|  | 8.5 | Planning Structured Cabling: Horizontal and Backbone Cabling
| 8.5.4 | Cabling for MDF and IDF connections

The type of cabling that TIA/EIA-568 specifies for connecting wiring closets to each other, in an Ethernet LAN extended star topology, is called backbone cabling. Sometimes - to differentiate it from horizontal cabling - you may see backbone cabling referred to as vertical cabling.

Backbone cabling consists of the following:

- backbone cabling runs
- intermediate and main cross-connects
- mechanical terminations
- patch cords used for backbone-to-backbone cross-connections
  - vertical networking media between wiring closets on different floors
  - networking media between the MDF and the POP
  - networking media used between buildings in a multi-building campus

Upcoming Changes in Cabling Standards

| Web Links
| Cabling Glossary
| Industry Standards for Structured Cabling