[207] in Resnet-Forum
Re: Video/Cable TV
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Roger Gulbranson)
Tue Mar 22 13:12:18 1994
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 1994 12:55:10 -0500
To: resnet-forum@MIT.EDU
From: Roger.L.Gulbranson.1@nd.edu (Roger Gulbranson)
At 10:56 PM 3/21/94 -0500, aessa wrote:
>I need advice. We are planning to install fiber this summer connecting all
>buildings and then phase in twisted pair (cat 5) in the residence halls over
>the next two years. The piece I am unsure about is infrastructure for video.
>
> 1. If you were about to wire the residence halls, would you also
>simultaneously pull coax for video? Would you recommend the special cable
>that
>contains coax and twisted pair within a single sheath?
Deciding to pull coax for video tends to be a political decision. You can
inform the powers that be that there will be a labor savings by doing it at
the same time, but they have to be willing to pay for the coax plus be
willing at some point in the future to pay for the electronics and
programming to make the cable live.
I think you will find that a custom-made cable only increases your costs.
One, you have to get a vendor to make what you want and it will be in small
quantities compared to the volumes that they work in for commodity cable.
Two, it will likely increase your labor costs for pulling the cable (see
also four). Three, your options for terminating the cable actually get
smaller - for example, you will likely want to terminate the coax on a
different location in the wiring closet from the UTP or fiber, which is now
MUCH harder to do. Four, your bend radius will go up making the pathways
infrastructure that much harder to work with. No doubt I've forgotten
several other considerations. I know of no reason why this is a good idea.
> 2. Are there folks running fiber to the desktop in the residence
>halls even if the fiber is kept dark? I ask this because I am seeing cost
>estimates for fiber drops reaching parity with twisted pair drops.
This is an interesting issue. People have been saying this for years and
it still hasn't happened yet. One of the big issues is that it is so much
easier to install UTP than fiber and they keep on increasing the
capabilities of UTP. Also, UTP electronics continue to be cheaper that
optical electronics. Obviously someday it will become necessary to use
fiber to accomplish what you need to do. But until then you need to
balance cost of money against needs and wants. It is not a simple
equation.
---
Roger L. Gulbranson, Ph.D.
Director, Networking Services
Office of University Computing, Brownson 211
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Phone: 219-631-7248
FAX: 219-631-8201
Email: Roger.L.Gulbranson.1@nd.edu
There can be only one - Highlander, Twentieth Century Fox, 1986
