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🛠 Project 08 — Structured Cabling Plan

Network Systems

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Project 08: Structured Cabling Plan

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Type: Design + optional hands-on Modules: 05 (Cabling), 02 (Infrastructure) Difficulty: ⭐⭐⭐

🎯 Objective

Design a structured cabling plan for a small two-floor building that respects TIA-568 distance limits, selects appropriate media, budgets PoE, and produces a bill of materials (BOM).

🧭 Scenario

Northside Clinic occupies two floors:

  • Floor 1: 24 workstations, 4 wireless APs, reception, 1 IDF.
  • Floor 2: 18 workstations, 3 wireless APs, 1 IDF.
  • MDF is in the Floor-1 server room; the ISP demarc is beside it.
  • Longest horizontal run: ~85 m. Distance MDF ↔ Floor-2 IDF: ~120 m.

🧩 Tasks

🔹 1. Media selection

Choose cable types and justify: - Horizontal runs to workstations/APs → which copper category, and why? - MDF ↔ IDF backbone (120 m) → copper or fiber? Which fiber type/standard?

🔹 2. Distance validation

Confirm every horizontal run stays within the 100 m channel limit (90 m permanent + 10 m patch). Flag any run that needs a different approach.

🔹 3. PoE budget

Each AP draws ~25 W. Calculate total PoE load per floor switch and choose a PoE standard (802.3af / at / bt). Confirm the switch's PoE power budget covers it.

🔹 4. Termination & fire rating

  • Specify T568B terminations and where crossover vs straight-through applies.
  • Where is plenum (CMP) cable required vs riser (CMR)?

🔹 5. Bill of Materials

Produce a BOM: cable (by type/length), patch panels, keystone jacks, racks, PoE switches, transceivers/media converters, and fiber connectors.

📌 Optional Hands-On

  • Crimp a patch cable to T568B on both ends, then verify the wiremap with a cable tester (opens/shorts/miswires).
  • Identify which tool you'd use to trace a specific cable in a bundle (toner probe) and to certify a fiber run (OTDR / power meter).

✅ Verification Checklist

  • No horizontal run exceeds 100 m.
  • Backbone media handles 120 m (copper can't — fiber chosen).
  • PoE standard covers the per-switch AP load.
  • Plenum vs riser correctly specified.
  • BOM is complete enough to order from.

🚀 Stretch Goals

  • Add redundant backbone fiber between MDF and each IDF.
  • Recommend a cable-management and labeling approach (ties/trays + scheme).

See also notes: [[05-01-copper-cabling]], [[05-02-fiber-optic]], [[05-04-cable-issues-and-tools]]