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ISUnet UWP (Universal Wiring Plan) July 1995 Revision ISUnet Universal Wiring Plan

1995 Revision

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ISUnet UWP (Universal Wiring Plan)
July 1995 Revision


I. Introduction

This document is a revision of the original ISUnet UWP (Universal Wiring Plan) which was adopted when ISUnet was first
designed. With the passage of time, the original UWP has only been altered superficially. This revised plan significantly alters
the original UWP and provides a much more flexible, scaleable, and higher performance design. As a result, the revised UWP
offers much more upgradeability into future technologies with minimal investment. This revision also more closely conforms to
the EIA/TIA specifications for data grade service.

Although the infrastructure for telecommunications is included in the original UWP, there will be little mentioned about it in
this revision. There are no changes in the telecommunications cabling system in this plan. There are changes in the faceplates
where both data and telephone service are present.

It is intended that this revision take effect immediately. Even if a given project is already been initiated, this plan should be
evaluated and employed if the project is in a stage where it can be altered. Locations where STP cabling exists as described by
the original UWP will not initially be effected by this revision. Each location on ISUnet will need to be reviewed to see what
portions of this revision apply.


II. Standards

All work pertaining to ISUnet cabling must conform to a specific set of University and industry standards. These
specifications help to guarantee that work described by these standards is performed at a consistent level of quality all across
campus. Materials used and work performed should be in strict accordance with the latest requirements of the following
standards bodies:

1) UL (Underwriters Laboratories)
2) NEC (National Electric Code)
3) NFPA (National Fire Protection Association)
4) EIA/TIA (Electronics Industry Association)/(Telecommunications Industry Association)

a) 568 Telecommunications Wiring Standard

b) TSB 36 (additional specifications for UTP cabling)

c) TSB 40 (additional specifications for UTP connecting hardware)


d) 569 Telecommunications Pathways and Spaces Standard

e) 607 Grounding and Bonding Requirements (equalized potential)
5) ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
6) ISO (International Standards Organization)
7) IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers)

a) 802.5 (specifications for token ring and physical layer requirements)

b) 802.3 (specifications for CSMA/CD and physical layer requirements)
8) OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act)
9) NEMA
10) ASA
11) ISUnet Revised UWP (Universal Wiring Plan)

III. The Original ISUnet UWP (Universal Wiring Plan) for Intrabuilding Networking

When ISUnet was first designed, token ring was selected as the primary campus network architecture. Since the focus of
developing this new campus network was to replace our existing SNA network (COAX based) with a shared media network,
support had to be available in our 3174 terminal controllers. This would provide workstations running 3270 emulation
mainframe connectivety. At this time, only token ring was supported in our 3174 controllers. Since SNA was our primary
reason for developing ISUnet in the beginning, token ring was the only real solution available at the time.
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Once the architecture had been determined, we needed to select a cabling type. It had to be standards based (to provide
consistency) and easy to work with (to allow us to deploy it in a timely manner). At the time, the only cabling system that was
available that met this criteria was STP (Shielded Twisted Pair). UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) was also available, but no true
cabling standard existed for data grade service (only analog and digital telephone cabling was available). As a result, UTP was
not a valid media specification for token ring. Token ring on UTP cabling was not supported until category 4 was developed.

The IBM UDC (Universal Data Connector) was used as the standard data connector between patch cables and STP based
equipment. This connector rates out around 30Mhz which fully satisfied the requirements for 16Mb/s token ring.

After token ring using STP cabling was selected, a cabling plant design was needed to provide uniformity between multiple
locations on the new network. Since STP cabling has a large conduit requirement in bundles, the decision was made to use a
distributed hub model. This would allow us to have minimal cables between floors and reduce the overall cable length to end
stations. In this model, a token ring hub was placed in a closet on each floor in a given building. All station cable that came
into the closet was connected directly to the hub (using IBM data connectors). A pair of cables was then provided between
floors to interconnect the hubs. In an effort to keep these cables at the same length (to reduce the possibility of distance
issues), the cables were only connected to a downstream hub port at every other floor when possible.

The original token ring hub used was the IBM 8228 MAU (Multistation Access Unit). This hub is non-intelligent and has 8
data ports. Our original specification allowed up to 200 devices on a single ring. With this configuration, up to 24 MAUs could
be chained together on a single network.

Once the system was designed, we needed to address the issue of how to get end station cabling to a jack for our users. In
response, it was decided to offer an STP jack wherever there was telephone service. When the Telecommunications Office
replaced their existing analog phone system with a digital service, the existing telephone cabling was replaced with level 2-3
UTP cable (for the digital telephone service) and STP cable (for data) was pulled with it. The end result was that where there
was a digital phone, there was a token ring jack. All future adds for telephone and data service was arranged by contract with
Ericsson.

When the cabling was pulled, it was brought the nearest cable tray system (when available) on the same floor. This system
delivered the cables to the appropriate riser closet on the same floor. In between the riser closets, a 2 conduit (or sleeved
hole) was needed to provide an avenue for patch cabling between hubs. In the beginning, this cabling was STP but eventually
evolved into 12 strand MMF riser rated cabling.

As each MAU was placed in a closet, a system was needed to standardize the interconnections between floor closets.
Basically, there are two types of floor closet systems in the original UWP. The first type is the vertical riser system. In this
environment, a pair of STP cabling was pulled to every floor. In the base riser closet, the cable ends were terminated with IBM
data connectors. One riser cable plugged into the RI (ring in) of the first MAU in the rack. The other riser cable plugged into
the RO (ring out) of the last MAU in the same rack. STP patch cable was used to interconnect MAUs in the same closet by
chaining from the RO on the first MAU to the following RI on the next MAU. The riser cable originating from the RI on the
first MAU would terminate in the closet two floors above the base riser system (if there are 3 or more floors other it would
terminate on the second floor). This terminated cable will then plug into the RO on the last MAU in the rack. The second type
of cable system was the horizontal system. In this environment, cable was pulled in pairs between closets on the same floor.
The important notion was that the cabling distance needed to be minimized as much as possible.

As each token ring was created, a connectivety solution was needed. This product would allow us to interconnect token ring
networks so that we could scale ISUnet. At the time, SRB (Source Route Bridges) were the only technology available for
interconnecting token ring networks. In an effort to address cost concerns, we deployed SRB using 286 based (or higher) PCs
running bridging software.

As time passed, MMF (Multi-Mode Fiber) was passed between floors in the same manner as the original STP patch cables.
This allowed us to transcend distance and other issues typically synonymous with copper cabling. IBM 8220 Fiber Optic
Repeaters were used at either end of each fiber pair. Although SMF (Single Mode Fiber) was available, it was economically
unfeasible (in some cases costing an order in magnitude more than MMF). The same basic rules applied for pulling MMF
between floors as did with STP cabling.

In an effort to reduce the impact of wire faults and add auto recovery, we introduced intelligent token ring hubs in strategic
parts of ISUnet. The intelligent hub used was the IBM 8230 CAU (Controlled Access Unit) which featured ring recovery, fault ISUnet Universal Wiring Plan

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isolation, and connection information. The CAU has also helped us with our physical address management. Twenty data
ports were provided by the LAM (Lob