With few exceptions, enterprises today rely on IT for the delivery of business-critical services - often directly to the end consumer. It is therefore vital that the mission-critical data centre is designed, maintained and operated with high-availability and efficiency in mind. Among all the facilities, network cabling is the foundation for the network and one of the major contributors to the availability of the data center.

CNCDP^® is a 2-day course designed to expose participants to in-depth knowledge in designing and installing the data network cabling system which includes key subject matters such as; technical standards, designing of different cabling sub-systems, calculation of material requirements, architecture, installation, testing and acceptance.

The primary audience for this course is any IT, facilities or data centre professional, consultant and/or those who work in network cabling system design, implementation and operation. 

There is no specific prerequisite for the CNCDP^® course. However, participants who already have at least one or two years’ experience in a IT, data centre or facilities environment may be best suited. Those with no experience just yet are most welcome to participate.

After completion of the course the participant will be able to:

• Understand the various standards for network cabling systems, the models and how to apply these to the network design.
• Design the user cabling and patching system for commercial buildings.
• Design the network cabling and patching system for data centres.
• Design the backbones for both indoor and outdoor cabling.
• Select the proper cabling containment/ pathways for network installations.
• Apply the correct installation practices and avoid common mistakes.
• Define the right testing criteria and methods for copper and fiber systems

Introduction to Structured Cabling System (SCS) 

• Brief history of SCS
• Basic copper and fibre transmission
• Copper and fibre cabling
• Single and multimode fibre
• Step/graded index multimode fibre
• Difference between Commercial Wiring and data centre cabling
• Development of standards
• Role of standards
• ANSI/TIA 568 standard
• Common standards
• The new usage of cabling to support Smart building

Horizontal and Administration - Commercial Building

• Standard diagram recap: ANSI/TIA-568
• Functional elements and example
• Scenario A: Determine the number of work areas
• Scenario B: Determine the number of user locations
• Zone wiring
• Administration: Interconnect and cross-connect
• Angled and flat panels
• Creating a cabling schematic design
• Convert schematic into physical layout
• Calculating the material list

Horizontal and Administration - Data Centre

• Standard diagram recap: TIA-942
• Basic/Reduced/Typical data centre setup
• Traditional 3 layers network design/ Spine and Leaf network design
• Select termination hardware
• Administration design
• ToR/EoR/Spine & Leaf cabling design
• Network and cabling resiliency
• Create cabling schematic design for ToR/EoR
• Convert into patch panel/rack layout
• Calculate the material list for ToR/EoR

Building Backbone - Commercial Building 

• Backbone diagram
• Calculate the copper backbone requirements per Telecom Room (TR)
• Calculate the fibre backbone requirements per Telecom Room
• Summarize the building backbone requirements
• Recognised cables
• Backbone Patch panels
• The maximum backbone distances
• Create cabling schematic design
• Converting the schematic design into patch panel/ rack layout

Building Backbone - Data Centre

• TIA-942 based backbone topology
• TIA-942 backbone requirements
• Recognised backbone cable
• ToR/EoR/Spine and Leaf
• Backbone distance estimation
• Resiliency of backbone cable routes
• Creating cabling schematic design
• Converting the schematic design into patch panel/ rack layout
• Field and Fusion Termination for fibre connectors
• Pre-terminated fibre trunk and copper cables 

Architectural Considerations

• ANSI/TIA569-D Cable pathway and spaces
• Common requirements for the rooms
• Definition of the rooms
• Entrance Room/Demarcation
• Ceiling and floor pathways types
• Cable trays/basket/ladder/conduit
• Inner duct/sleeve/slot
• Calculating of pathway size
• Cable run best practices
• Cable management/AIM
• Grounding and bonding
• Separation distance requirements for copper cabling to power cabling
• Fire stopping
• Fire rated barrier
• Fire rated jacket cable

Campus / Outdoor Backbone

• Common campus cable installation and cable types : Aerial cable / Direct-buried / Underground in-conduit
• Outdoor cable installation planning
• Lightning / surge protection
• Approved ground for surge protector
• Creating a schematic diagram
• Converting a schematic into a physical layout

Site Inspection and Testing

• Visual site inspection notes
• Installation common issues
• Copper testing standard
• Permanent link / Channel / Patch cord / MPTL testing configuration
• Fibre connectors
• Fibre testing standard
• Tier 1 & 2 certification
• Fibre link definition
• Fibre testing steps
• Fibre inspection and cleaning
• Calibrating the test sets - 3 methods
• Setting up mandrel for testing
• Fibre loss budget calculation
• G.657 Bend insensitive fibre
• Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer (OTDR)

The CNCDP^® course is lectured by an EPI Certified Instructor using a combination of lectures and question-and-answer sessions to discuss participants’ specific needs and challenges experienced in their own aa environments. Participants are able to tap into the extensive experience of the trainer enabling them to validate and improve their own environments thus adding tremendous business value. CNCDP^® course is available in the following delivery methods:

• ILT – Instructor Led Training (Schedule)
• VILT – Virtual ILT (Schedule)
• TOD – Training On Demand (More)

Certified Network Cabling Design Professional (CNCDP^®)

The exam is a 60-minute closed book exam, with 40 multiple-choice questions. The candidate requires a minimum of 27 correct answers to pass the exam.

Candidates who successfully pass the exam will receive the official ‘Certified Network Cabling Design Professional’ certificate. CNCDP^® is globally accredited by EXIN, a fully independent exam and certification institute.

The certification is valid for three years after which the student needs to re-certify. Please see the EPI Recertification Program for available options.

Click to download brochure in PDF format:

English | Spanish 

1. Watch the CNCDP Sneak Peek
2. Create your own personalised data centre career plan
   If you are wondering what is the next step in your career and how to prepare for it, use the DCPT (Data Centre Career Planning Tool) to help you create a data centre career plan! Click here > DCPT.
3. CNCDP exam guide
   Click here to download.

Find a training schedule that suits you, click here.