This policy is intended to establish a basis upon which to set cabling standards, regardless of whether the cabling is installed for public or private use, and to recover the overall costs to the University to support private use links.
This policy impacts the use of University cabling within and between buildings.
Private cabling is the use of University cabling which establishes a dedicated point-to-point link between separate buildings to create a private network.
If University cabling is not available at the time of a request, the academic or administrative unit can (1) wait until more cabling is available through Central funding or (2) fund the installation of the cable.
Delivery of Vendor Circuits to On-Campus Location over Fiber will occur at a University fiber demarcation point and be extended to the end location via University fiber. If hardware is required to terminate the Vendor Circuit and/or the private fiber connection, the customer will be charged for the acquisition cost of the hardware plus a monthly maintenance fee, in addition to the private fiber charges.
Delivery of Vendor Circuits to On-Campus Location over Copper will occur at a University copper demarcation point and be extended to the end location via existing copper pairs. If University copper is not available, then alternative delivery methods will have to be developed.
Intra-Building Fiber may be utilized by departments to connect private networks between telecommunication closets within the same building at no cost.
There are two categories of inter-building cabling: that which is used to support public networks (as exemplified by the data backbone and by the video distribution system), and that which is used to support private networks (as exemplified by particular linkages between mainframes or using unsupported protocols.)
For the public network case, it is Penn State IT's responsibility to set standards and request central funding for the installation of the cabling, based upon the current perspective that such cabling is considered to be infrastructure. In these cases, Penn State IT is responsible for the design, installation, identification, and maintenance of the cable.
In cases where a private network requires inter-building cabling which can be installed in accordance with both the technical specification and the schedule, the installation will be centrally funded and the user will only pay the normal point-to-point circuit rates.
In the case where the private network requires the installation of cabling at a time inconsistent with that of the schedule or requires a different type or route of cabling than that supported by Penn State IT Infrastructure, the installation shall be at Penn State IT Infrastructure's discretion with billing based on a time and materials basis for the number of cables requested.
It is also the responsibility of Penn State IT Infrastructure to establish standards for intra-building cabling. These standards are to be based on proven technologies and serve the majority of user applications. Since the networks using this cabling generally serve more than one user group and more than one floor of a building, Penn State IT Infrastructure is responsible for establishing minimum standards for intra-building wiring and its identification (labeling). It is not the intent of this policy to address casual installations, but rather to establish the scope of authority in cases of new construction and renovation, and to establish standards for user-requested installations. For all installations, it is recommended that Penn State IT Infrastructure be consulted before cable is purchased or installed.
In those cases where the cabling is not in accordance with the standard, or where the installation is of a piecemeal nature, the installation will be referred to the Office of Physical Plant (OPP). Likewise, where requests are received for the installation of user-supplied cabling, they will be forwarded to OPP, regardless of whether the cabling is in accordance with the standard or not.
Penn State IT Infrastructure will provide maintenance for any cabling installed by Penn State IT Infrastructure. Such maintenance will include repair or replacement as deemed necessary by Penn State IT Infrastructure personnel to restore working service. Support will also include testing for verification of acceptable performance with new services. Services that cannot be provided by standard wire/cable and are not public networked services may require the user to install private wire/cable. Penn State IT Infrastructure will not provide maintenance of customer-supplied cabling.
Penn State IT Infrastructure must authorize the use of conduit space for all communications cable.
Unauthorized use of University cabling will result in either appropriate tracking and billing or termination of the use of said cabling.
All exemptions must be approved by the VP of Penn State IT and the Senior Director of Penn State IT Infrastructure.
- Intra-building cabling is cabling within a building.
- Inter-building cabling is cabling between buildings.
- Private links are that do not have one end directly attached to the public, shared (beyond the conduit or sheath level), and Penn State IT Infrastructure-managed Penn State network which supports university-wide telecommunications services, are considered private. Of special note is that even though a signal may transit a private link and eventually reach one of the Penn State IT Infrastructure-managed networks, the link is still considered private unless there is a direct connection to a Penn State IT Infrastructure-designated interface.
One example of a private link is a connection of a departmental LAN in one building to another departmental LAN in another building. Another example is a baseband video feed that connects departmental equipment in one building with departmental equipment in another.