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From: kwe@bu-it.bu.edu (Kent England)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re: Designer Colored Thinnet
Keywords: paghetti cabling
Message-ID: <62791@bu.edu.bu.edu>
Date: 17 Aug 90 19:57:52 GMT
References: <1990Aug16.201204.15627@relay.nswc.navy.mil>
Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu
Reply-To: kwe@bu-it.bu.edu (Kent England)
Organization: Boston University
Lines: 33

In article <1990Aug16.201204.15627@relay.nswc.navy.mil>,
 snorthc@pokey.nswc.navy.mil (Stephen Northcutt) writes:
> 
> The problem I am seeking help with is spaghetti cabling.  All
> these little nets, and subnets, and multi-port repeaters and
> bridges and routers are hard to keep track of. Especially
> since many groups want their own cable.  So along the halls
> are many strands of cable, the older cables are not even labled,
> but we don't allow that anymore.
> 
> ...
> When we rewire, we want to be much smarter about how we do it.
> One thing that might help is colored cable.

	You have stumbled on the reason why so many of us are
enamored of Ethernet on twisted pair.

	One subnet: one multiport concentrator.  Someone wants
to move to another subnet?  No problem.  Where is the other end
of this wire?  No problem.  What color wire is it?  Who cares?

	We tried designer colored thick net two years ago.  We
installed six cables throughout the building with barrel connectors
here and there.  Very modular and adaptable.  But we gave up and 
went to UTP Ethernet and then to 10BaseT.

	There are nice adaptors that convert from thin to 10BaseT
and I don't mean baluns.  You can mix in thin-net, but you don't
have to run thin coax in the walls.

	You can afford it.  Hell, you can't afford not to.

	--Kent