🚀 go-pugleaf

[ redirected discussion from comp.protocols.tcp-ip :-]

In article <1993Jan24.231044.16138@xenitec.on.ca> merce@xenitec.on.ca (Jim Mercer) writes:

>for new buildings, [coax is] dead, except for the possibiliy of backbone 
>pulls of thick coax to connect wiring centres, but then you might consider 
>fiber.

  Actually, I happen to be planning for a 1995 building and we are
sure that our backbones will be fiber.  However, we expect to continue
to have a large installed base of workstations that want a thin-net
Ethernet coax connection and do not plan that twisted pair will be
enough.

  The harder question is which kind of fiber to install.  So our
backbone plans have both single-mode and multi-mode fiber.  The
distribution within the floors will be decided upon later so we have
time to figure out what we want.

>for existing buildings, if you are pulling new cable, pull UTP.  you
>will probably save some money on media.  you will spend it later in hubs.

  Actually most of the cost of cabling installation is in the labor,
so it would be much wiser to put in Shielded Twisted Pair (STP), with
2 pair of wires per outlet.  NB: Anything that will run over UTP will
also run over STP, but the reverse is NOT true.  STP is wisest and
gives the most flexibility, with little real cost difference from UTP
when you figure in installation costs.

>2) What options are available for small (less than a dozen nodes) networks
>currently running coax and wanting to move to 10BaseT?  

  If really small, then why not just use continue to use what you have
where you have it, move to STP for new locations and add
tranceivers/T-joints where there are new drops in existing coax
locations.