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How to Find What You Need, from DisplayPort to Thunderbolt 4 to HDMI to RapidRun

Gone are the days when hooking up an audiovisual system required only speaker wire and a few S-Video and RCA cables. Today’s AV components do so much more, and with faster data transfer speeds, higher image resolution and pristine sound reproduction.

Of course, such advancements would be impossible without the AV cable assemblies that connect these components. Since starting out in 1995, ShowMeCables has kept pace with the latest trends in audio video cable assemblies. Below we summarize what you will find in our inventory.

Let’s start with the three categories where we have made our latest AV cable additions – DisplayPort 2.0, HDMI 2.1 and Thunderbolt™ 4. All three will allow you to upgrade your conference room, medical device, theater, AV screen or gaming setup to the latest in high-speed, high-definition standards.

DisplayPort 2.0 Cable Assemblies

DisplayPort 2.0 enables up to a threefold increase in

If you Google “Ethernet patch cable” you will get over a million hits. But while shopping for them can be confusing, you really only have to know four main things:

• What exactly is a patch cable?
• What are the main differences of the cable categories?
• What are your form factor options?
• What are your cable jacket options?

What Exactly Is a Patch Cable?

In a typical corporate office, the PCs are connected via Ethernet cables to a central network hub or switch, located in an IT room or closet. The hub or switch allows the PCs to communicate with one another on the network and to access files from servers. Also in the room are other network devices such as servers, routers and network media players. All these devices are connected, typically through patch panels. With its multiple ports, a patch panel is a switchboard of sorts that employs short Ethernet patch cables with connectors on both ends to make it easier to reconfigure the routing of the devices.

So, Ethernet patch cables, aka patch

As the demand continues for increased bandwidth and data rates, there is also a need for freeing up more space in data centers and IT closets. In today’s enterprise IT world, smaller cable sizes are sometimes required along with the need for higher performance.

To help you meet these needs, ShowMeCables continues to update its offerings of Category 7 cables, which have many of the functions of Cat8, as well as Cat6a and Cat6 cables. These products offer not only faster throughput, with speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps), but take up less room, with features such as a flat, slim or “super slim” profiles. Two other options with increased demand are cable jackets that are bacteriostatic or low smoke zero halogen (LSZH).

If you are considering speeding up your connectivity or using cables that are lighter and take up less room, below we summarize the differences among the Ethernet categories as well as explain some of the most in-demand special features of our cables.

Cat6 Cable

Power cords are the last thing on your mind – until you misplace one or it malfunctions. Then the smooth running of your business is threatened and you wish you had a backup or at least a way to get a quick replacement.

That is where ShowMeCables can help. We recently expanded our line of AC and DC power cords to help you keep your critical functions operating. They are heavy duty and dependable for long life, and we keep them in-stock for same-day shipping. And we carry hundreds of types – not just standard replacement cords but models that can improve your installation, such as:

• Splitter power cords run two or three devices at once.
• Cords with angled connectors make sharp turns in tight spaces.
• Locking power cords stay tight under tension or vibration.

To make it easy to find the power cord you need, we have divided our vast inventory into the following sections:

Computer Power Cables

Whether you are a home user or running a data center, these are the cables you cannot live without.

You may have heard differently, but it is indeed possible for your organization to have data, voice and video transmission lines that are both robust enough to last a long time AND cost-effective and economical.

The key to having both benefits at once is to buy your Ethernet cable in bulk from ShowMeCables. We offer more than 100 types of bulk cable, which typically come in spools of 1,000 or 500 feet. You can also get shorter rolls of any length down to 1 foot. If you've been curious about what does an Ethernet cable look like including all of the different types, then check out our blog post for photos.

Buying in bulk at SMC costs less than ordering shorter Ethernet cable assemblies, but without compromising quality. Here’s how we manage to do both.

