HomePre-flight checks
These include:
- Checking that site are still happy for the cabinet tidy to go ahead as scheduled
- A quick check that all switches and any servers in the cabinet are up with no faults showing
- Confirmation from site that best efforts have been made to notify all affected users
- A time check. The tidy starts at the scheduled time and not before
Unpatching
Every cable in the cabinet will be unpatched one by one, with a careful hand-written note made of where it was plugged into at both ends. For ST fibre connections a note will be made of which way round the red and black were connected.
This is usually the most time consuming part of the tidy.
Equipment shuffling
After removing all the cables, any desired equipment shuffling will now be done.
We prefer to keep everything powered up, if possible when doing this.
Any additional cable management bars will be fitted at this stage
Repatching
Every connection will be remade. Ideally with correct length, colour coded cables.
Doing this well is an art form. Different cabinets require different cabling layouts for best results. This is where experience comes in. Experience not just from doing cabinet tides but also from revisiting sites one to two years later and seeing what other engineers have done to the cabinet.
Testing
As a bare minimum all business critical devices and at least 2 PC's and 1 printer should be tested as soon as the tidy has been completed.
The amount of further testing by the tidy team will depend on the nature of the site and the time available.
In any event, cab tidies should be followed by comprehensive floor-walking on the first day that business resumes.