What is a proper way to support/suspend cat cables in my drop ceiling?

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Socrates

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Dec 28, 2016
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I have about 3 dozen cat6 cables dropping from the ceiling into the server room. This is a home setup, the cables drop right over the Server rack. And right now i have just tied the cables in the attic with a wood frame. I need to reduce the tension of the wires dropping into the server room. As the wires are falling just above the rack, how can i support them, what kind of server attachment should i buy to suspend the wires easily without causing tension. Ladder wont be a good idea for me, as i dont have long wire runs from the drop ceiling to other sever locations.
See pics below.


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itronin

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Nov 24, 2018
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I have about 3 dozen cat6 cables dropping from the ceiling into the server room. This is a home setup, the cables drop right over the Server rack. And right now i have just tied the cables in the attic with a wood frame. I need to reduce the tension of the wires dropping into the server room. As the wires are falling just above the rack, how can i support them, what kind of server attachment should i buy to suspend the wires easily without causing tension. Ladder wont be a good idea for me, as i dont have long wire runs from the drop ceiling to other sever locations.
See pics below.
pics removed for reply brevity.

typically in a commerical server room, comms room, or a well designed IDF: "ladder rack" / "ladder runway" / "ladder cable tray" is used to span the room and bring the cables were you want them. hopefully you have enough service loop in the cables to make it from where they come down to where you want to terminate them. When I deploy ladder rack I also specify it to be grounded to structure and I usually ground the system racks to the ladder rack. There are also wire mesh trays - I've just never really used them. Google images will provide a wealth of example installations
 

Socrates

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pics removed for reply brevity.

typically in a commerical server room, comms room, or a well designed IDF: "ladder rack" / "ladder runway" / "ladder cable tray" is used to span the room and bring the cables were you want them. hopefully you have enough service loop in the cables to make it from where they come down to where you want to terminate them. When I deploy ladder rack I also specify it to be grounded to structure and I usually ground the system racks to the ladder rack. There are also wire mesh trays - I've just never really used them. Google images will provide a wealth of example installations
Thanks for your replies. I have been on the google trying to look up various terms, but i did not really know what keywords to search with. I did look up for data center ladder tray but they all turned out to be large data center setup. THis is for a home setup. What other keywords can i look up?
 

itronin

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Thanks for your replies. I have been on the google trying to look up various terms, but i did not really know what keywords to search with. I did look up for data center ladder tray but they all turned out to be large data center setup. THis is for a home setup. What other keywords can i look up?
here's a product by middle atlantic I am not endorsing the product simply giving you an example.

ladder rack, ladder tray, cable tray, prefix ladder etc. there are more "ladder styles" and then there are also wire basket styles.
middle atlantic, chatsworth, amongst many other mfg's . Yes, primary purpose is commerical. Can you adapt it to your needs? If your room is small, you may not have to spend much (relative term), mount brackets plus the u-bolts, brackets etc, and then 1-2 sections of ladder rack which you'll likely need to cut down or join together. You may only need one span across the room to support the cable bundle and drop it into your rack.

You'll want to watch bend radius on your cables but copper is a lot more forgiving than fiber.

if you are handy you could build something with two by fours and wooden dowels. You could potentially find a "simple" aluminum ladder and cut it and mount it.

I've seen high end homes that have put business server rooms to shame. Same from home lab deployments. Ultimately its about budget, functionality and what you need.

At the end of the day you can always just attached the bundle to the top of your rack for strain relief and then bring it into the the patch panel in your rack. If you intended to move your rack back and forth in its room then leave slack in the cable bundle.
 

bigtroutpa

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Feb 10, 2023
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For a run that short of a distance, id just get a few bridle rings and put them into the ceiling.
Google bridle rings and you will see what I mean. They make them in various diameters and they are usually have 1/4-20 threads. You can possibly use toggle wings with a nut and fender washer on the bottom side.
 

Socrates

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I was late to the Bridal ring post, in the mean time, i brought the Runway Ladders for the Middle Atlantic rack, was cheap on ebay so i was able to snag one. I have a question though, how do i attach these ladders to the wall? I see there are ceiling mounting brackets such as this one, how does it mount to the ceiling though, do i need to screw it to the stud?
The rack room is about 6.10" wide, and these ladders are about 6ft in length, so wall-to-wall mount from both ends of the laddler will not be possible, the best option would be to ceiling mount the ladders with multiple brackets attached from the ceiling holding the ladder in place. Please guide. Is this my best option as een below?

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I also see cable drop attachments for these ladders, should i get this as well?
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I was able to pick these external end frames from the bay for 35 bucks something... i guess this should be a good option to manage the cat cables and other speaker cables hanging from the ceiling and then taking them into the respective rack spaces.

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Please suggest me if i am in the right direction, or need to drop something thats not needed?
Oh and by the way, I have two full size 44U rack next to each other, one is for the server stuff, and other hosts the Home Theater amps, pre-pro's and other grear. I plan to add a third one just for drawers, full of drawers to store all the important cables and organize them in each drawer.
 
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itronin

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Fwiw, I don't usually invest in the cable drop router things. Ladder rack is usually sufficient along with good bundles (either tied w/ wax string no less! lol - old school) or velcro to secure the cable and create nice radius turns. If you are running fiber please use smurf tube to protect it.

Here's another good source for you - BICSI cabling standards

the cable side thingies are nice if you have the money - usually more for the backside of patch panels in 2 post racks - but you do you if it works - awesome. Most places that I have seen those or where I have deployed them - the covers are the first thing to go into a closet somewhere, because hiding cable runs (patch or otherwise) is a futile exercise.

Your environment sounds like it will be more static and "production infrastructure" than dynamic home lab kinda stuff. Lots of folks have both - trick is having the room and budget to segregate both - which sounds like you do! and that is mighty awesome! :cool:

I also replied to your pm.

But I will leave this right here... Houston = Lightning. Lightning = ground your stuff and protect outside <-> inside copper runs.

edit - oh yeah - securing horizontal cable runs in "small" bundles usually makes the bundle easier to work with. The definition of small is up to you.
some folks like bundle their cables as numbered, some like to bundle by usage - for example, outside-inside in a bundle because you might have a different treatment for those cables at termination etc.

I guess more stuff - labeling. Label your wall plates so they make sense to you. An enterprise labeling system does not necessarily make sense in a home or even a small business. In a single IDF/Server room deployment I like Rack#-Patch Panel #-Jack number. you never have to label anything on the patch panel other than its number and you never have to go back and re-label wall plates. you can go from a wall plate to the proper patch panel and jack # immediately. Multiple IDF's though add complexity and the label system can get unwieldy or awkward. Its not like you will have a team of IT folks doing things - oh - but - if you travel a bit for work and may be called by one of your customers (children, roommates, spouse etc) you may want to have a labeling system that is EASY to explain over the phone and walk someone through how to do something.
 
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