Copper Cables inside a rack - STP or UTP

[Stril]

Hi!

As 99% of the German technicians, I am only using shielded copper-cables - everywhere in the network-area.

Now, I see, most international installations are using unshielded cables. FS.com is primary selling UTP-cables, etc.

How do you handle this for shord cables inside a rack?
STP is much stiffer, but is it also more "durable"? Are you using 24AWG or 28AWG?

Thank you for your thoughts!

Stril

 

[ttabbal]

I don't use STP for anything. The shielding is for RFI prevention, which hasn't been a problem for me. It's also more of an issue on long runs near interference sources like power wiring. Inside a rack, I don't see much point. It makes it stiffer, harder to work with, and there's just not much interference to pick up with short cables. My patch panel to switch connections are 6 inch UTP. You would have to wrap a power wire around it to cause significant issues over that length. If I were to run into interference or have a long run I was worried about, I would just use fiber. I believe my rack runs are 28AWG stranded, with 24AWG solid in-wall.

I suppose it might add durability, but there are various cable types that do that without the shield.

That said, Germany might use 240V mains. The higher voltage might make interference from power wiring more likely. I wouldn't expect it to be a huge problem, but I also don't have that here in the US. Avoid running parallel with power wiring when you can, and in-spec length (100 meters) and I expect you would be fine. I also only run 1G on copper, 10G might be more prone to issues.