From Newsgroup: sci.electronics.design

Same question as "Data Center Comms Cabling" but with the more
explicit issue that the servers within the racks in the room will
terminate to hosts/clients dispersed throughout the establishment.

I.e., drops from each cubicle/office meet in the server room.

In the cubicle/office, likely a wall plate with one or two
(nominally) ports for the one or two clients located therein.
A patch cord connecting each client to said ports.

So, the cubicle looks like habitable space <--

Traveling through walls and ceilings, those cables all meet
up in the server room (even if they travel via switches
distributed around the building, depending on size).

Once there, those cables have to exit the wall/ceiling spaces
to connect to the switches and servers in that room, likely
located in equipment racks.

Now, imagine that "server room" is a space in your residence.
How do the cables transition from "inside the walls" to
"connected to switch/servers"?

There are no floor tiles to lift. No wall panels to remove.
You have to do something EXPLICIT to make the physical
transition. And, even if in a closet (not everyone has
an attic or a basement), cosmetics play a role. (You'd not
like to see a hole punched in the drywall with a shitload
of cable ends dangling out!)

[This also is a fire issue as any such hole provides a means for
fire to spread more rapidly -- fire stops.]
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From Newsgroup: sci.electronics.design

On Fri, 17 Apr 2026 06:21:17 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:

Same question as "Data Center Comms Cabling" but with the more
explicit issue that the servers within the racks in the room will
terminate to hosts/clients dispersed throughout the establishment.

I.e., drops from each cubicle/office meet in the server room.

In the cubicle/office, likely a wall plate with one or two
(nominally) ports for the one or two clients located therein.
A patch cord connecting each client to said ports.

So, the cubicle looks like habitable space <--

Traveling through walls and ceilings, those cables all meet
up in the server room (even if they travel via switches
distributed around the building, depending on size).

Once there, those cables have to exit the wall/ceiling spaces
to connect to the switches and servers in that room, likely
located in equipment racks.

Now, imagine that "server room" is a space in your residence.
How do the cables transition from "inside the walls" to
"connected to switch/servers"?

There are no floor tiles to lift. No wall panels to remove.
You have to do something EXPLICIT to make the physical
transition. And, even if in a closet (not everyone has
an attic or a basement), cosmetics play a role. (You'd not
like to see a hole punched in the drywall with a shitload
of cable ends dangling out!)

[This also is a fire issue as any such hole provides a means for
fire to spread more rapidly -- fire stops.]

Metal box with cover built into the closet wall behind the clothes.

Joe
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From Newsgroup: sci.electronics.design

On 4/17/2026 8:33 AM, joegwinn@comcast.net wrote:

On Fri, 17 Apr 2026 06:21:17 -0700, Don Y
<blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:

Same question as "Data Center Comms Cabling" but with the more
explicit issue that the servers within the racks in the room will
terminate to hosts/clients dispersed throughout the establishment.

I.e., drops from each cubicle/office meet in the server room.

In the cubicle/office, likely a wall plate with one or two
(nominally) ports for the one or two clients located therein.
A patch cord connecting each client to said ports.

So, the cubicle looks like habitable space <--

Traveling through walls and ceilings, those cables all meet
up in the server room (even if they travel via switches
distributed around the building, depending on size).

Once there, those cables have to exit the wall/ceiling spaces
to connect to the switches and servers in that room, likely
located in equipment racks.

Now, imagine that "server room" is a space in your residence.
How do the cables transition from "inside the walls" to
"connected to switch/servers"?

There are no floor tiles to lift. No wall panels to remove.
You have to do something EXPLICIT to make the physical
transition. And, even if in a closet (not everyone has
an attic or a basement), cosmetics play a role. (You'd not
like to see a hole punched in the drywall with a shitload
of cable ends dangling out!)

[This also is a fire issue as any such hole provides a means for
fire to spread more rapidly -- fire stops.]

Metal box with cover built into the closet wall behind the clothes.

That;s sort of the approach I've taken -- a box recessed into the wall
to wedge between studs. This hides the "wall cavity" behind the
bulkhead formed by the boxes recessed sides.

For a cover, I affix a patch panel to terminate the ends of the
routed cables and seal the box (service loops hidden inside).
This seems cleaner than having lengths of cable dangling
out of the wall.

But, I need to transition from this to the switch (in my case).

If I position a rack directly in front of it, then the patch panel
is hidden and the patch cords contained within the rack. This
wastes a fair bit of volume just to hide the cords. This would
be comparable to cables feeding into a rack from above/below
WITHIN the confines of a rack.

It also means the rack has to be effectively immobilized as moving
it would wreak havoc on those connections.
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