How a Wiring Rack Should Look

How a Wiring Rack Should Look 357

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday September 19, 2006 @10:18PM from the order-from-chaos dept.

Julie Jacobson writes, "It's so much fun to deride some of the worst home wiring jobs in existence. But once in awhile, we should salute some of the cleanest, most perfectly labeled cabling jobs in U.S. homes. At the recent CEDIA Expo, the association for home-technology integrators handed out awards for the Best Dressed Systems, each featuring miles of cable, hundreds of connectors, tons of steel, and a clean aesthetic that could make the most finicky designer swoon. Show them to your own installer for inspiration."

How a Wiring Rack Should Look

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Ahh... messy racks... (Score:5, Funny)

by crazyjeremy ( 857410 ) * writes: on Tuesday September 19, 2006 @10:19PM (#16143181) Homepage Journal

Found an old picture of one of the messiest racks I have ever seen. [mtrx.net] Personally I think a messy NOC should be a punishable offense. I can't tell you how many times some stupid blip in the system is caused by a dangling wire with so much other wiring hanging on it that it gets pulled from the panel. Nothing like a 4am pager going off, coming into work and finding the root cause of the problem is the idiots that wired the rack. Kudos to those who do it right.

Re:Site's down and only 3 comments? (Score:5, Funny)

by tomhudson ( 43916 ) writes: <barbara,hudson&barbara-hudson,com> on Tuesday September 19, 2006 @10:47PM (#16143328) Journal

"Also, the editor put an incorrect link in."
Guess he got his wires crossed ...

Re:Site's down and only 3 comments? (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Tuesday September 19, 2006 @10:47PM (#16143333)

That's precisely why it got slashdotted. The site was linked TWICE. It didn't only get slashdotted - it got double-slashdotted!

Someone had to say it (Score:5, Funny)

by hellfire ( 86129 ) writes: <deviladvNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Tuesday September 19, 2006 @10:55PM (#16143376) Homepage

I'd like to be a judge on that panel. I'd love to give out awards for the best rack.

What? Wiring? What are you talking about? Oh...

I'm in trouble now. (Score:5, Funny)

by Sometimes_Rational ( 866083 ) writes: on Tuesday September 19, 2006 @11:03PM (#16143400)

While viewing the article, my wife overheard me saying, "Ooh, nice rack on that one.

I should have known... (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Tuesday September 19, 2006 @11:10PM (#16143437)

This is the kind of 'nice rack' that Slashdot readers are interested in. _

Re:forgive me if this is a dumb question (Score:4, Funny)

by NaDrew ( 561847 ) writes: <nadrew@gmail.com> on Tuesday September 19, 2006 @11:58PM (#16143609) Journal

[offtopic]
If you know that "begs the question" doesn't mean "raises the question", then why didn't you just say "raises the question"? Wouldn't that have been a lot simpler then posting a footnote?
Because I actually used "begs the question" in its proper meaning, i.e. a circular argument. The post I responded to asked whether Linksys wireless routers would work inside a metal box; this begs the question (assumes without evidence) that the Linksys wireless router works at all.
[/offtopic]

Only on Slashdot... (Score:5, Funny)

by lullabud ( 679893 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @12:01AM (#16143621)

...Can one create a duplicate within the same submission.

This article sponsored by. . . (Score:3, Funny)

by jafac ( 1449 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @12:11AM (#16143665) Homepage

This article sponsored by; ZipCo International.
Manufacturers of the worlds most reliable and most costly zip-ties!
Organize your wiring cabinet today! You can never use enough zip-ties!

Re:I'm in trouble now. (Score:5, Funny)

by mdhoover ( 856288 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @12:27AM (#16143738) Homepage Journal

Heh, best story I have comes from Comdex/Interop.

Wandering around away from my display (armed with booty to trade, mugs for penguins etc) I came across 2 middle aged IT geeks checking out some glorious powdercoated, properly cooled, neatly wired and well laid out rack equipment on display.

As they were tinkering with the offerings one was heard to pronounce "what a great rack, wouldn't you love one in your home".

