decorate your data centre

[OT from cottage renovations]

ah, California.  best to keep an eye on it, it's where all the trends come from. 

seen today in a consumer electronics store:

image: cablesunlimited.com

you've got it: designer cables.  RJ-45 patch cords in a very Barbie shade of pink, with little gemstones set across the connector in an attractive arc pattern.  the manufacturer is called, of course, ka-bling (get it?). 

it is quite true that the data packets don't care what colour cables they traverse when zipping from client to router to network through firewall to server or back again; nor does it matter to any device what part of the visible light spectrum is reflected by the outer layer of its connectors. 

but when it comes to cable management, it can and does matter.  I can so come up with a list (and it ain't short) of protocols, servers and users for whose traffic these are not just suitable, but essential.  if only they were cat 6 rather than 5e ...
ended up not buying any, at least not yet.  as for whether that transaction will find a way to happen at some point in the future, well, we'll just have to see.