Construction II

Most training modules are mindlessly boring.  There is a definite need for the training, but do people have to make it so dull?   There's got to be a better way to train people than death by power point or some other CD based variant. 

Enough about that. 

Back to construction.  Now, it's time to add devices and create new wires for each section.  As I've said before, it's all Cat 5e bought from Deep Surplus.  The credit cards in this location have a phone line dial backup, so I check that first to make sure it's working.  Next, install a new external switch and move the ATA (analog telephone adapter) and plug that in.  At the top of the board will be a starting point for all the phone lines in the building.  Well, other than the phone company demarc.  The ATA plugs into the new external switch.  Add a cable from the ATA to the top breakout point.  RJ11 jack on one end, two bare wires on the other end.  We use blue/blue white to designate the VOIP phone line, so that's the pair I use.  I then punch it into the block at the top. 

The block at top is a "telephone expansion module".  It supports up to 4 phone lines to 9 locations.  It's kind of like a 66 block, but less complicated.  Anyways...   Trace the CATV cable on the back of the cable modem and make sure I've got enough slack.  I do, so it's time to move quickly.  The instant I unplug the cable modem, the store internet is going to go down.  With store internet down, the credit cards go down.  That's not a good thing.  It was probably about 3 in the afternoon when I was doing this, and that is a relatively slow time.

As any tech knows, the instant you have to reboot the internet or take a system off line, the location will get mobbed.  A dozen people will show up to a store that second before was a ghost town.  And they will all be mad at you for breaking things.  The second point of interest is the home run cable from the current external switch to the credit card processing device.  Is it long enough to serve my purposes, and run down my wire duct?  I know it is, but it's something to think about.  I know it is because the front of the building is to the right of the wire duct.  If it was to the left, the cable might have to be extended and this entire move couldn't happen until a later date.  As is, I made the move. 

Unplug the cable modem and pull the power cable out of the tangle and mess.  Unscrew the CATV cable from the cable modem.  Move the cable modem onto the board and strap it down.  Plug the power cable in and run it through the path I want.  Connect the pre-created Cat 5 patch cable from the new external switch to the modem.  Grab the credit card processor cable and thread it up through the ceiling and down the wire duct.  Plug it into the external switch.   The main process is finished, and the store is back up and processing credit cards in less than 10 minutes. 

The next contentious issue is getting the store internetwork online.  The Cisco 891W with the antenna (not in this picture) is where that cable goes.  Run a new cable for that, and boot it properly.  It's the orange cable with orange boot in this picture. Also a big issue because we've got an internetwork based proprietary card that processes.  So it's not something you want to go down for a long time.  It also alerts everyone and their dog if it goes offline for too long.  The last thing you want is a bunch of people calling you up asking why you are taking a store down.

This would be a good place to visually talk about our new wiring method.  We use a combination of colored wire with colored boots.  The boot is the same on both ends, so you go looking for a green wire with an orange boot, and you know you found the right cable because the other side is a green cable with an orange boot.  We have around 10 different cable colors and 10 different boot colors.  Wires are exceptionally easy to trace this way, and it doesn't take a toner to do so.  But it does take time and work to do the job right. 

Finally, tap in two biscuit jacks at the top of the board to provide service.  There is always a need for phone service on a board.  Sometimes it's for a dial-in situation.  Others it's just to test the phone lines and troubleshoot.  No matter the situation, we have phones to cover it. 

Once all that is done, attack the place like crazy with a label maker set in flag mode.  We've tried to put the labels on the cable, but those don't stay.  Flags have to be cut off.  Those suckers stay forever. 

Next time?  I don't know.  From here, it's a matter of building the replacement equipment and moving a few more devices into the back room.  But those are night of upgrade tasks.