Hardware Networking FAQs?

TufelKinder asks: "Our company is installing a new network at a new building location. There don't seem to be many discussions that center on the best cabling systems, etc, to use. I'm wondering what /. folk have found to be the best brands/types of copper cables to use for 10/100BT networking and for gigabit over copper as well. Are there any specific types of cable or cabling practices to avoid?"

Comments

Re:Why avoid little hubs ???

[cmowire]

Generally, you want to avoid little hubs because:
1) Cheap little hubs tend to have short lifespans, break, have conflicts, etc. They are intended for people's houses, dorm rooms and impromptu networking, not for a business.
2) Little hubs don't perform so well compared to more ports on the managed switch.
3) Not everybody who needs multiple computers is tech savy. Take, for example, the salesperson who has a laptop for the road and a desktop for work.
4) You don't have all of the encryption, authentication, etc. options available for the little hubs.
5) If the little hub gets messed up, you have to walk to the cube instead of doing everything through a remote admin console.
6) It costs very little more to run the 3 or 4 drops than it does to run 1 drop. Cable costs pale in comparison to labor costs. It will cost much more to install more drops later when the hubs get to be too annoying.
7) Managed switch ports, for a good-sized network, are generally pretty cheap. Once you consider the potential hidden costs of a little hub (extra admin trouble, compatability problems, etc) it starts making sense to just use the managed switch ports.