Current industry best practices for network design for enterprise and small business clients begin with a solid understanding of the businesses’ current and future needs. Scalability must be built in from the start; otherwise the network will limit the company’s future growth.  This means using a distributed rather than centralized architecture for most installations.

Today’s networks are combined voice-video- and data networks, not just data networks like yesteryear.  This means QoS (quality of service) must be built in from the start to prioritize voice and video traffic where packet loss can create loss of business communications. Service providers chosen should offer QoS as part of an SLA (service level agreement) and internal Ethernet switches should also offer at least a ToS bit QOS scheme.  Switch ports must be configured to auto-negotiate speed/duplex levels, power levels, enable portfast, and to enable queueing on uplink ports to ensure that the Voice VLAN gets priority across the entire LAN.

Copper rather than fiber cabling is preferred for VoIP networks within a business or enterprise as fiber networks require media convertors which are viewed as another potential point of failure.  All wiring should meet requirements for 100MB Fast Ethernet, and should be certified as free of faulty shielding, improper termination, or other defects.   At least cat 5 wiring and preferably cat5e or higher wiring should be used.

PoE or Power-over-Ethernet switches are also preferred as they can be used in conjunction with a back up power source so that business communications and data sharing are continuous in the event of a power outage.   When PoE switches are used with IP phones and a back up power source, the phones will also still work in the event of a power failure.

A gateway that connects to the PSTN (public switched telephone network) is also needed to handle 911 calls or external calls in the event of WAN failure.  This functionality is included in many IPPBXs or routers available today.

Best practices design is a constantly changing concept also, based on the latest and greatest technology and findings.  It pays to hire an experienced data installation firm that keeps pace with today’s best practices and networking know-how.

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Today, businesses small and large are scrambling to get on the green bandwagon. Environmental issues such as the oil platform accident in the Gulf surround us. Being green now means saving money, and the PR leverage for green business changes has never been higher.

How can you tie being green and sustainable into your IT strategy?  There are many advantages to having a “state-of-the-art” IT infrastructure when it comes to saving both the earth and money for your business, and most are simply implemented.

First of all, make sure you use PoE or “power-over-Ethernet” powered switches and routers in your business.   Not only do they use less overall power, they can be easily controlled by the Smart grid when this new technology is fully in place, meaning that your equipment will be safer in the event of a brown-out or grid overload.

Secondly, encourage file transfer among employees rather than printing, and require a password to retrieve files from the printer.   Many times, employees simply send files to the printer and forget to pick them up.  This wastes paper and kills trees.   Document sharing via IT collaboratory tools such as Go-to-Meeting and Webex also helps cut down on printing and paper waste.

Implementing a Telepresence system from Cisco, Cisco/Tandberg or HP will dramatically reduce your carbon footprint by reducing air travel, which also reduces costs.  Telepresence interoperability has expanded dramatically, which means it is no longer just an intercompany communications tool but can be used for customer, supplier, legal, and outsourced employee communications as well.

LCD screens use less power than old style CRT monitors, so upgrading to them will cut power usage while giving your employees more desk space and better viewing conditions for hard to read documents.

A solid enterprise VoIP system enables your employees to work from anywhere and maintain the same phone number – allowing them to telecommute one or more days a week to diminish the carbon footprint.  This also makes a great PR story and adds to employee satisfaction.

Automation that allows shutdown of lights, air conditioning/heat, and unnecessary equipment can also be integrated with a strong IT system to green your utility usage and cut costs.  Control can be set up over the web, so you can manually override these controls as needed for a small business that may have changing utility needs.

Obviously all these measures require a strong IT infrastructure for proper operation.  Make sure you contact structured wiring installers who have a great deal of experience designing such infrastructure for both small and large companies, as well as solid customer testimonials as proof of success and competence.  Don’t trust the backbone of your company’s IT infrastructure to just anyone!  Choosing the right infrastructure provider means you will get the best fit architecture for your company’s current and future needs, to allow you to green your business and shave costs in the process.

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Here we offer you a quick explanation of cable conversion basics so that you learn a bit more about everything that goes on with a structured cabling job:

-Combining Composite/S-Video to Coaxial cable using and RF modulator
This modulator is capable of converting Composite or S-Video inputs into Coaxial output.  The majority of RF modulators only output the video through channels 3 or 4, but there are some that allow you to pick a channel up to 125.

Composite and S-Video are limited as to how long the cables can be, but Coaxial cable is not, and it is a lot cheaper.  If your TV just has one Coaxial input that is already being used, you can use an A/B switch to change between two different Coaxial wires.

-Splitting Composite signals
To split Coaxial wire is as easy as using a Y RCA splitter.  To split an audio/video signal, you require three splitters: one for video- yellow-, one for the right audio- red-, and one for the left audio- white.

You lose some signal when you split Composite wire or when you run them a long distance.

