| When you are putting together a data centre, | | | | cable types for anything driven by the TCP/IP |
| everything has to be connected together; most | | | | networking stack. |
| good data centres will have enough data flowing | | | | Incremental improvements were made in both |
| to completely overwhelm a typical wireless | | | | the protocols and the network adapters that used |
| router, and wired data speeds are always faster | | | | CAT 5, and its capacity has gradually increased as |
| than wireless, hence the emphasis on cable runs. | | | | networking standards have grown; each increase |
| Planning how your networking topology will run is | | | | in the capacity of the cable has resulted in a |
| a large part in setting up your data centre. You | | | | greater need for shielding to prevent packet loss |
| need to set space for the cables to be run, and it | | | | and other interference artefacts; this has resulted |
| helps to know what kind of cable you plan on | | | | in a partial upgrade to the standard called CAT5E. |
| using. | | | | CAT-5E is also called Gigabit Ethernet cabling, and |
| The lowest grade of twisted pair cable is plain old | | | | is the likeliest cable that you would be buying for |
| telephone cable, such as is used to hook up your | | | | a consumer networking connection. |
| phone to the wall socket; this has serious | | | | On the horizon (meaning it's primarily used for high |
| bandwidth issues, and the signal drops off rapidly | | | | end connectivity at this point) is CAT 6 cabling, |
| over time. In terms of the standards bodies that | | | | which offers significant cross talk reduction from |
| rate these, this is CAT 3 cable, and is all but | | | | CAT5E, and has about a fivefold increase in |
| unheard of in any kind of new built network | | | | bandwidth. This standard has also been extended |
| architectures, though in legacy configurations | | | | by some cable vendors, who have created 10 |
| where low bandwidth is acceptable, many | | | | Gigabit Ethernet, and the cables they use are |
| installations of CAT 3 were never pulled and | | | | commonly called CAT-6E. The CAT-6E standard |
| upgraded to CAT 5. | | | | was codified in February of 2008. |
| CAT-2 was used for an older architecture type | | | | CAT 7 is a future standard, and is still being |
| called Token Ring (promulgated by IBM with the | | | | worked on; there are some facilities using |
| PS/2 systems). CAT 4 is an updated version of | | | | pre-release versions of this standard for high data |
| CAT 2 with better shielding and transmission | | | | bandwidth apps, mostly for use in full motion |
| properties. | | | | video transfers, and radiology departments. Up |
| The most basic of the modern cable types used | | | | until the CAT-6E standard, CAT7 was the only |
| in networking is Category 5, or Cat-5. This | | | | 10GBASE-T implementation that could handle the |
| twisted pair cable is shielded, and has a grounding | | | | full bandwidth for a full hundred meters; it's |
| line, allowing it to go for much longer runs than | | | | uncertain whether it will be supplanted by CAT-6E, |
| the CAT-3 cables that preceded it; it originally hit | | | | or, as is likely, it will become the baseline for |
| the scene in the mid '90s, and while more | | | | future extensions of bandwidth. |
| expensive at the time, quickly supplanted the prior | | | | |