The Six Subsystems of A Structured Cabling System

Structured cabling system is a kind of open network structure, which can be used by various systems such as data, telephony, access control, building automation and so on. It provides great flexibility and economical operation. Generally, Structured cabling system can be divided into six parts: work area, horizontal cabling, backbone cabling, equipment room, telecommunication closet (room) and entrance facilities.

1. Work Area

Work area components extend from the telecommunications outlet/connector end of the horizontal cabling system to the work area equipment. Components used in work area usually include station equipment (computers, data terminals, telephones, etc.), patch cables (modular cords, PC adapter cables, fiber patch cables, etc.) and communication outlets.

2. Horizontal Cabling'

The horizontal cabling system extends from the work area’s telecommunications information outlet to the telecommunications closet. The main components of horizontal cabling include cable terminations, telecommunication outlets, a maximum of one transition point, cross-connections, cable from the patch panel to the work area, and cross-connects in telecommunication rooms.

3. Backbone cabling

The backbone cabling provides interconnection between telecommunications closets, equipment rooms and so on. In general, a backbone cabling includes components such as backbone cables (usually optical fiber cables) , mechanical terminations, intermediate and main cross-connects, and patch cables that are used for backbone-to-backbone cross-connections.

4. Equipment Room

The equipment room holds equipment which works inside the building. This usually encompasses the main corr-connect, intermediate cross-connects, or horizontal cross-connects.

5. Telecommunication Closet (Room)

A telecommunication closet houses the terminations of horizontal and backbone cables to connecting hardware including any jumpers or patch cords.

6.Entrance Facilities

Entrance facilities consists of the telecommunications service entrance to the building and backbone pathways between buildings. The components of this part contains the cables, network demarcation points, connecting hardware, protection devices and other equipment that connect to the access provider or private network cabling.

This article originates from http://www.fs.com/blog/the-six-subsystems-of-a-structured-cabling-system.html