At this point the poor unsuspecting geek was set upon by one of the very well endowed skimpily clad models hired to parade around and lure in the punters, who promptly slapped him across the face and berated the poor confused fellow (who had that mix of deer in the headlights and WHA!! look on his face) for being a "misogynist pig" etc etc.

Took 2 hours for my sides to stop hurting...

With all due modesty... (Score:3, Funny)

by fm6 ( 162816 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @12:46AM (#16143822) Homepage Journal

... I feel I am the worst wiring technician on the planet. All I have to do is look at a cable to get it tangled!

you expect the site to stay up... (Score:3, Funny)

by LordEd ( 840443 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @01:16AM (#16143924)

when the article is asking us to go look at some nice racks?

Re:Looks good ONCE, and only once. (Score:3, Funny)

by putaro ( 235078 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @01:18AM (#16143934) Journal

We had that situation. One of our managers had set up a rack and he had gone through and cable tied everything down just so. The rack didn't need to be changed very often but finally there was a day when something needed to be replaced. One of the sys admins who worked for him (who was a close friend with him) walked over to his desk after she had fixed things and dropped a double handful of cut-off cable ties onto it.

Lets not be silly... (Score:2, Funny)

by LordEd ( 840443 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @01:21AM (#16143942)

Nothing like a 4am pager going off...
4 am doesn't exist. Its just a story made up to scare little children.

Re:Ahh... messy racks... (Score:5, Funny)

by soft_guy ( 534437 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @01:24AM (#16143956)

Who needs 48U of rackspace and that much cable in their HOME?

Maniacs.

Re:With all due modesty... (Score:2, Funny)

by sir_montag ( 937262 ) writes: <sir DOT montag AT gmail DOT com> on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @01:57AM (#16144041) Homepage Journal

Well, with the whole 'twisted pair' (well, any twisted format which is most electrical cables), cables do tend to tangled. Did you think that it was voodoo?

Re:EE can't let ignorance go unpunished! (Score:3, Funny)

by dthree ( 458263 ) writes: <chaoslite.hotmail@com> on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @02:31AM (#16144127) Homepage

Maybe he works for monster cable writing all their scientific marketing BS.

Re:Ahh... messy racks... (Score:2, Funny)

by Laserwulf ( 951642 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @03:11AM (#16144239)

You must be new here.

Re:Ahh... messy racks... (Score:5, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @03:19AM (#16144261)

What type of install is that?

I'm no expert, but I believe that would be a cluster fuck.

Re:That's nothing compared to this one. (Score:5, Funny)

by Fred_A ( 10934 ) writes: <fred@f r e d s h o m e . o rg> on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @03:49AM (#16144320) Homepage

Yikes. The admin for that place must be screaming each time he sees a plate of pasta!

I just imagine the face on the guy who just gets hired to maintain a place like this :)

PHB : And this is our server racks

New guy : Aeeeeiiiiii! (jumps out the window)

Re:Not me. (Score:3, Funny)

by Fred_A ( 10934 ) writes: <fred@f r e d s h o m e . o rg> on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @03:53AM (#16144331) Homepage

I suppose you could use them to tie yourself to your chair and therefore not trip over stuff.

(no I don't know either how they could help)

OTOH there are some U shaped nails that are wide enough for CAT5 cabling. I've used those before.

Re:forgive me if this is a dumb question (Score:3, Funny)

by Fred_A ( 10934 ) writes: <fred@f r e d s h o m e . o rg> on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @03:55AM (#16144333) Homepage

I have been using WRT routers for many different things, including VoIP relays, bandwidth management, ADSL router/firewall etc.

Those are some versatile little boxes, once you get right of the factory provided firmware.

Or you can keep it and they make geeky little paperweights!

Re:Neatness is good, but ... (Score:2, Funny)

by notaspunkymonkey ( 984275 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @04:45AM (#16144444)

I spent some time working at a UK Gov site - their patching was so bad that when we were due to tidy it all up - they sent one of their Health and Safety bods down to look at the working environment and he dictated that no 1 person was to be in the room on their own at any 1 time.. at all points there had to be 2 of us in there... not sure if it was because of the danger of electricution (which was high) or the fact that you could get tangled up in the cat5 and never escape.

