<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> Steven Santos wrote: <blockquote cite="midFDEPKKINFFFAJOOJMIKBCEPEEPAA.steven@simplycircus.com" type="cite"> <blockquote type="cite"> <pre wrap="">5) I might have a different opinion on this than Steven :) You can run gigabit ethernet over Category 5, 5e, 6, and 7 cabling up to a distance of 100 meters (or so). So 100 feet will be no problem at all. I would suggest running 2 cables between the MDF and your IDF for redundancy (you may want to read up on spanning tree protocol). Category 6 and 7 cabling will also support 10 gigabit Ethernet (amended in IEEE 802.3an). (If the building is being constructed now, you can have them lay conduit which is of sufficient size so that you can have more copper pulled down the road or even have some fiber blown.) </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""> Not really, as I agree with this. For me, its just a cost vs potential cost thing. 40m (~150ft) of multi mode fiber will run you about $75, plus another $75 to have it run along with the other cables that are slated to be run. So for a grant total of about $150 now, you have fiber that if you were to have installed after construction would likely cost you at least a grand to have wired. Looking at the bigger picture, it seems much more cost effective to possibly waste $150 now, than to possibly waste $850 later (thats 850 + the $150 it costs you now). You obviously have to calculate the likelyhood of needing fiber in the next several years, but if the odds are greater than about 1 in 6 that you will need the fiber link over the next 10 years, its the more cost effective solution. </pre> </blockquote> That fiber won't be a waste, believe me. I am *so* glad that we ran it in our schools. Given the fluorescent lights and the length of some of the runs, we would be toast without it. If you possibly can, definitely run some fiber. --TP <div class="moz-signature"> _______________________________ Do you GNU!? <a href="http://www.gnu.org/">Microsoft Free since 2003</a>--the ultimate antivirus protection! </div> </body> </html>