If you look at the previous posts, you can see the old – in some cases, really old – network cables that I was using in the rack. Some of these were even older than my son! They were a mix of various lengths, colours, and ratings. Some were CAT5, some were CAT5A and a couple were even STP (Sheilded Twisted Pair) CAT5. Those STP cables are really stiff. I have no idea where I accumulated them over time.
I was looking to replace them not only because of their age and ratings but also because many of them were too short. It may seem strange that to make your wiring neat that being too short would be a problem. The issue is that you cannot route and arrange short lengths neatly or efficiently. As well, given that both servers are now using the appropriate sliding rails, you may not have enough length to pull a server out.
After looking around, I found some SlimRun CAT6A cables from Monoprice. These cables are really thin! Four of the SlimRun cables take up only slightly more space than the old CAT5 cables as you can see with the two types of cables next to each other.
These are great cables because they also have hoods so the clips don’t snag when pulling them through the rest of the cables. The hood also allow you to easily push the clip down when removing a cable.
Now, this is much better. It is easy to route the cables through the loom and you can now see the switch’s indicator lights.
I bought three colours (3 sets of 5): red for the ESX server (that’s the DL360 G7 under the switch); yellow for the FreeNAS server (the Supermicro server under the DL360) and purple for everything else. (Why purple? I donno…)
All that is left is to replace the two keystone wall plate with a six keystone version to make get rid of the wires still hanging down from the ceiling.
About Mike Pelley
Let’s see… A little about me…
I’ve been around information technology since 1983 with computers such as DEC Rainbows (weird machine – the standard DOS couldn’t format its own floppy disks – remember them? – and I had to format them on a friend’s IBM PC) to Radio Shack TRS-80 to Apple ][e and Apple //c in the beginning.
I have programmed in 8-bit assembly language on 6502, FORTRAN and COBOL on IBM System/370 (and I still hate JCL), VAX BASIC and COBOL (and a weird and massive WordPerfect 4.0 macro) on DEC VMS (Alpha), C/C++ on Digital Unix (ALPHA), and C/C++, Perl (it may be powerful but I still hate it), PHP on Linux (Red Hat, Centos, Ubuntu, etc.).
I have work with databases such as Digital RDB (later to become Oracle RDB), Oracle DBMS, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL and PostgreSQL on VAX, Alpha, Sun and Intel.
Check out my professional profile and connect with me on LinkedIn. See http://lnkd.in/nhTRZe
I still think that Digital created some of the best ideas in the world: VAX clustering, DSSI disks (forerunner to SCSI) and the Alpha processor (first commercial 64-bit processor – Red Hat screamed on an Alpha!). DEC just could not seem to be able to give air conditioners away to someone lost in the Sahara Desert!
VMware is one of the best ways to get the most out of an x64 server. And I have tried Oracle VM, Virtual Box and Microsoft Virtual Server.
Outside of that I am a huge military history buff starting in the early 20th century. I love Ford Mustangs (my ’87 Mustang GT was awesome) and if I had the money I would have a Porsche 928S4. If I had a lot of money I would have a Porsche 911 Turbo.
I also play too much AmrA 3 Exile mod. Over 5,000+ hours...
I have a wonderful son, Cameron. I have a long suffering (Do you really need all that computer junk?) wife, Paula. I live in Paradise, Newfoundland and Labrador.
