CABLE RACEWAYS

A raceway, in cable management parlance, is essentially any rigid enclosed or

semi-enclosed channel that protects, routes and hides cables and wires.
Surface raceway is an excellent choice for concealing unsightly wires in a
number of settings: home theaters, offices, conference rooms, workstations, and
more.
Surface raceway is used to route wires through a discreet wall cord concealer
that will improve the aesthetics in just about any room, and is a great and
affordable way to conceal and protect cables in both home or office.

Latching Raceway
Latching raceway is identifiable by its hinged or sliding cover
that fully encloses the cables within the channel. To add or
remove wires, you simply open the hatch or slide the cover off.
It's available in many different sizes, and is great for cables
around the house like speaker wires or TV cords. Adhesive
allows it to stick to flat surfaces like walls or desks. Latching
raceway is a discreet way to conceal and fully enclose
household wires.

J Channel
J Channel or J Hook raceways are so-named because a
cross section is shaped roughly like the letter “J”. The cables
are inserted by dropping them through the top, where the
curve of the “J” hooks around to keep them in place. This
allows for easy access to cables when needed, but also
means the cables are not fully enclosed. Due to the open
nature, they cannot be used in a vertical manner like latching raceway, and
are usually found in use on desks to route computer cables and other related
wires neatly and well off the ground. Like latching raceway, they often feature
an adhesive backing for easy install.

Corner Duct
Corner duct is similar to latching raceway, but features a unique
quarter round shape that allows it to blend in to wall and/or
ceiling junctions for a complete and finished look. It utilizes a sliding cover to
completely conceal cables, and can be utilized horizontally or vertically on
pretty much any corner, even mimicking the look of crown molding to further
disguise its purpose. These are good for media, speaker and home theater
cables located near the corner of a room, or for cables that hang from the
ceiling.

Power Raceway
Power raceway incorporates a power source directly into
the raceway. While the previous raceways discussed are
usually made of PVC, power raceway can be composed of
plastic or metal. Unlike the other types of raceway that
typically house common power cables or speaker wire,
power raceway usually holds communication cabling
including voice/data wiring, fiber optics, or other low
voltage cables. This makes it great for labs, offices, schools
and other commercial applications, though it often requires a more
experienced installer, unlike most other raceway that can be easily installed by
any do-it-yourselfer.

Specialty Raceways
There are many other types of cable channels that
are referred to as “raceway” but don't fit into the
neat niches defined above. Such as wire guards for
utility poles or the outer walls of buildings, for
example, or cable support systems like the cable
runway or Panduit’s fiber runner, Extruded aluminum
raceways are durable and rugged for outdoor
industrial use, and metal over floor raceways offer a
semi-permanent solution for low voltage cabling that
has the added benefit of allowing pedestrians,
wheelchairs, carts and other traffic to roll right on over
it.

Cable Raceways Applications

For Home
Around the house, Latching Raceway is the tried and true, go-to solution for
your basic cable management needs. It's typically found in straight sections of
various length (though sometimes it's on a roll) and it usually features a hinged
latching top. You open the latch, pop some cables inside, and then close it
back up, concealing them from view. It's extremely versatile: It can be cut to the
desired size, painted to match the surrounding décor, and myriad accessories
are available to get just the right set up. Elbow bends, T-junctions, couplers and
more can help you make turns, go around corners or split your cables off in
different directions. It typically features an adhesive backing that lets it install on
smooth flat walls with no tools at all. Just peel and stick. It works really well for
speaker wire, TV cables or other cords that travel up walls.

For cables that travel closer to the floor or ceiling, Corner Duct is probably a
better bet. It's a quarter-round shaped wire molding that blends into the
wall/ceiling junctions or baseboards. It's like a crown molding, but with the
added functionality of hiding your unsightly cables (score!)

For Professionals
All of the previously mentioned raceways would be fine to use in an office, but
there are also specialized versions that are designed to work with office furniture,
conference tables, and the like. J Channels, for example, are perfect for running
along the back or underside of a desk or table, and help elevate cables while
still allowing them to be easily accessed. The wires simply drop in through the top
and can be removed the same way. Like latching raceway and corner duct, J
channels usually feature a self-adhesive backing which means tools aren't
required.

For Outdoors
What about cables that have to run on the outside of buildings or other
structures, like utility poles? In that case you'll want something that's specifically
designed to stand up to the elements. That's where Wire Guard comes in. It's like
the rugged, beard-having, hiking-boots-wearing cousin of indoor surface
raceway. Made of high impact PVC to protect the cables held within from
environmental perils (not to mention nosy children, pets, raccoons or other
varmints, etc.), it's available in two versions: one for standard vertical cable
management (for data or communication cables) and another with a belled
end that meets “complete enclosure” requirements for high voltage cable
management.

It lacks some of the bells and whistles of typical home or office surface raceway:
no self-adhesive backing or latching covers here. But what it loses in
convenience it makes up for in durability. It can take a punch and keep on
guarding your outdoor cables like a champ.

References:
https://www.cableorganizer.com/learning-center/articles/what-is-a-
raceway.html
https://www.cableorganizer.com/surface-raceways/