I have a network admin problem, is there a simple and minimally disruptive way to identify for a given network cable where it goes into the switch?
I have a lot of unlabelled cables and unlabelled ethernet sockets which ultimately connect to various switches I would like to be able to identify which goes where.
I have a cable tester but using that would involve un-plugging every end at the device and plugging each switch end into the other part of the cable tester, trying to find the correct end, I have to do this on my own so this would be a very tedious task and distruptive to the users affected.
Is there a cable tester that will produce a certain sequence of flashes in the switch to shew that it is the correct one, or is there some other way to identify the cable with less disruption?
Also can anyone recommend a device for attaching labels to cables that wont easily fall off?
Best Answer
Many good cable testers come with a probe. You plug one end of the cable into the tester and the separate probe unit makes a beeping noise that gets louder when you get near to the cable in question. Trust me, it saves alot of time, particularly if you have a lot of cables or (in my case) a rats nest of cables.
Here's the one we use: bytebros.com/bb_tester/TVR101001000.htm
As for the labels, it depends. If you use a heat-shrink label it'll be great, but it takes a while due to needing a heat gun as well, and is a bit of a pain. I normally use a dymo 5200 to print the labels in a way they can be wrapped around the cable, then put normal sellotape on top as i found the exhaust fan warm air from servers have make them peel after a while. You can get extra adhesive label rolls for it, but I've not tried those yet.