No fun whatsoever (Score:2, Funny)

by Plutonite ( 999141 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @05:07AM (#16144497)

What would be the fun in trying to locate a cable in one of those perfectly tied, will-you-marry-me-now bundles? Where is the CHALLENGE, the spirit of the techie?

I'm a comp.science person, so we don't do such mundane tasks, but for you lowly H/W freaks I suggest that cabling be done a little worse to make your miserable lives a little more interesting.

Re:That's nothing compared to this one. (Score:5, Funny)

by kylehase ( 982334 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @08:15AM (#16144991)

To diffuse the bomb, cut the yellow wire.

Re:I'm in trouble now. (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @08:32AM (#16145067)

I would have calmly explained to her that the device she was standing in front of was indeed called a rack, it was a very nice one, and many of the people seeing it would enjoy having one just like it at home. And then, just as calmly, I would have said as I turned to walk away "And by the way, just so you know, you've got a GREAT set of tits."

You wouldn't have *calmly* done anything. FYI, Sean Connery is that cool--you are not. I just love it when some spastic slashdork pretends to himself that he's a smooth operator. Here's what actually would happen: you would ejaculate in your pants because it's the first time a decent-looking woman ever touched you. After the show was over, you would go back to your mom's basement where you live, lovingly place your pocket protector on the nightstand next to your filthy bed and have a wank.

Re:Ahh... messy racks... (Score:2, Funny)

by Fishstick ( 150821 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @08:59AM (#16145224) Journal

heh...

<georgecarlin>Have you ever noticed, anybody who drives slower than you is a moron, and anyone who drives faster is a maniac?</georgecarlin>

Re:Ahh... messy racks... (Score:2, Funny)

by rickb928 ( 945187 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @09:29AM (#16145399) Homepage Journal

Stay anonymous. You'll do better that way.

rick

Re:Have they never heard of induction? (Score:3, Funny)

by Theaetetus ( 590071 ) writes: <theaetetus,slashdot&gmail,com> on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @09:39AM (#16145454) Homepage Journal

That many wires running together like that are bound to have a few EM fields somewhere.

Yeah. If only there were some magical technology that could notice that the induced EMF is in the same phase on the two legs, and with some sort of amplifier, find a differential signal that would remove it.
If I ever invent one, I'll call it a magic-signal-sorter.

Re:That's nothing compared to this one. (Score:2, Funny)

by lys1123 ( 461567 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @10:39AM (#16145825) Homepage

By all that is holy, you have found him!

The Flying Spaghetti Monster! [wikipedia.org]

Re:That's nothing compared to this one. (Score:3, Funny)

by fbjon ( 692006 ) writes: on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @12:27PM (#16146762) Homepage Journal

I prefer my bombs to be in focus when working on them, thank you.

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How a Wiring Rack Should Look 357

How a Wiring Rack Should Look More Login

How a Wiring Rack Should Look

Ahh... messy racks... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Site's down and only 3 comments? (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Site's down and only 3 comments? (Score:1, Funny)

Someone had to say it (Score:5, Funny)

I'm in trouble now. (Score:5, Funny)

I should have known... (Score:1, Funny)

Re:forgive me if this is a dumb question (Score:4, Funny)

Only on Slashdot... (Score:5, Funny)

This article sponsored by. . . (Score:3, Funny)

Re:I'm in trouble now. (Score:5, Funny)

With all due modesty... (Score:3, Funny)

you expect the site to stay up... (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Looks good ONCE, and only once. (Score:3, Funny)

Lets not be silly... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Ahh... messy racks... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:With all due modesty... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:EE can't let ignorance go unpunished! (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Ahh... messy racks... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Ahh... messy racks... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:That's nothing compared to this one. (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Not me. (Score:3, Funny)

Re:forgive me if this is a dumb question (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Neatness is good, but ... (Score:2, Funny)

No fun whatsoever (Score:2, Funny)

Re:That's nothing compared to this one. (Score:5, Funny)

Re:I'm in trouble now. (Score:1, Funny)

Re:Ahh... messy racks... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Ahh... messy racks... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Have they never heard of induction? (Score:3, Funny)

Re:That's nothing compared to this one. (Score:2, Funny)

Re:That's nothing compared to this one. (Score:3, Funny)

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