What do you know about the IT network of your company?
What kind of cabling system are you using?
Have you ever upgraded your network cabling in the past?
These are the questions every business owner needs to know the answers to. If you’re anything like the majority of our clients, these are not sufficient answers. Your IT network is the foundation of your company. Your employees will waste time and lose productivity every day if they don’t have a strong IT network.
Are you still using outdated technology? Do your employees run your business on an old network?
It’s time to update your structured cabling.
Switching from a point-to-point cabling network to a fully functioning structured cabling network is one of the best updates that you can make.
Point-to-Point Cabling vs. Structured Cabling Systems
These are the only two options for data transmission over network cables. Many people still use the point-to-point cabling method to build their data infrastructure. Point-to-point cabling systems can cause problems when your network grows in size and complexity. You need to understand how point-to-point cabling works.
Point-to-point cabling involves connecting one component of a network (a server, switch, or device) directly to another using fiber-optic cables. This type of wiring was a simple and elegant way to quickly connect a network. At the time, networks were often small and IT departments were not as large.
As networks expand and data transfers become more frequent, the maintenance of older point-to–point cabling systems, along with the thousands required to operate them, puts a lot of strain on IT resources.
Many companies have moved to structured cabling systems in order to avoid this. Structured cabling connects each component of a network to one another instead of connecting them individually.
The office has local cabling panels that can be connected to the backbone of the network with one cable. The user can connect to the network using a single cable by plugging in a short cable to the nearest cabling panel.
Structured Cabling: The Benefits
You might be wondering, “Hey, isn’t adding a communications backbone and redoing all of the cable systems at my office going to be expensive?” Yes. Although it can be expensive to install structured cabling, it is an investment in your future business.
It is a great investment. There are many reasons. Structured cabling systems:
It pays for itself. It is true that switching from a point to point cabling system to structured cabling systems can be costly. A structured cabling system costs between $100 and $500 per connection. Businesses with lower ceilings and subfloors can expect to pay more. The investment will pay off in the long-term by increasing employee productivity and decreasing IT costs.
This reduces the time it takes to repair. A structured cabling system can be separated into groups of devices that are connected to one local cabling panel. This makes it easy for IT professionals to find and fix problems. Users’ work will not be interrupted if their devices don’t connect to the cabling panel.
It helps you plan for the future. An average cable lasts 15 years. This is two to three times the average useful life of most devices. Your cabling system will last a lifetime and can handle multiple generations of devices. Nobody knows what your business will grow or what devices you might need in the future. You can help to ensure the future by switching to structured cabling.
Increased flexibility Structured cabling makes it easier to add devices to your network. Your IT professional will connect your device to the nearest cabling panel, instead of having to run a cable from additional devices to a switch/server using a long length cable. It is easy to remove devices. It is as easy as removing the device from the cabling panel. There are no more cables that have become lost or difficult to locate, unlike when you use a point-to–point cabling system.