Workshop

outer if you don’t know which box the router is? A good troubleshooter will make it a point to label
each device clearly and concisely before trouble strikes; a lack of labeling can really increase your
downtime by a remarkable margin.
If you ever visit the U.S.S. North Carolina or a similar World War II battleship, you’ll marvel at all the
hoses and pipes that are running throughout the ship—particularly in the machine rooms. Take a look at
the meticulous way all these pipes are labeled; believe me, they didn’t do this for fun. They needed to
know which pipe was air, steam, fresh water, brine, gas, or oil—a delay in a repair could literally sink the
ship.
If you weren’t fortunate enough to have had the Navy meticulously label your network (and your
installer hasn’t done it either), you’ll need to start today with “as you go” labeling. Each time you find
out what a device is or where a cable is going, slap a label on it. Don’t assume that you’ll
remember—you may have a great memory, but during a crisis, that memory may be on vacation. (Also,
remember that you want to go on vacation yourself one day and let someone else troubleshoot all this
stuff for you.)
Go out and buy a label maker. They only cost about $50 and are really useful. They pump out quick, clear,
and neat-looking labels. Also, you can print a label twice, cut once, and have a two-sided cable label, as
shown in Figure 2.5.
Figure 2.5 Use a label maker to make two-sided cable labels.
You should test the labels you buy for adhesion. There’s nothing worse than making 250 labels, only to
see them all flutter to the ground after a month. As with anything else in networking, a simple pilot test
can save you a big headache later. Also, cable labels should be plastic rather than paper; otherwise, as
cables get handled, the labels might rip.
Any cable label should be put a good distance from the end (anywhere from 12 to 18 inches, if you have