How Bulk Cable Will Save You Money

Lower cost per foot. You will save money by buying cable in bulk. For instance, a 500-foot or 1,000-foot roll of Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a or Cat7 Ethernet cable can cost from 20% to 80% less than when it’s purchased

Whether your company’s data center is a big room or a small closet, it will be more functional if it is well organized. At ShowMeCables we are passionate about well-ordered data centers. Many of our 15,000+ products exist to make your job easier by organizing your IT equipment.

The two main types of these products are equipment organizers and cable organizers.

Equipment Organizers

The best way to organize and protect your electronic components is to put them in either floor-mounted racks or wall-mounted racks.

Floor-Mounted Racks

Most companies install their servers and related IT equipment together in floor-mounted racks, aka server racks, which hold not only computer servers but patch panels, network switches, DC surge protectors, power distribution units and other components related to the network. They are floor-mounted on feet or on wheels, and some have a wall-securing option. They offer up to 45U of vertical capacity and depths of up to 42 inches.

Floor-mounted server racks

A large office might keep its computer servers in a data center while a smaller one can get by with an IT closet. But there is one thing most offices have in common: Their servers and related IT equipment are installed together in server racks.

Server racks hold not only computer servers but patch panels, network switches, power distribution units and other components related to the servers. They are either floor-mounted on feet or on wheels, or wall-mounted. Server racks are popular because they serve four crucial functions.

Ventilation

ShowMeCables’ server racks have several features for keeping your equipment cool. They have built-in fans to enable thermal management. Doors and side panels are vented for circulation. On most models, top panels are either vented or have dedicated ports for installing fans. Some cabinets have cable-routing features that keep interiors less cluttered to promote air flow. For the best circulation, we offer open-frame racks.

Security

Networking equipment

Whether you’re mining coal, copper or cryptocurrency, one thing is true: To be successful, you need the right equipment.

Crypto mining for digital currency has exploded in popularity in recent years. It started in 2009 with the first decentralized cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. As of 2022, the marketplace offers more than 9,000 cryptocurrencies, with the top two alone having over $791 billion of coins in circulation, according to CoinMarketCap. Mining all that crypto profitably requires a computer rig with a core processing unit (CPU), graphics processing units (GPUs), a motherboard and other elements.

Crypto Mining Rigs Need Cables

Regardless of a rig’s size, it needs cables to power and to connect the devices. Below we describe the main types of antennas and cables you will need to outfit a crypto mining rig:

• Helium miner antenna upgrade kits to optimize the range of your LongFi radio
• Cat5e cable assemblies for cost-effective crypto mining
• THHN tray cable for dependable CPU connections
• 3-conductor

In a previous blog post, we listed five reasons why wired Ethernet networks continue to be more popular than wireless connections for most organizations. Those five points hold true especially for industrial manufacturers, and you can add three more reasons why wired connections work best for manufacturing.

First, a quick recap of the five main advantages of wired Ethernet networks:

• Wired is more secure – much harder to hack than wireless.
• Wired is more reliable – signal strength is more consistent, less affected by other wired signals.
• Wired is faster – and data speeds are more consistent in heavy traffic.
• Wired provides more control – user access is easier to monitor.
• Wired is cost-effective – popular for decades, the hardware is widely available and affordable.

For manufacturing, wired connections have at least three more benefits:

Wired Manufacturing Networks Do the Heavy Lifting

As long as wired Ethernet connections are, on the whole, more secure and reliable than wireless networks,

With the popularity of wireless computer connectivity, it’s easy to forget about the advantages that Ethernet-wired networks provide. In the IT world, wired connectivity is still king for most organizations worldwide. Here are five reasons why:

More Secure

As long as firewalls and other security measures protect your wired network, it is safer from unauthorized access than wireless networks are. Your business’s wired network is completely contained, accessible only by connecting a cable to the network from inside your building. Wi-Fi signals are broadcast outside of the building, leaving them potentially open to hackers.

More Reliable

A wired signal is rarely influenced by another wired signal. But with two wireless networks located in promixity, the chances are higher for losing your connection or experiencing latency delays. Also, signal strength is more consistent with wired. Mobile workers who change locations find that their wireless signal strength can vary. Even something like