Cross connects??

Do I really need to know this stuff for the test? I'm having troubling grasping it and I can't get the descriptions of it to tie it to our network so I can understand it. some of the descriptions don't quite make sense...

for example....my book says that the HCC is closest to the users workstations, but then it says that an IDF interconnects wiring between an MDF and terminating devices, such as a workstation. then it says in many installations a patch panel is used as an IDF, in which case the IDF is also designated as the ICC...BUT, in the definition of an ICC is says that no horizontal wiring can connect directly to an ICC..

isn't the wiring that's run in the ceiling extending from the cubicle or office heading to the comm room on that given floor the horizontal cable? if so, in our office that cable is tied right in to the back of the patch panel, and then we use a cable to patch in to that panel and connect to a switch/hub...then a cable connecting that switch up to the main comm room... BUT, the definition says a horizontal cable cannot be connected directly to an ICC.....

it's confusing....

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jasoni

sleemie wrote:

Do I really need to know this stuff for the test? I'm having troubling grasping it and I can't get the descriptions of it to tie it to our network so I can understand it. some of the descriptions don't quite make sense...

for example....my book says that the HCC is closest to the users workstations, but then it says that an IDF interconnects wiring between an MDF and terminating devices, such as a workstation. then it says in many installations a patch panel is used as an IDF, in which case the IDF is also designated as the ICC...BUT, in the definition of an ICC is says that no horizontal wiring can connect directly to an ICC..

isn't the wiring that's run in the ceiling extending from the cubicle or office heading to the comm room on that given floor the horizontal cable? if so, in our office that cable is tied right in to the back of the patch panel, and then we use a cable to patch in to that panel and connect to a switch/hub...then a cable connecting that switch up to the main comm room... BUT, the definition says a horizontal cable cannot be connected directly to an ICC.....

it's confusing....

I dont know whether it will be on the test or not... but its not too hard to grasp.
Think of it as a hub and spoke technology... The hub being the MDF the central part.... now we connect the MDF to the IDF (VerticalCC) by means of fibre (the spokes in the hub and spoke example)..

The IDFs connect via HorizontalCC (cat5) to users workstation etc etc ..

Yes technically an IDF interconnects wiring between an MDF and terminating devices, such as a workstation. If for example the first point into a network is an MDF (say point 1), it goes to the IDF (say point 2) which in turn goes to the workstations. So essentially an IDF is a midpoint between workstations and the MDF.

Hope this helps..

EdTheLad

What exam are u studying for? This inst part as CCNA as far as i know.
This knowledge is learnt on the job,learn how to cable when you have to cable.Its like trying to learn how to drive a car reading a book.You can only learn through practice.
I've been in many comms rooms and traced many cables,i know what an MDF looks like but ive never heard of HCC,IDF,ICCs etc, maybe this is terminology used in the U.S but its not the kind of info that you should be trying to learn of from a book.

jasoni

ed_the_lad wrote:

What exam are u studying for? This inst part as CCNA as far as i know.
This knowledge is learnt on the job,learn how to cable when you have to cable.Its like trying to learn how to drive a car reading a book.You can only learn through practice.
I've been in many comms rooms and traced many cables,i know what an MDF looks like but ive never heard of HCC,IDF,ICCs etc, maybe this is terminology used in the U.S but its not the kind of info that you should be trying to learn of from a book.

Agreed... this is the kind of stuff you go "aaaaahhh is that what that is?" when you see it.
I learnt about this from CNAP before moving into my role where we actually have to work on MDFs and IDF and cross connects, din rails, krone blocks, wire wraps etc etc.. All these terms are important but nome more than the word documentation!!
I am in Australia by the way..

wastedtime

If I remember right I didn't get any questions about that stuff in the CCNA exam and it was only really briefly covered in the CCNA books I had. An just a note I hope you don't have to work on them...they kind of suck and once you do a few they are not hard.

sleemie

i'm studying for the CCNA and it's in the dummies book. Of course that's not my only resource, I'm taking a class next week and I'll be getting a "real" book then, but I wanted something not too heavy to get me going so I could start studying before the class.

I've done plenty of stuff in our comm room before, making cables, putting in hub/switches, making the jacks and placing them in the wall and cubicles, and I've never heard of this stuff. I think I'll just forget about it and wait to see if it comes up in my transcender and exsim practice tests and if it doesn't I won't worry about it.