Today's photo caption: Where is Betsy Ross when you need her? 

Welcome back to Tech Service Today's IT Disaster of the Week series where we showcase the ugliest IT environment our technicians ran into this week.

As we return to our series after taking a break for the Independence Day holiday last week, it seems perfectly appropriate to feature a Disaster photo containing red, white, and blue cables. And while you probably think we classified this as a "disaster" because someone stuck a green patch cable amidst all the red, white and blue ones, our reasons run deeper than that.

If you look closely at the ends of the patch cables, you will see three (3) different varieties being used. The first are cables with Basic Connectors meaning the ends have nothing more than clear RJ45 plugs on them with the thumb-tabs exposed. (See the blue cables nearest the thumb in the picture.)

The next type of cables shown have Snagless Boots (the white cables on the right). Snagless Boots - or "Bubble Boots" as some call them - have removable covers which provide protection for the thumb-tabs, and a degree of strain relief on the neck of the cables (to prevent kinks in tight environments like the one shown). But as this photo shows, when connecting cables to a device whose ports are situated extremely close together, snagless boots often make it nearly impossible to fit a cable into a port, or they prevent you from accessing the thumb tabs on cables in adjacent ports. As such, it's not uncommon to see instances like this where the snagless boots have been pulled down the neck of the cable where they won't interfere with patching.

The third style of patch cables used here have Molded Snagless Boots (see the blue cables in the top-right corner of the picture). The boots on these cables are actually manufactured as part of the cable jacket, thereby offering a higher degree of strain-relief and tab protection than you get with snagless boots. While they offer a slimmer body than snagless boots, they are not removable. So if they are too wide to fit cables in the adjacent ports, you will only be able to use half of the ports on your network equipment.

If you haven't figured out where I'm going yet, it's pretty simple. Every company should standardize on the type of patch cables they use, and define them in your technology plan. You don't have to choose just one style. You can define one style for use with your rack-mount equipment and another style for connecting workstations to wall outlets. But define the cable types that best meet your needs and use them exclusively.

By having well-defined cabling standards, you not only eliminate any guesswork by your purchasing team when they're asked to buy more cables, but you also prevent yourself from ending up in a situation like this...where the cables you are trying to use are just not the style you need to do the job successfully. That would be like asking Betsy Ross to make the first American flag out of a ball of pink yarn and some lace doilies.

Check back every Friday for TST's latest IT Disaster of the Week photo

which represents one of the thousands of customer sites our technicians visit every year as they install and service IT, networking, and telecom equipment & cabling for our clients.

Click here to see last week's IT Disaster photo.

Do you already have an IT disaster that needs to be cleaned up?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to install a network. But to ensure that your equipment, racks and cabling are installed properly in an organized, efficient fashion, it does require the talents of a skilled IT technician. If you need help installing or cleaning up your network, contact Tech Service Today to have a skilled, seasoned Technician dispatched to your site.

At Tech Service Today, We SIMPLIFY IT, SERVICE IT, and SOLVE IT.
Call TST when you need on-site technical services anywhere in North America, even same-day when time is of the essence.

Call (800) 973-2022 (option 1), or Email us at Service@TechServiceToday.com