Architectural Classification

Technology \ Networks

Standard Specification

Structured cabling standards have been developed and published by Plymouth University. The cabling standards document referenced in the LAN Cabling brick in the following table should be used for specific implementation guidelines.

 

For the next three to six years, Plymouth University will continue to deploy Category 6A cabling for new installations and does not need to consider deploying higher-grade cabling.

 

Category 6a cabling delivers a usable bandwidth twice that of Category 5e. The Category 6a standard specifies a higher-quality cable that will more reliably support gigabit speeds and should be the cable of choice for all new NIH network installations.

Category 6a also provides additional tolerance for some common cabling problems, such as external noise or sloppy installations. Thus, a Category 6a installation will result in fewer instances of labour intensive cable troubleshooting.

Compared to other network resources, cable and wiring have long life spans, typically lasting seven to 12 years, and sometimes as long as 15 years. Therefore, at least two generations of network technologies are likely to be deployed over whatever cabling system Plymouth University chooses to deploy today.

 

Poor cabling decisions are costly and potentially disruptive. Correcting cabling mistakes can cost anywhere from 140 percent to 250 percent of the original cost if it needs replacing once it is already in the wall or ceiling.

 

Plymouth University should focus its backbone on multiple 1Gbps-over-fiber links, leading to 10Gigabit-over-fiber as traffic increases and prices decline.

 

Baseline (Today)	Emerging (To track)
Krone Cat. 5e Krone Cat. 6 Krone Cat. 6a Krone Cat. 7	Cat. 7 Next generation standard
Tactical (0-3 years)	Strategic (3-6 years)
Cat. 5e Cat. 6a Cat. 7	Cat. 6a Cat. 7
Retirement (to be removed)	Containment (No new development)
Cat. 5 Cat. 5e	Cat. 5  Cat. 5e

 

Author:	Craig Douglas	Date:	24/10/2014	Version:	1.0
Document Security Level:		PUBLIC
Document Approvals:		Technical Architecture Group Enterprise Architecture Practice Enterprise Architecture Board IT Director			10/06/2014 June 2014 22/09/2014 23/10/2014
Review Date:		October 2015