Professional Cable and Port Labeling
As CCS Tech Bryan Greenberg recently pointed out in a recent blog, labeling cables is extremely important, especially if you are planning on moving or storing equipment anytime soon.
You can create really professional results, very inexpensively, by using store bought thermal label makers. As technology has changed, the features and quality on these units have gone up, but the price has gone down. These units can be purchased from around $15 – $39 at office supply stores and most department stores. Newer models have easy to replace paper, plastic, and metallic ribbon cartridges.
The advantage of using plastic labels over paper is that plastic lasts longer, and is more impervious to extreme environmental conditions such as dirt and moisture. The plastic ones can also be more easily removed from equipment and cabling than the paper or metallic ones. This might be important later if they will need to be relabeled as part of an equipment upgrade.
The easiest way to accomplish a wrap around cable label with a label maker is to type in the description, then add 10 – 20 spaces, and then type in the same description again. When printed your label will allow you to peel and wrap around a cable, sticking the ends together. The result is a cable label that is printed on both sides. This makes for easier identification, especially if it’s at an awkward angle or if one side gets worn down.
Example(s):
COM 1 COM 1
MONITOR MONITOR
Depending on the font size…
A 10 space separation is generally good for slim cables, such as phone, serial, modem type.
A15 – 20 space separation is best for power cables, monitor cables, and UTP cables.