Cross-Connect Blog

Worst Examples of Cable Management and How to Prevent Them

November 20, 2015

Cables here, cables there, cables everywhere! If you dread walking into your server room to troubleshoot a network issue because of bad cable management or worse, dread having to give higher-ups a tour of your facilities, then it’s about time to straighten up your cable management system.

Before we discuss solutions to help you get more organized, let’s look at some examples of horrible cable management. Be warned: some of these examples may just make you cry; we know we did.

Let’s play a game, can you find the hidden equipment in this mess?

Cable Management Nightmare
Image source: Vibrant.com 


Just looking at this green mess is bringing out Hulk-like feelings.

Cable Management Nightmare
Source: Techeblog 


Not sure why, but this one has us craving pasta.

Cable Management Nightmare
Image source: Royal Pingdom 

 

Try walking down this without crying, we dare you.

Cable Management Nightmare
Image source: Vibrant.com 

 

You could say this guy is really buried in his work.

Cable Management Nightmare

 Image source: TechRepublic 

 

Now that we have looked at some terrible examples of cable management, here are some things you can do now to avoid joining the terrible cable management hall of fame photos we just shared.

Proper cable management will not only support existing infrastructure, but will also allow for future growth. 

Consider these tips for your next project:

  • Before purchasing or installing cable products, determine the amount of cabling and connections required. Be sure to allow room for access and growth.
  • Be sure to follow industry standards, such as ANSI/TIA and ISO/IEC, as well as any federal, state or local regulations. This will help ensure a safe, failure-free installation that will minimize system downtime.
  • Plan for change by organizing cable properly and labeling cable that may need to be quickly and easily identified. Also, try to avoid blocking access to equipment inside and outside the racks.
  • Be sure to use sweeping 90-degree bends when transitioning from the pathway support to the racks.
  • Density is very important in data center cabinets and racks, so keep in mind how many rack spaces are being utilized with horizontal wire managers.
  • Select a vertical cable manager that can accommodate all of the cable feeding from the horizontal managers. Use waterfalls and spools to help manage multiple cables and to help with maintaining proper bend radius on copper and fiber cables. Also, Velcro cable supports are reusable and a safe way to secure the cable without damaging it.
  • Do not overfill your managers, which can cause kinks and make moves, adds and changes difficult. CPI recommends using a 50% cable fill when selecting vertical and horizontal cable management. This allows sufficient space for maintaining cable bend radius for patch cords.

Evolution Cable Management on Two-Post RackCPI offers both vertical and horizontal cable management solutions.  If you are upgrading your current infrastructure or designing a new installation, you can trust the experts at CPI to deliver the most comprehensive line of cable management products in the industry.

Our cable management manages and maintains the cables and cords that provide the critical support, reliability and flexibility needed to sustain and grow your network capabilities.

CPI Cable Management solutions will help you:

  • Streamline the management of your cables and cords to optimize the signal quality and network speed of your information exchange.
  • Organize cables so that they can be easily traced from start to finish when performing moves, adds and changes, saving you valuable time and money.
  • Fulfill high-density cabling requirements while maintaining proper bend radius and slack management for maximum network performance.

For more details on CPI’s Cable Management products and services, be sure to view our line of Cable Management products. To read more about CPI’s Cable Management solutions in the real world, be sure to check out our case studies from Lucent Technologies, Pacific Sun and Sun Microsystems.

CJ Castillo, Technology Writer

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