First, though, a network story that would almost make you cry. I can guarantee the veracity because I was there.

Recently, a large firm of architects decided to move offices. They had occupied a whole floor of a city building with perhaps sixty or so computers networked via Cat5 cable (see "What is Cat5" panel).

It looks just like a typical network - except for that box in the middle. It's the heart of a structured cabling system and allows changes to be made virtually at will without re-wiring.

I was offered some of the office furniture that was surplus to requirements so went in one Saturday morning to get what I wanted. Ahead of me was an electrician, removing not just all the electrical wiring but all of the network and telephone cabling.

The way he was doing this was simple: cut it off into small lengths and reef it out!

We started talking about this incredible waste but he wasn’t too perturbed. The opposite, in fact: he said "hey, when the new tenants move in they’ll call me to put all this stuff back in again. I win both ways!"

To make matters worse, he told me that this was by far his major source of income. "I do it all the time as companies move offices," he said. "Sometimes they’re not even moving but reorganising, moving people around internally. You’d be amazed at how much stuff they put in, then pull it all out six months later!"

While I would hate to see a sparkie done out of a job, all this wastage (to me) borders on the criminal. And the pity of it all is that it could all be avoided with a structured cabling system. Most new buildings are being cabled this way but it’s just as viable for existing buildings, especially when the occupants want to upgrade. Done once, it doesn’t need to be done again.

What is a structured cabling system?

Put as simply as possible, it’s a method of installing data and communications cabling which allows total flexibility by remaining fixed in place.

Huh?

OK, we acknowledge that’s a bit of a difficult concept to follow. How can a cabling system that is fixed in place allow total flexibility?