this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2023
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What are some pros and cons of your DIY cable labeling approaches you have tried? (self.homelab)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by varsock to c/[email protected]
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Hey everyone,

I wanted to poll the community and pick up tips on DIY cable labeling and management.

At work, we label both ends of Ethernet cabels using a Brady Label maker. They are awesome but run about $200 USD.

I don't need such an expensive device to create (one-time) 40ish labels.

I was hoping for DIY suggestions that balances durability and ease of installation. Was thinking tape, sharpies, or even thick zip ties etc. Some forums even suggested bread ties (but I'm concerned they will fall off in hard to reach places). And sharpies are great but can wear on some materials (like those plastic sticky tabs for books and notes)

What are some pros and cons of approaches you guys have tried?

EDIT:

I was pointed to this video which suggests you:

  1. Grid up a piece of paper so each rectangle's height is the size of a circumference of a cable. It will later be wrapped around the cable.
  2. Then hand write the labels.
  3. Cut out each label/rectangle.
  4. Then use clear masking tape slightly larger than the label to secure it to the cable by wrapping it around the circumference of the cable.

The finished product looks like those shrinking labels where the label is flush against the cable and text is behind a clear film and can't be smudged.

For those that suggested borrow the label maker from work or print them at work: that has occured to every one of our engineers on staff and now our printers are locked away and are signed out bc we would always find them either low on ink/toner or more frequently out of lable paper. Yes, ordering those supplies is negligibly cheap for a budget at work but the issue lied in whenever you picked up the label maker at work, you immediately had to either change the roll or ink. sigh this is why we can't have nice things :)

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Dymo makes handheld label makers that are very affordable. Like $40. You don't need a Rolls when a Corolla will get you there.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I don't label anything.

Pros: I don't have to label anything.

Cons: Was it port 48 that's on VLAN2? Maybe port 47? I don't know, let's start plugging in stuff until it works.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Inline labels, hands down. I did similar to this to roll my own

Also just ask work if you can run some off on the brady, they probably won't give a shit

[–] varsock 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is the best suggestion for DIY, I can even get away without a printer and just write by hand. Perfect! Wish I could pin this comment.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Np :). Just make sure you use enough tape to overlap itself, makes them more secure.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Nice. I like that idea. Thanks for sharing.

Only concern would be if the tape started going yellow over time...

But, who am I kidding, we'll all be swapping our house cabling to fibre in a few years time anyway ;)

[–] wyrmroot 3 points 1 year ago

I use wire label stickers. This is exactly what they exist for and will be under $10. I have the Klein Tools numbered stickers because my priority was matching ends in a large bundle, not adding informative labels. But the majority of products let you write your own label.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I use zip ties with built-in tags for managing and labeling cables in my home office. 100-packs go for $8 on Amazon.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Those brother printers are like $80 or something stupidly cheap. The heatshrink tubing labels a few bucks more. Totally worth it. Swap out normal labels and then label your hard drives, your servers, your disk bays, etc. A basic label maker is a life changer and will last forever

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I just sharpie my cable runs and then just a lable maker on ports and panels.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

At a previous job the Sysadmin who had largely built most the infrastructure heavily used colored zip ties to label cables. 2 blue zip ties goes to this while 4 blue zip ties goes to that, 3 red zip ties goes to this other thing, etc. In hindsight i wonder if part of it was to be intentionally vague to anyone else on the team and force them to come to him for help identifying, since he seemed to love that kind of thing, but I digress.

It's a very affordable system to use at home. Maybe one color per VLAN and on cables where it's important to know one from another do different counts of zip ties. I suppose the same result could also be achieved with colored electrical tape too.

Sorry to Necro a nearly month-old thread but figured its worth sharing

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Masking tape + a Sharpie has never failed me

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Borrow the Brady label maker for an evening.