Cisco 6509/6513 cable management...

Tue Sep 21 13:38:57 UTC 2010

On Tue, 21 Sep 2010, Positively Optimistic wrote:

> Do any of our fellow nanog members have experience with cable management on
> 6509/6513 cisco switches?   We're upgrading infrastructure in some of our
> facilities,..  and until it came to cable management, the switches seemed to
> be a great idea...   8 48port blades..  pose a challenge.. or a problem..

The biggest things with 6500s, or any high-density configuration for that 
matter, are:
1. Using racks/cabinets that have ample space for your vertical and 
horizontal cabling.  If you don't have this, things can get ugly in a 
hurry.  Make sure the kit you choose has plenty of wire management 
channel space left over even after the racks are fully populated.  Having
to tear overstuffed wire management channels apart to back-pull a bad cable
or jumper at 3 AM is no fun.
2. Emphasizing the importance of following established cabling standards 
to the people who will be touching this equipment.  Having visual aids, 
i.e. "Here are some pictures of the quality of work we expect", usually go 
a lot farther to drive this point home than handing someone a 20-page 
cabling standards document with no pictures.
3. Dont forget about your inter-rack/overhead wiring channels/trays.  I've 
seen a few places that had things neatly dressed in the racks, but the 
overhead channels were a complete mess... assumingly because they were 
hidden from view :).  If your overhead distribution has separate 
channels/lanes for power/copper/fiber, even better.
4. Labeling and documentation.
5. See 4.

jms