The term structured cabling system (sometimes called structured wiring system or SWS) refers to all of the cabling and components installed in a logical, hierarchical way. It's designed to be relatively independent of the computer (or telephone) network which uses it, so that either can be updated with a minimum of rework to the cable plant.
The SCS I'll describe in detail on this web site uses a star topology and Category 5 cabling and components.
What are the advantages of a structured cabling system?
A structured cabling system takes a little more planning and can cost a little more. Why bother for just a small office / home office (SOHO) installation?
Consistency - An SCS means the same cabling system for everything. Do you really want to figure out how to install and troubleshoot the phone cabling, then figure out the ethernet cabling, then figure out the ISDN cabling...? What happens when you revisit this in 6 months to make a change for two-line phones?
Support for multi-vendor equipment - A standards-based cable plant will support your applications and hardware even after you change or mix & match vendors. Some examples of proprietary cabling are the special terminators and wiring sometimes used by PhoneNet cabling, Etherwave cabling, and by phone/fax/answering machine switching devices. When you upgrade to another vendor or model, will the cabling have to be reworked?
Simplify moves/adds/changes - Need to move a connection from one room to another? Add a modem connection to the office? Add a two-line phone, modem, AND fax to the office? Share a file server or color printer? What if you pass on your old computer to your son, and he wants to play network Doom against you in the office?
Simplify troubleshooting - Even cables that were installed correctly can fail -- and they do. With a structured wiring system, problems are less likely to down the entire network, easier to isolate, and easier to fix.
Support for future applications - If you install a Category 5, or even Category 3 compliant system, your cable plant will support future applications like multimedia, video conferencing, and who knows what else, with little or no upgrade pain
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