Geek: Networking Plans and Terms

[nyyki]

With all my years of working in IT, I heard a lot of terms for different physical parts of a network. I'm starting to plan the network installation here, so I need to start pricing those parts.
I'm going with hard wired CAT6 Ethernet throughout the house. I'm going to put a shelf and power outlets up in the area in the hall right before the door into the living room. This is so the Wi-Fi gets maximum coveratge. I'll run a line out from the router to the 24 port switch, another one out to the studio for its router and switch, (I have a very nice Buffalo with MIMO for out there) one to the server, and one to the Laserjet Printer that is going to live in a closet in the hall. The Buffalo will live in a locked box under the carport so the antenna is useable -- since I'm putting in a Faraday cage in the studio I can't put it in there and still get wi-fi in the back yard or on the patio, so I have to either put it outside or find some way to remote mount the antenna. (I would consider this if I knew what I was doing)
Why Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi? Security, for one thing. I prefer hard wired connections over broadcast ones, and I don't completely trust Wi-Fi to be unhackable. The other reason is speed. With a paired Wi-Fi connection you can get close to 100 megabit, but that's nothing compared to the gigabit connections CAT6 will get you.
But now comes the questions.
1. Does CAT7 exist yet? I've heard mention of it, but it was vaporware back then.
2. What are the wall mounts for Ethernet called in standard industry parlance? We called them wall sockets or wall ports. I seem to remember you can put up to four on one wall plate. I know that is a two part unit -- the jack and the plate, so names for both of those would be great, as I have one place that will need it.
3. What does the 24 port rack mountable punch down frame for the server or router side of the Ethernet setup officially called?
4. What would I look for if I wanted a cover for an outdoor Ethernet connection so I could put one on the back patio?

Any assistance I can get in this would be greatly helpful. I'm looking at fishing and installing about 50 ethernet connections between the house and the studio, and I want to go ahead and do it all in one fell swoop so it works in a sane and rational manner. This will mean a lot of hours with a fishtape, punchdown tool, (already have a nice one, but I'll probably get a second) and a drill, but once it's done it should be pretty epic.

Comments

[lihan161051.livejournal.com]

Cat 6 and gigabit switches ought to work. 802.11n can theoretically carry 250+ Mbps, so gigabit might be preferable to 10/100.

I tend to lean toward multimode fiber for longer hops or anything going between houses and outbuildings. Multimode FMC's aren't all that expensive. (Single mode isn't all that much more expensive either, if you feel like really long runs, but it's overkill for most residential stuff.) The peace-of-mind factor of fiber is that it's nonconductive and won't pick up EM from lightning strikes or bridge ground gradients like UTP will, so it's ideal if you have to go to an outbuilding. Pretty sure you can get direct-burial multimode cable, possibly with multiple fibers in it.

(I used to have to deal with multimode fiber for both analog and digital applications in my job at KVR-TV. A lot of their remotes used the campus fiber network for analog AV feeds. So I have a high comfort level with fiber just in general. :D )

The parlance I've heard for the client-end Ethernet outlets is "drops", and the term I've heard most often for the head-end connection is "rackmount patch". The rackmount unit usually has female jacks with 110-type punch terminals for the permanently installed drop cables, so you can change wiring connections to the drops fairly easily.

I don't know if I've ever seen an outdoor Ethernet drop, but I suppose if you get an outdoor duplex outlet cover and use it with RJ45 outlets that line up well enough with the outlet covers, you could use that. It might be worth using one of the hooded ones rated for continuous use in wet locations. I'm not sure what a code inspector might think of that kind of mixed use (because low voltage wiring isn't supposed to mix with high voltage wiring or use HV devices for LV purposes, as I recall), but I won't tell if you won't ..

[nyyki.livejournal.com]

Oh, that isn't a problem -- the carport connects to the house, so I'm going to run a nice PVC pipe for the cable with the Ethernet and some blue cord from the house to the studio.
I'm really looking forward to this, as it'll finally give me the secure network option I want. I'm going to run IPX/SPX instead of TCP/IP from the DAW so that it's secure from any net intrusions, too.

[lihan161051.livejournal.com]

I've considered installations like this in at least two houses, and the only thing that's stopped me is that old-work installations are about 100 times more hassle than new-work, especially if the house wasn't designed with built-in network working to begin with.

I may do something like this anyway in the current place, because I know for a fact there's a dead space under the stairs that would be just the right size for a half-height rack with a modem, router, 24 port gigabit switch, and head end patch, which would allow me to build a completely invisible wired networking install.

I'm also still considering some improvements in the back yard, including a workspace that might benefit from a multimode backbone connection to the house and a secondary network switch to whatever built-in network wiring I put in out there. (Actually doing that will involve significantly increasing my income and knocking out some debt, but I think I'm better off having plans in place in case the opportunity does come up..)