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Sheet 01.4

Data  cabling  for  Melbourne  businesses.

Structured data cabling, the rack it lands in and the UPS that keeps it running, installed by our own crew from Tullamarine across Melbourne and Victoria.

It is for offices, warehouses and industrial sites that need every outlet, access point, camera and door controller on network cabling that is labelled and documented. The same crew fits the security, the network and the IT, so the cable is run once, to where those systems actually go.
Sheet
Cabling, racks & backup power
Area served
Melbourne & VIC
Hours
Mon–⁠Fri 07:00–⁠16:00
Quote
Itemised, no charge
DC-10

What  goes  in.

Three items, quoted together because each depends on the next.

Ref Item
  • DC-11

    Structured data cabling

    Cat6 or Cat6A from a patch panel to every outlet, access point, camera and door controller, carried on tray, catenary or conduit.

    • Cat6 and Cat6A copper
    • Outlets at desks, ceilings and plant
    • Cable tray, catenary and conduit
    • Labelled terminations
  • DC-12

    Server rack and comms room

    A wall cabinet or floor rack with patch panels, switches and cable management. Everything is mounted and labelled, and spare units are left on purpose.

    • Rack build and termination
    • Cable management
    • Everything mounted and labelled
    • Spare rack units left free
  • DC-13

    UPS backup power

    An uninterruptible power supply sized to the load in the rack, so a short outage does not take down the switch, the recorder and the door controller with it.

    • Sized from the connected load
    • Switch, recorder and controller on battery
    • UPS runtime set by what must stay up
DC-20

The  choices  that  change  the  job.

A warehouse is cabled differently from an office. These four decisions are where the two part ways.

01 Cat6 or Cat6A.
Cat6 carries 1 gigabit to 100 metres, which is what most desks use. Cat6A carries 10 gigabit over the same distance and costs more to buy and to terminate. The decision rule is in our Cat6 vs Cat6A guide.
02 Runs past 100 metres.
A copper link is limited to 100 metres, patch leads included. From an office at the front of a warehouse to the far dock is often further than that. A longer copper run is not the fix: a run beyond 100 metres needs fibre or an intermediate cabinet, and the quote says which.
03 How the cable is carried.
An office has a ceiling grid to hide catenary and tray. A warehouse does not. Cable goes on tray or in conduit fixed to the structure, above the reach of a forklift mast, and drops to a bench or dock door in conduit. The containment is often the larger part of the job.
04 Count devices, not desks.
Every Wi-Fi access point, CCTV camera, door controller, printer and meeting room display needs its own run. Pulling those cables while the ceiling is open is a small addition. Reopening the ceiling for them later is a second job.
DC-30

What  you  are  handed.

The labels and the documents are the part of a cabling job you cannot see from the floor.

At commissioning

  • Everything mounted and labelled: outlets, patch panel and rack.
  • As-built documentation for the cabling and the rack.
  • Administrator credentials and configuration for any switches and the UPS.

Ask any cabler for

  • A test result for every link, by outlet number.
  • The written statement that the work complies with the Wiring Rules, AS/CA S009.

A fault on an unlabelled outlet starts with a ladder and a tone tracer. A fault on a labelled one starts at the patch panel.

Site attendance and the itemised quote are at no charge and no obligation.

DC-40

How  a  data  cabling  job  runs.

  1. 01

    We attend site.

    We walk the cable routes, lift a ceiling tile, look at the comms cupboard and measure the longest run.

  2. 02

    You get an itemised quote.

    Cable category, outlet count, containment, rack and UPS are each a line, with the equipment named and the sequence of work set out.

  3. 03

    Containment, then cable.

    Tray, catenary and conduit go in first. Then the cable is pulled and labelled.

  4. 04

    Termination and rack build.

    Outlets and patch panels are terminated, the rack is built and the UPS is connected. Everything is mounted and labelled.

  5. 05

    Cut-over and handover.

    Moving a live network onto the new rack is scheduled out of hours and announced in advance. Then the as-built documentation, the administrator credentials and the configuration are handed over.

DC-50

What  the  quote  depends  on.

No price list, because two outlets on the same wall can be very different runs. These are the things we measure.

  • The number of outlets, and how many are in a ceiling or on plant rather than at a desk.
  • The length of the longest runs, and whether any pass 100 metres and need fibre or an intermediate cabinet.
  • Containment: whether existing tray can be used, and the working height where it cannot.
  • Cable category: Cat6 or Cat6A.
  • The rack: a new cabinet, or room and spare units in the one you have.
  • The UPS: what has to stay up, and for how long.
  • Existing cabling: whether it is kept or removed.

Cabling sits on the full schedule of what we install beside the systems that plug into it. Quoting them together stops a ceiling being opened twice.

DC-90

Questions  we  get  asked.

Cabling questions only. Cost, ownership and subscriptions are answered on the Solutions sheet.

What is structured cabling?

Structured cabling is a building wired to one plan: every outlet runs back to a patch panel in a rack, and the rack decides what each outlet does. A port can be a phone today and a camera next year by moving a patch lead, not by pulling a new cable. The alternative is cable run device to device, which works until somebody needs to change it.

Who is allowed to install data cabling in Australia?

A registered cabler, or someone working under the supervision of one. The Australian Communications and Media Authority requires cablers to be registered, and structured cabling such as Cat6 and optical fibre are separate competencies added to that registration. When a job is finished, the cabler must give the customer a written statement that the work complies with the Wiring Rules, AS/CA S009. Ask any cabler for both: the registration and the statement.

Can you join or extend a Cat6 cable?

It can be done, but a join is one more termination that can fail. A join in the ceiling is the first place to look when that outlet drops out. Where an outlet is moving further from the rack, a new run from the patch panel is the cleaner fix.

Do we need a comms room, or will a cabinet do?

A wall cabinet does for a small site. A comms room is only the place where the cabling ends and the rack lives, and a cupboard can do that job if it has ventilation, a dedicated power outlet and enough clearance to open the rack door. It should not be the cupboard with the cleaning chemicals or the hot water unit.

How long will a UPS keep the rack running?

It depends on the load plugged into it and the battery capacity. A UPS is normally sized to ride through a short outage and give servers time to shut down cleanly. If the cameras and doors have to stay up through a long outage, say so at the site visit: that is a larger unit and a different line in the quote.

What happens when a cable run is longer than 100 metres?

It stops being a single copper run. The copper limit is 100 metres with patch leads included, so a run beyond it needs fibre or an intermediate cabinet, and the quote says which. Copper still goes to the device itself, because it carries power to an access point, camera or door controller over the same cable.
DC-95

Related  sheets.

Send  us  the  comms  cupboard.

A photo of the rack as it is now and a floor plan with the outlets marked is enough to start. Enquiries are read Monday to Friday, 07:00–16:00.

Transmittal Issued for enquiry
To
Gentex AU · Tullamarine VIC
Reply
Phone or email, usually the same business day
Attending
Mon–⁠Fri 07:00–⁠16:00
Licensing
Victorian Private Security Licence