-Splitting Coaxial signals for Cable/Antenna
This is also simple to do.  You can get splitters that split in two, four, or more lines.  The use of a splitter will break down the strength of the signal, so you may need a cable booster or amplifier.

-Splitting Coaxial signals for Satellite
This is a lot more complicated.  You need a multiplexer to split a satellite signal.

One satellite dish can produce two, three, four, or even more coaxial outputs, each one with a different signal.  You can even have several satellite dishes to get all the channels you want.

It will not work to simply split one of these wires for two different TVs.  A multiplexer takes all the satellite wires and produces additional outputs.  Its capacities are written as 2×4, meaning it converts two wires into 4, or 5×8, meaning it converts five into eight.

You have to make sure the multiplexer works for your service, for example, DirecTV or DishNetwork, and know that some inputs could be dedicated to a local channel antenna or for international satellites that may not be of your liking.

-Combining Analog TV signals over Coaxial cable
Coaxial cables can be combined under special conditions, for example, if you have a Coax feed from an RF modulator with a signal only on channel 3, and you also have an antenna/cable feed and there is no station on channel 3, you can combine the two Coaxial feeds into one through a Coaxial splitter backwards.

-Converting DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort
This is easy to do and may be necessary if you are connecting a computer to a TV.  You can do it with a standalone adapter or a wire that converts the signal.

Know that their capabilities are not the same, so, you are ruled by the lowest denominator, for example, HDMI and DisplayPort carry digital audio, but DVI doesn’t, and DisplayPort offers higher resolution and refresh rate.

-Converting VGA to Component
If you own a computer with a VGA output, and you want to connect it to a TV that has a Component input, you can use a converter.

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There are many types of wires that can be installed inside a wall, for example, Internet, phone, and cable wires, as well as speaker and alarm wires, which depend on the application.  There are also different video formats that you may require if you are going to hang a flat panel TV on the wall, and for these, and many other necessities, here we give you a list of the different wires there are:

1.Coaxial cable
This one is used mainly for TV, satellite, and cable modems, and can also be used to move video between rooms, let’s say, to share a Tivo or cable/satellite box output on two TVs.  You can adapt 3 coaxial wires together to work as component or composite wires.  Not very often, it is also used for security cameras and digital audio.

There are 2 types of coaxial cable: RG-59 and RG-6.  This last one is the only one that you should be using, since everything is moving towards digital, and it is high quality.

2.Category 3 wire
This is used as phone wire.  Each pair of twisted wires handles one phone line.  The typical kind has two pairs of wire for two phone lines; however, the plugs can handle three pairs for three lines.  Phone wire can be black, red, green, and yellow, or orange stripe, blue, blue stripe, and orange.

3.Category 5, 5e, 6, and 7 wire
These are used for Internet connections and network cabling.  Your cable or DSL modem will output this network wire, where category 5 is the lowest quality and category 7 is the top.  All of them look the same, but the best ones have extra twists and better shielding that allow for the transmission of more data.  These can also be used for other data applications like remote volume control knobs, security cameras, and infrared distribution.

4.Alarm/Security wire
This one’s thicker than the Cat 3 cable and is used to wire security systems, that is, alarm panels, window/door sensors, motion detectors, and sirens.

5.Speaker wire
This is needed for in wall/in ceiling speakers.  It comes in 2 conductor (red and black for + and -) or 4 conductor (red, black, white, and green, for left+, left-, right+ and right-).

6.Optical wire
It is used for digital audio, however in the future it may be used for other applications like Internet and TV.

7.Composite cable
This is used for audio and video.  It is a very popular and inexpensive format although the video quality is the worst available and can’t handle HDTV signals.

8.S-Video
This popular video format is being replaced with DVI and HDMI.  It is actually two coaxial cables in one, with two signal cables (Y and C) and two grounds.

9.Component
This video format is better than S-Video even though it is less common and is also being replaced by DVI and HDMI.

10.VGA (Video Graphics Array)
This is the old computer monitor video format that can be found in old flat panel TVs.

11.DVI (Digital Visual Interface)
This is the video format used now in most flat panel computer monitors.  It comes in three formats: DVI-D (Digital), DVI-A (Analog), and DVI-I (Integrated).

12.HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface)
This is the latest standard for high-end flat panel TVs.

13.UDI (Unified Display Interface)
This is trying to become the next video standard.  It offers higher resolutions than HDMI.

14.DisplayPort
It also offers higher resolutions than HDMI, but it is still being developed.

15.Infrared
You need it if you have your remote in one room and your stereo components in another.  The sensor must be where the remote is, and the main unit where the stereo components are.

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The ideal scenario is to wire a home while it is being built; however, there are ways to do it afterwards.  Here we will show you what you can ask for, so that you make an informed decision when installing structured cabling.

