Completing The Project Management Mission

Everyone complains about data loss, computer’s freezing up, the constant need to reboot, slow data transfer. Often, it’s not the technology, nor the age of equipment so much as the project management of the initial installation.

As project manager, you can do more than insure that a project is completed on time and under budget. You can reduce, or eliminate future causes of client anguish by applying sound, practical technology principles… principles that you will learn from this guide.

Two specific, but long neglected, areas of project management go a log way to insure that data will flow at an acceptable level and without costly downtime:

• Cable infrastructure planning, design and inspection.
• Electrical engineering and inspection.

This is not meant to provide a complete guide to all there is to know about these important items, but is will educate you as to what can go wrong and how to protect against the most common problems.

There are three commonly specified cable types in use today for typical office suites. They are Category 3, Category 5 and glass fiber:

• Category 3 is capable of carrying not only most telephone service, but can adequately handle 10baseT data as well. 10-Mbps baseband Ethernet specification using two pairs of twisted-pair cabling (Category 3, 4, or 5): one pair for transmitting data and the other for receiving data.

• Category 5 is a higher capacity service that can carry telephone service and data at 100baseT. 100-Mbps baseband Fast Ethernet specification using UTP wiring. Like the 10BaseT technology on which it is based, 100BaseT sends link pulses over the network segment when no traffic is present. However, these link pulses contain more information than those used in 10BaseT. Category 5 can also carry lower speed service and is backward compatible with older hardware.

• Fiber is the most expensive. It has very high-speed throughput characteristics that is beyond most hardware for office suites. It requires special interfaces and requires special technical know-how to be used effectively with older technologies. Fiber is most effective in enterprise or building-wide deployment for broadband delivery to the floor level.

Most installations specify Cat 3 cable for telephone and Cat 5 for data, but the installations are often poorly installed such that the more expensive Cat 5 cables may not carry data much faster than the cheaper Cat 3 as the specifications intended them to.

The best way to insure that Cat 5 will carry 100baseT capacity is to perform a full 100baseT certification. Sometimes, this is expensive, or impractical. There are less costly means of accomplishing the same ends through visual inspection of the craftsmanship of the job. Visual inspection is vitally important because most telephone cable field installers have not been adequately trained on the importance of adhering to the 100baseT installation protocol.

The installation protocol for full 100baseT throughput of Cat 5 cable most often violated by inexperienced data cable installers includes:

• Cable must never be run parallel and contiguous with electrical cable.
• Cable must never rest on, or cross over, florescent lamp ballast.
• Cable must not be tie-wrapped tightly. The cable should move freely within the tie-wrap.
• Cable must not be right angle bent. Turns should be smooth, wide arcs.
• Cable should never be stretched. The common practice of tying the ends of a bulk run together and hanging the weighted bundle prior to cut down will ruin the traffic capacity of the cables.

Fiber service is not usually required in the office suite environment. It requires a higher level of understanding that can only be accomplished with professional consulting assistance.

Failure to adequately manage and inspect the cable installation, or hiring the wrong cable installer can cause extreme operating difficulties for many years to come. A knowledgeable telephone, data and cable infrastructure consultant will protect the project from such deficiencies.

Power is not measured in duplex outlets… Not for computer technology, anyway. In olden days, most outlets were used for things like motors, lighting and under desk heaters. These appliances use electricity differently than computers do and were less susceptible to problems from electrical interference, harmonic distortion, insufficient grounding and the like.

Some sources of inadequate power:

• Insufficient entrance facilities.
• Insufficient service between entrance facilities and floor service.
• Grounding circuits locally, instead of back to the entrance.
• Poorly engineered leg splitting.

Electrical contractors are not always aware of the consistency of ongoing technology problems that persist long after they have been paid and have gone. It is ethically responsible, therefore, for the project manager to be able to understand the problems of power, as well as the preventive measures that can be taken to assure that systems will function as planned.

On the other hand, overly conservative construction can add as much as 40% to the initial cost and ongoing electrical costs to the premises. All electrical services, therefore, should be reviewed by an independent consultant with a licensed electrical engineer on staff.

