2.1 - Cabling

Question 1

Explain coaxial cable. How is it structed? What are it’s uses?

Answer 1

Coaxial cable is an outdated copper cable primarily used for cable TV. It is compromised of a copper core, insulated material, braided outer conductor, and a protective plastic covering.

Question 2

What are UTP and STP?

Answer 2

Unshielded Twisted Pair. Twisted pair cabling, twisted by number of twists per inch to prevent crosstalk between pairs.
Shielded Twisted Pair. A shielded version of UTP.

Question 3

Elaborate on PVC and Plenum

Answer 3

PVC is Polyvinylchloride. It is fine to use for patch cables and exposed wiring, but Plenum cabling must be used for any closed space that carries air. PVC releases toxic fumes when on fire.

Question 4

How does Fiber Optic cabling work?

Answer 4

Fiber Optic uses pulses of light sent over glass or plastic strands.

Question 5

Explain Single-mode vs. Multimode fiber

Answer 5

Single-mode provides the highest bandwidth and longest distance compared to Multimode. It uses a very small core and a laser to travel great distances. Less tolerant to bending than MMF. Multimode uses an LED, with a much larger core that supports multiple signal paths. MMF is generally less expensive.

Question 6

What is a PCC?

Answer 6

Physical Contact Connector. A fiber connector with a polished off end to reduces optical loss.

Question 7

Explain UPC

Answer 7

Ultra Physical Contact Connector. Represents a finer polish for even less signal loss.

Question 8

Explain APC

Answer 8

Angled Physical Contact Connector. Used in installations where very little ORL (optical return loss) is tolerated. No more than .0001% of the signal, to be exact. This is achieved using an 8-degree angled design on the cable ends.

Question 9

What is an ST connector?

Answer 9

Straight Tip. One of the longstanding connectors. Become very familiar with this one.

Question 10

What is an SC connector?

Answer 10

Subscriber Connector. Very reliable snap-in connector that offers low signal loss along with ease of use. AKA Standard connector or Square Connector.

Question 11

What is an LC connector?

Answer 11

Local, Lucent, Little Connector. About half the size of SC, but completely comparable.

Question 12

What is a transceiver?

Answer 12

Converts fiber to be used on an ethernet network. The first transceiver was GBIC (Gigabit interface converter) that handled RJ-45 and SC connections.

Question 13

What is the SFP? What speed rating does it have?

Answer 13

Small Form-factor Pluggable, aka mini-GBIC. Smaller than GBIC but with the same performance. Rated up to 5 Gbps.

Question 14

What is the speed rating of SFP+?

Answer 14

16 Gbps

Question 15

What is QSFP? What is the speed rating?

Answer 15

Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable. Can achieve up to 40 Gbps by using four channels on a single transceiver. IEEE 802.3ba standard.

Question 16

Explain 66/110 Block

Answer 16

They are Intermediate Distribution Frames (IDF), aka punch-down blocks that interconnect copper cabling.

Question 17

What is a Patch Panel?

Answer 17

A Patch Panel is designed to enable you to distribute traffic to workstations or other switches.

Question 18

Define the Cat-3 standards

Answer 18

Uses RJ-11 cabling, and up to six wires or conductors. Most commonly used with telephones.

Question 19

Define the Cat-5 standards

Answer 19

Uses four pairs, up to 100Mbps, and up to 100 meters in length. RJ-45

Question 20

Define the Cat-5e standards

Answer 20

Enhanced Cat-5 with 1Gbps, up to 90 meters in length. RJ-45

Question 21

Define the Cat-6 standards

Answer 21

Up to 10Gbps at 250Mhz. RJ-45, but engineered to spread cabling out more, for less crosstalk. Up to 90 meters with an additional 10 meters for a patch panel.

Question 22

Define the Cat-6e standards

Answer 22

Doubles frequency to 500Mhz and restores to 100 meter length. RJ-45

Question 23

Define the Cat-7 standards

Answer 23

Increases frequency to 600Mhz. More durable and reliable, with an additional layer of shielding. RJ-45.

Question 24

What are the DB-9 and DB-25 connectors?

Answer 24

Old school serial connectors conforming to the RS-232 standard. The number defines the number of pins in the connector.

Question 25

What are the two dominating wiring pinouts for RJ-45?

Answer 25

T-568A and T-568B

Question 26

What is the T-568A color code? (From left to right)

Answer 26

White Green, Green, White Orange, Blue, White Blue, Orange, White Brown, Brown.

Question 27

What is the T-568A color code? (From left to right)

Answer 27

White Orange, Orange, White Green, Blue, White Blue, Green, White Brown, Brown.

Question 28

Describe the RG-6 F-type

Answer 28

Less a network cable and more a video cable. Screws on (like your cable TV connection).

Question 29

Describe the RG-59 BNC

Answer 29

A 10Base2 connection that was harder to manage than 10BaseT. It uses a BNC connector and less manageable copper core cabling.

Question 30

Explain the 100BaseT standard

Answer 30

Cat5 or better. Up to 100Mbps

Question 31

Explain the 1000BaseT standard

Answer 31

Cat5 or better. Up to 1Gbps

Question 32

Explain the 1000BaseLX standard

Answer 32

Uses SMF or MMF. Up to 1Gbps.

Question 33

Explain the 1000BaseSX standard

Answer 33

Uses MMF. Shorter range than LX.

Question 34

Explain the 10GbaseT standard

Answer 34

Cat6a or better. Up to 10Gbps