few years and for most companies, not in the next decade. Either copper or fiber can be carried to gigabit speeds, so neither one necessarily limits future opportunities and neither is going to become obsolete within the usual lifespan of a commercial building tenancy.

My own preference is for a structured cabling system that provides fiber between wiring closets and Cat5/Cat6 to the desktop.

I like to see at least two cables per drop location (three if telco is to be included). I also like to see conduit installed along difficult stretches so that additional cables, fiber or copper, can be easily pulled at a later date.

While the overall plan is important, the

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