The rules for planning a telephone/data equipment room are that there is never enough space, it’s never cool enough, there’s never enough power, and nobody ever plans for electrical storm disturbances.

Some considerations for planning a well-designed equipment room:

• Wall mounted versus rack mounted patch panels.
• Number of panels for current use and growth.
• How much ancillary hardware must be Cat 5 certified Vs Cat 3, Vs fiber?
• What are the needs 3 to 5 years hence?
• How should the equipment be laid out for most cost-effective use of power, cabling, space?

Planning for the future requires:

• Knowing the technology.
• Knowing the client needs.
• Knowing what to inspect… and when.

Network Information

We've added the following information to help you better understand the different types of products we offer. If you have any questions, please give us a call and we'll do our best to accommodate your networking needs!

Ethernet Standards:

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 802 committee has defined all LAN (Local Area Network) related standards, such as:

802.3

Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Detection (CSMA/CD)

802.4

Token Passing for Bus topology.

802.5

Token Passing for Ring topology.

The 802.3 CSMA/CD standard is modeled after the original Ethernet standard created by DEC, Intel and Xerox. Other media defined by the IEEE committee include:

10Base-5

10 Mbps transmission, baseband signaling,

500m maximum per thick coaxial segment.

10Base-2

10 Mbps transmission, baseband signaling,

185m maximum per thin coaxial segment.

10Base-T

10 Mbps transmission, over Unshielded

Twisted-Pair (UTP) cable.

10Base-FL

10 Mbps transmission, 2,000m maximum

over fiber optic cable.

10Base-5 Thick Ethernet Standard

This Standard utilizes baseband transmission technique and bus topology allowing 500m (maximum segment distance) of coaxial cable (50ohm,12AWG) at a data rate of 10 Mbps without a repeater. Standard Ethernet cable gives you more EMI/RFI protection than other types of copper cable. The maximum number of devices per segment is 100. The maximum path for the network is 2,500m (5 segments).

10Base-2 Thin Ethernet Standards

This standard utilizes baseband transmission and bus topology allowing 185m (maximum segment distance) of coaxial cable (50 ohm, RG-58, 20 AWG) at a data rate of 10 Mbps without a repeater. The maximum number of devices per segment is 30.The maximum path for the network is 925m (5 segments). This LAN implementation is low-cost compared to the 10Base-5 cabling system.

10Base-T UTP Standards

This IEEE Standard for Ethernet Local Area Networks uses Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cabling. 1OBase-T Standards are defined as follows: Operates at 10 Mbps (Megabits per second) over 26-22 AWG Unshielded Twisted-Pair link segments up to 100 meters long. Two pairs of UTP wires are used - one pair (pins 1 & 2) for transmitting and the other pair (pins 3 & 6) for receiving.

10 Base-FL Standards

10Base-FL is a new IEEE standard which replaced the old FOIRL (Fiber Optic Inter Repeater Link) standard for Ethernet Fiber Optic transmission. 10Base-FL allows up to 2,000 meters between duplex 62.5/125mm multi-mode fiber optic connections with ST connectors. It provides backward compatibility for communication between FOIRL and 10Base-FL over a maximum of 1,000 meters of fiber optic cable.

Ethernet Hubs & Repeaters

Ethernet Hubs and Repeaters are concentrators that provide a star topology for increased flexibility and easy maintenance.

Ethernet Converters

Ethernet converters are used to regenerate a signal over a specified distance for the same or different media types.

Ethernet Transceivers

Ethernet transceivers are used to convert a signal from the AUI port of an Ethernet adapter card to another media

type.

Ethernet Adapter Cards

EIA/TIA 568-A Standards

In the early '90s, ANSI (American National Standards Institute) / EIA (Electronic Industries Association) / TIA (Telecommunications Industry Association) defined a series of telecommunication wiring standards for different frequency application requirements.

