Dan Track wrote: > > Hi All > > Wow. I hadn't realised that this was such a big area. I've neglected > it for so long. Thanks everyone for your advice. From the above I > gather the following: > > 1) In ceilings and floors use plenum, unless its your own house > 2) switch to server use: cat 5e or 6, stranded and unshielded > > I think thats a fair summary. > > Thanks again > Dan > You only need plenum-rated cable if the floor or ceiling is actually an air plenum. In other words, is it being used as an air duct? For computer room floors, this is the case if it is used to provide cooling air to equipment. (You can usually tell because will feel a breeze when you remove a tile.) For ceilings, if it is being used as a return air duct, then it is an air plenum. If you don't know if a floor or ceiling is being used as a plenum, ask your local building inspector, or your maintenance department. while you are at it, ask them about any fire-rated walls you may be running the cable through. If the wall between rooms, or between a room and the hallway, is drywalled above the drop ceiling, all the way to the bottom of the floor above, there is a good chance it is a fire-rated wall, and there are rules about how you have to run cables through it. There is a good chance that you will need to seal around any cable going through it. If you are running many cables through the same place, you may have to install a sleeve though the wall, and seal it after you are done running the cables. There are also rules about what you seal it with. The rules get even more interesting if you are running cables between floors, and you are in a high-rise building. The fire codes get real complicated in this type of building! Also, depending on where you are, it may not be legal to run the cables yourself. Mikkel -- Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with Ketchup!
