Wax string?
 

Does anybody still use wax string in their datacenters?

Haven't ever used wax lacing in any of the data centres - saying that, in the telco sites (which I really don't class as DC's, especially here in the UK) theirs been a few instances where I've seen wax lacing used, but thats been very rare!

What would it be used for?

Ken

If you know any of the older Telco guys, it was always used for cabling and creating the most beautiful cabling runs through switching sites and the such.

Unfortunately, it is somewhat an art form which has been lost (I certainly don't have some of the skill to create some of the awesome cabling in a PSTN exchange which would have been done back in the day - we're talking millions of cables in the larger exchanges, all running in perfect alignment!)

Basically, you used to use wax lacing as opposed to cable ties or Velcro.

Interesting. We just installed Cat 6A in the form of Panduit QuickNet pre-terminated cabling. To minimize alien crosstalk, sets of six cables are held in a five-around-one arrangement from end to end using -- you guessed it -- a single spiral of string wrapped around the bundle. In this case, it is a polymer string, wrapped once per foot of cabling.


Ken

I would like to see a picture of it since I've never actually gotten to see it in action before within a data center.

The reason why it appeals to me is that tie wraps have a bad rep for pinching cables and I hate velco for the fact that I cant get it tight enough for my liking.

Here's a How-To for cable lacing. I see why this isn't used with data cabling any more... Moves, adds and changes would be just a bit labor-intensive! :eek:

Ken

I use velcro that has a slit in one end so you can feed it through itself and get a really grip without hurting the cables. It works just like a zip tie.

But you gotta admit, a wax string laced cable rack does look pretty sexy. :cool: