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The Problem Of Unused Cabling

Posted by Hemos on from the wonderfully-old-copper dept.

Makarand writes "Technological advances constantly render functional cable obsolete by demanding data transfers at higher rates which older cabling cannot support. New cables that support higher data rates are laid right over older wires. The old wires are simply left in place and abandoned. This interesting article talks about the problems caused by abandoned cabling. According to an estimate several billion feet of abandoned cable lies unused in the plenum spaces of buildings that allow air to circulate creating a fire hazard. Also, very few firms currently worry about removing cabling when they move out of a building."

4 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. Hours? Seconds more like.. by Channard · · Score: 5, Funny
    .. if you take a lesson from the BOFH school of thought.

    1. Feed loose end of cable out of building, into carpark.
    2. Attach cable to axel of bosses car, and forge email from CEO's wife saying she wants him now.
    3. Watch boss drive off at great speed.
    4. ?????
    5. Profit.

    1. Re:Hours? Seconds more like.. by thynk · · Score: 5, Funny

      4 is pretty simple in this one...

      4. Charge for 40 hours of "out of hours" work at the standard double overtime rate for both you and the PFY. Mark on timesheet as "Removal of Fire Hazard Material"

      --

      Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
  2. Re:Cutting cabling by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    What else are they going to do, break the bloody windows?!

    Bill G already took care of that. :)

  3. Re:Cutting cabling by putaro · · Score: 4, Funny

    The logic being it's their cabling. The last startup I did, the previous tenants had done exactly that. The cabling was cut within about two feet of the ceiling. There was a bit of slack in the cables, though, and we were cheap, so we wound up with our patch panels right up at ceiling level. Saved us a bunch of time and money upfront though any work afterwards had to be done on top of a ladder.