Vent: I've been labeling network drops completely wrong for 2 years

I was training a new guy last week and he asked why my labels didn't match the patch panel layout at the warehouse, and I realized I'd been numbering them by room number instead of by port order the whole time. Has anyone else had a labeling system that made sense to you but drove everyone else crazy?

3 comments

3 Comments

valwest11d ago

Buddy of mine at an MSP did something similar. Labeled all his switches by the nearest restroom number. "Switch 2A was right by the men's room on the second floor." Made perfect sense to him. New guy came in, had to trace a downed port at "Switch 7C" and spent an hour walking around looking for the women's room on the seventh floor. There was no seventh floor.

taylor.jessica2d ago

Is there a REASON that new guy didn't just ask someone or check the building floor plan BEFORE he went wandering around for an hour? I mean, I get that the labeling system was dumb, but spending a full hour looking for a bathroom on a floor that doesn't exist suggests he either didn't ask for help or refused to believe the building only had six floors. That's a training issue AND a common sense issue, not just a labeling problem.

jennifer_west12d ago

Oh yeah, I've been there. What made total sense in your head just looks like chaos to someone else trying to trace a cable later.