Had a talk with a retired IT guy that changed how I approach cable management

I was running cables for a small office in Portland last week and an old timer who used to work at Intel watched me for a minute. He told me I was making everything too tight and that service loops aren't optional. I always thought zip tying everything flat looked clean but he showed me how a loose bundle with a service loop saves hours when you have to swap a switch. Has anyone else had a veteran tech call them out on something they thought they were doing right?

3 comments

3 Comments

jana_fox508d agoTop Commenter

Learned that lesson the hard way too. Those zip ties that look real clean just turn into a nightmare when you gotta trace a bad port or swap hardware. Now I leave some loops and just use velcro straps so you can actually move stuff around when needed.

hollyc928d ago

Oh man, did you ever get a good piece of advice there? I had a similar moment back when I was helping set up a server room and a guy who'd been doing it since the 80s watched me making everything all tidy and tight. He told me I was building a "rat's nest from hell" for the next person because you can't trace anything or move anything without cutting all the ties. Now I leave slack and loops on everything, it seriously saves my butt every time I have to swap a patch cable or move a switch around.

riley_taylor8d ago

Or maybe those tight, tidy zip ties are exactly what you need. I get that loops and slack help the next person, but if you do it right the first time, you wont need to trace anything because itll work and stay put. Holly got told a good thing by that old timer, sure, but sometimes clean and tight keeps things from getting tangled and makes it obvious whats wrong when something breaks. Ive seen rooms with all that slack turn into actual birds nests where cables get pulled out by mistake. @hollyc92 you might be saving yourself a headache now, but youre punting it down the road for someone else who has to deal with all that loose cable spaghetti.