When you build a house, wiring it right can add thousands, and even tens of thousands, of dollars to its future value, but you have to consider its getting wired correctly can cost you just as much.  Most builders won’t let you do this kind of work yourself while the home is being built because of safety, insurance, and theft reasons, nevertheless, anything is possible.

In any case, whether you hire a structured cabling professional or you decide to do it yourself, a good wiring plan will have all the wires streamed to a central location, normally the basement.

If you don’t have a basement, you will need another central location to stream the wires to.  Your builder should give you some suggestions, but the most common places are the closet or utility room where the hot water heater and the electrical box are, or the attic.  All this must be specified in your wiring plan.

The majority of contractors will run the wires room to room, this means, for example, that if the builder is adding a phone line to the kitchen and main bedroom, he will run the wire from the basement, to the kitchen, to the bedroom, and this not the best.

The right way to do it is to stream a line from the basement to the kitchen, and a second one from the basement to the bedroom.  This method has two main advantages:

1.If there is a problem with the connection, you just have to look at the two ends.  There is no need to remember and check every spot that the wire goes through.

2.In the room-to-room way you are limited as to what you can do with the wires, because you can run phone lines in series, but not Internet network cables.  Most builders run Internet wires for the phone lines, and this is how it should be done, otherwise, only one room will be able to use the wire as a network cable.

Everything must be defined before the wiring begins.  You must know what wires will be streamed where, and you better run too much wire rather than too little, because an unused wire is inexpensive but trying to run a new wire after the walls are up can take a long time.

After the wiring plan is ready, you must establish how much wire you need and where you can get it.  Only then, you are ready to get started.

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Wireless networks are fashionable for small businesses, and it is no wonder.  Having a good wireless network allows employees to work anywhere in the building without being tethered to their offices.   Customers and visitors can work in conference rooms, after being given guest access to the network.  And costly wire drops become unnecessary.

However, there are key tradeoffs to be considered – and more and more companies are opting for both a wired and a wireless network so that the benefits of both can be combined.

Wireless networks are subject to “dead” spots within any building. Although this can be minimized by careful placement of access points and the use of analysis tools such as those available from Air Magnet, dead spots are unavoidable in most structures.  The fastest bandwidth available with any wireless networking protocol today is 55 Mbps, as opposed to 100 Mbps for fast Ethernet wired networks (with Gigabit Ethernet networks offering up to 1,000 Mbps speeds).  And they are notoriously easier to hack into, although newer security protocols such as WPA-2 are being used to address this concern.

Wired networks limit freedom, but are tougher to hack into and very reliable.  Many companies provide workers the choice between the two options – if they need to work in a conference room, a wireless network is available to enable this.  If they need speed and reliability, a cable drop is available to plug into their laptops or PCs.   Added security connections can be had by using wired fiber optic Ethernet drops instead of copper Ethernet drops.

VoIP is also deployed only with wired connections today – as call quality with VoIP over 802.11 is not yet considered solid.  Enterprise VoIP desktop phones from all major manufacturers require that a copper Cat5, Cat5E or Cat6 Ethernet cable be connected.  ATAs or “analog telephone adapters” also require a hard wired connection.

When considering what to deploy for your company, if you have the resources, both a wired and wireless network is optimum.  If you have a smaller company and only want one or the other, deploying VoIP or voice-over-IP is a great cost saving step and requires the installation of static wiring to work properly.  This means a structured cabling network is your best choice.  The monthly cost savings realized from eliminating long distance toll charges and high land line charges will more than pay for the added expense of installing copper cabling over a short amount of time.

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Sophisticated networking equipment was once only found in large companies, while small companies shared a dial-up modem to access the Internet or didn’t access the Internet at all.   File sharing between computers was performed by “sneaker-net”; walking around with discs from computer to computer.

Today’s economy demands efficiency for success, and the Internet has become a requirement for doing business at any level.   This has left many small businesses struggling to use complex equipment designed for much larger businesses –or trying to use cheap equipment with low quality standards and no service or maintenance contracts.

Many of the traditional networking companies have recognized this problem, and are now offering service packages customized to the needs of small business, or easy-to-set up and provision equipment with higher quality standards and more comprehensive installation instructions.

Cisco’s Small Business Technology Group (formerly Linksys) offers a wide variety of such products with comprehensive service packages so that small business owners have a place to turn to if or when things go wrong.   Texas based Epygi offers a small business IPPBX that accommodates legacy phones and can be installed within 30 minutes of opening the box.

No matter which path you choose – better service packages or simpler equipment – any network is only going to be as reliable as its infrastructure.  If your small business is planning to invest in some great SMB networking products – make sure they are running on the very best cable and wiring before paying big bucks for a service package!  Call a professional team of network cabling installers to review your infrastructure, and you will save yourself a lot of headaches.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention http://www.intsysinst.com as the original source).