ANSI/EIA/TIA 568-A updates and refines the contents of EIA/TIA 36, TIA/EIA TSB 40 and TIA/EIA TSB 40-A, which covered additional specifications for Categories 3, 4 and 5 UTP cables and compatible connecting hardware. This standard also updates the contents of the draft TSB-53 which covered additional specifications for 150 ohm STP-A cables and compatible connectors. New specifications for 62.5/125, mm optical fiber and single mode optic fiber cables, connectors and cabling practices are also included. The following cabling systems are defined in this new standard:

100 ohm UTP Cabling Systems - Category 3,4 and 5 of 100 ohm UTP horizontal cable, backbone cable, patch cables and connecting hardware are defined to meet different transmission rates of application requirements.

150 ohm STP Cabling Systems - 150 ohm STP-A horizontal cable, backbone cable, patch cables and connecting hardware are defined for data transmission up to 300 MHz.

Optical Fiber Cabling Systems - Fiber Optic horizontal 62.5/125, mm cable, backbone cable, patch cords and connecting hardware are defined for different applications.

Categories defined for UTP cables and connecting hardware:

Category 3

The characteristics are specified up to 16 MHz. They are typically used for voice and data transmission rates up to and including 10 Mbps, e.g. IEEE 802.5, 4 Mbps UTP and IEEE 802.3 10Base-T Ethernet.

Category 4

The characteristics are specified up to 20 MHz. They are typically used for voice and data transmission rates up to and including 16 Mbps, e.g. IEEE 802.5, 4/16 Mbps UTP.

Category 5

The characteristics are specified up to 100 MHz. They are typically used for voice and data transmission rates up to and including 100 Mbps, e.g. IEEE 802.5 16 Mbps UTP, ANSI X3T9.5 100 Mbps TPDDI, 100Base-X, 100VG-AnyLAN, and 155MbpsATM.

• Answer all information technology questions.
• Provide technology project management.
• Perform best ROI-needs analysis.
• Educate on latest in security, telephones, video conferencing and data networks.
• Advise architects on equipment space, power, cable and environmentals.
• Compare cost effective local and long distance telephone solutions.
• Recommend best phone, data and security solutions.
• Recommend best broad bandwidth data transmission solutions.
• Inspect and manage vendors' installations.
• Expedite all technology orders and changes.

Fees average 50˘ per square foot, but can range from under 25˘ per square foot for large projects to over $1 per square foot for small projects, or very complex ones. We usually save our clients much more than our fees.

Name two specific, but long neglected, areas of project management to insure that data will flow at an acceptable level and without costly downtime:

Name three commonly specified cable types in use today for typical office suites:

Describe five important things to look for before they are hidden in the closed up walls:

List five considerations for planning a well-designed equipment room:

Stan Rosenzweig is president of Office Technology Consulting, Inc., and for twenty-five years, has saved companies millions of dollars through intelligent technology advice and planning.

Client projects have included Liberty Financial Companies, General Reinsurance, Corporate Centres, Toyota Motor Company, Sirrom Capital Corp, Westchester Prepaid Health Services Plan, Alliance Entertainment Corp., Opus360.com, and Healthmarket.com. Client projects span as many as 30 states at any one time and have covered over 40 states, Canada, Bermuda and Puerto Rico.

The Rosenzweig team designed the entire telephone and cable infrastructure for the 300,000 square foot New Orleans Convention Center, designed a 200,000 square foot distribution center for Alliance Entertainment, designed and managed 140 phone system installations for Mutual Life Insurance of New York (MONY), designed and managed a 1,000 phone system for New Orleans's largest hotel in the French Quarter, and designed and managed telephone, data, cable infrastructure, electrical, air conditioning and computer main frame space for the technology hub of the 20,000 square foot Westchester Library System's centralized inventory, catalog and internet access facility.

Rosenzweig has directed strategic marketing, product development and cost management consulting for large and middle-sized companies. He has been certified as a network engineer by Sprint, certified in Microsoft products, certified as a systems design engineer by Mitel and Nortel.

Rosenzweig writes over two dozen articles and speaks at up to a dozen business shows and seminars each year, including COMDEX, PC EXPO and many others. He has published five books. He has written business models for clients, including "Engineering a Technologically Superior Building", "Technology Construction Planing - Completing The Project Management Mission", and a number of customized programs for specific clients.