Premises Infrastructure

By far the most important component in any Infrastructure Project is the so called Media Layer. This layer is responsible for carrying your data from server to server, server to client and client to client. Over the past 20 years there have been many standards for this Media Layer proposed, adopted, and superceeded. The currently active specifications range from Category 5e which is suitable for most small environments and is the most cost effective to install right through to Category 7 whcih is both expensive and unnecessary in most situations. 

At GEN, our in-house engineers are experienced in everything from Twinax to the very latest Category 8 and we are now using Category 8 in our own Data Centres as a rolling upgrade. 

Site Survey

When we conduct a site survey, we are looking to identify the following

  • Data Transfer Requirements
  • Future Proffing Requirements
  • Structural Issues
  • Cable Routes (within Specification)
  • Trunking Styles to fit with Decor

After the survey is complete, you will receive a full report with basic diagrams showing cable routing and point locations. If you have provided floorplans then these will be clearly annotated with point locations. If the project is sizeable we may contract an architect to render floorplans and a surveyor to manage inter-floor routing and structural concerns. 

 

Structured Cabling Specifications

Features / Specis CAT 5e CAT 6 CAT 6e CAT 6a CAT 7 CAT 7a CAT 8
Phone Lines 368633 368633 368633 368633      
Home Network 368633 368633 368633        
Office Network 368633 368633 368633 368633      
Data Centre     368633 368633 368633   368633
Class  E  E Ea  Fa 1 and 2
Potential Bandwidth (ps) 1000 Mbps 1000 Mbps 1000 Mbps 10000 Mbps 10000 Mbps 25000 Mbps 40000 Mbps
Time to Transfer 1TB 3 Hours 3 Hours 3 Hours 20 Minutes 20 Minutes 10 Minutes 4 Minutes
Data Transmission 1000 BASE-T 1000 BASE-TX 1000 BASE-TX 10GBASE-T 10GBASE-T 25Gbase-T 40gbase-T
Connector Type RJ45 8P8C RJ45 (Cat 6) RJ45 (Cat 6) RJ45 (Cat 6a) GG45 8P8C GG45
               
Frequency Range Minimum  0 - 100 Mhz 0 - 250 Mhz  0 - 250 Mhz  0 - 500 Mhz  0 - 500 Mhz 1000 Mhz 2000 Mhz
Frequency Maximum  350Mhz 500 Mhz  550 Mhz  600 Mhz  750 Mhz 1000 Mhz 2000 Mhz
Performance Distance  100m 100m  100m  100m  100m 50m 30m
Alt. Distance

 

 50m @ 10GB  50m @ 10Gb     15m @ 100Gb  

 

Fibre Optic Infrastructure is less complex with there really only being two common standards. Fibre provides significantly higher bandwidth over a larger distance but is less robust than copper. Generally the use of Fibre is limited to runs longer than 100m for 1000BASE-TX or 30m for 30Gb to 100Gb and is commonplace for 30Gb interconnections. Our Fibre is terminated on-site and receives the same rigerous certification as our copper infrastructure. 

Fibre Optic Standards

Specification Type Bandwidth Frequency
OM1 Multimode with Over Filled Launch (OFL) 200 / 500 Mhz 850 / 1300 nm
OM2 Multimode with Over Filled Launch (OFL) 500 / 500 Mhz 850 / 1300 nm
OM3 Multimode with Over Filled Launch (OFL) 1500 / 500 Mhz 850 / 1300 nm
OM4 Multimode using DMD 4700 Mhz 850 nm
WBMMF Multimode 4700 Mhz 850 / 900 nm
OS1 Standard Generic Singlemode    
OS2 Low water peak Singlemode    
ITU-T G657 Reduced Bend Radius Singlemore    

 

Infrastructure Certification and Re-Certification

One of the many issues we encounter is previously installed structured cabling that has not been certified. Certification is a complex testing method that certifies each cable to be specification compliant. The test equipment itself runs at about £15k per set so many companies don't bother and simply ensure that connections are electrically correct. We use the very best Agilent/Keysight Testkit. Badly routed, non-certified cables are by far the biggest cause of intermittent network anomolies we encounter. When GEN installs Infrastructure you will receive a full certification report, with detailed metrics for each and every cable in the project. With Re-Certification you will receive the same data, and a list of cables that are non-compliant and will need to be re-terminated or replaced. We can perform Re-Certification overnight or weekends to avoid interuption to business processes. 

Wiring Closet Refactoring

59064643 2465193566847103 1303252541152165888 nIf your wiring closet looks anything like the image to the right then its time to consider refactoring. We use the term refactoring rather than strip it all out and start again because the process is in fact quite complex especially where documentation is limited or missing alltogether. We must first trace each active cable and map it before we disconnect anything. Then out-of-hours, our engineers will remove ALL cables, replacing them where nescesary and re-cable using proper cable management, turning your wiring closet into a professional and fully documented installation. 

Public Works and Site to Site

If you have two or more buildings on the same estate there is sometimes are need to connect these sites together, and doing so will require civil enginerring, permits, inspections and sign-off by your local council. GEN are experienced at this type of work and will take care of all these processes to get the job done. Where its simply not possible to achieve economically, for example where carridgeway excavation requires road closures and the costs for such exceeds the budget, then we can fallback onto P2P Microwave at 10Mbps per channel or WiMax at 300Mbps and even P2P Optical at 1000Mbps. 

Listed Buildings

If your building is 'listed' then there are certain challenges in progressing an infrastructure installation. You may have already been told that its simply not possible, but that's incorrect. We know the challenges as well as the workarounds and will take care of the process and dealing with surveys and inspections to get the job done. 

 

So if you have an infrastrucutre project that you would like us to consider, please contact us today (bottom right).