Best Patch Panel Cable Management Techniques

In the structured cabling system, a complete connectivity comprises of cable, patch panel, wall outlet and patch cord supporting all LAN applications. Numbers of cables come into or go out, in this situation where easily causes cable spaghetti. A patch panel not only performs the function of acting as the connectors, but also helps to arrange the cables in organized orders. Consequently, the well-organized patch panel cable management provides a reliable cabling system for all of today’s network applications and future-proofing networks.

 

Why Need Patch Panel Cable Management?

The most part is that a patch panel provides a centralized location to manage network connections. When it comes to making a move, add, or change (MAC), the patch panel cable management would effectively reduce the time and cost to perform physical changes at a patch panel in a wiring closet. Except that, it provides physical security for sensitive network connections (such as fiber links), and minimizes network downtime by allowing easy access during routine maintenance. As a last point, it provides the scalability to increase density when you need to connect a large number of devices.

 

patch panel cable management

High-Density Cable Management Solutions Based on Patch Panel

Patch panel cable management is involved in many components: fiber optic enclosures (wall mount or rack mount enclosure), fiber optic patch panel (LC, SC, ST, MTP, MPO), fiber optic cassette, horizontal or vertical cable management panel or cable manager. Different kinds of combinations meet the demand to effectively manage high-density structured cabling in different applications.

 

(1) Rack Mount Enclosure + Fiber Patch Panel

The rack mount enclosure is always loaded with LC, SC, ST, MTP/MPO fiber adapter panel to provide a pathway to connect backbone-to-backbone or backbone-to-horizontal fiber cabling. According to the application demands, different units of fiber enclosure can be selected. Generally, 1U rack enclosure can allow for 4 FAPs up to 96 fibers, 2U up to 192 fibers, and 4U up to 288 fibers. For higher cabling density, the combination of fiber enclosure and fiber patch panel provides an efficient, flexible and easy way for fiber cable management in the data center.

 

Rack Mount Enclosure + Fiber Patch Panel

(2) Rack Mount Enclosure + Fiber Optic Cassette

In addition to mounting with fiber optic patch panel, rack mount enclosure can also hold MTP-8, MTP-12, or MTP-24 fiber cassette to provide the interface between the MTP connector on the trunk and the LC duplex jumpers for quick connection of remote or data center applications. This mounting option is suitable for 10G to 40G or 25G to 100G application.

 

(3) Blank Rack Mount Modular Panel + Fiber Optic Cassette

The blank modular panel has multiple functions to provide a complete solution for routing network cabling and protecting patch cords. When 1U rack mount modular fiber enclosure panel is mounted with 4 MTP/MPO cassette, it can house the total fiber capacity up to 96 fibers. It is uniquely designed for both front and rear-mounting capabilities with easy-access cable management.

 

(4) Blank Rack Mount Modular Panel + Fiber Patch Panel

Except for fiber cassette, the blank rack mount modular panel with lacing bar can also hold 1U fiber patch panel to efficiently manage high-density structured cabling in data centers.

 

(5) MTP/MPO-LC Enclosure + Cable Management Panel

The MTP/MPO-LC enclosure is designed to connect 40/100G equipment with the existing 10G equipment in a cost-effective way. The breakout panel integrates the benefits of MPO pre-terminated breakout cabling and compact patch panels, and several groups links are dispatched in the distribution box that ensures a high-performance and reliable straight connection from 10 GbE to 40/100 GbE. The cable management panel with D-rings is used for horizontal cable management in the front of 40/100G breakout panel. This solution is perfect for 40/100G migrations in a high-density data center.

 

(6) Blank Multimedia Adapter Patch Panel + Cable Management Panel

Blank multimedia adapter patch panel allows customization of installation for multimedia applications requiring integration of fiber patch cables and copper cables. The inserted keystone jacks or couplers can be Cat6a, Cat6, Cat5e or Cat5. And the fiber optic adapters can be standard LC duplex, SC simplex, and MTP/MPO. So it can aggregate up to six different types of ports on demand at one time. The cable management panel with D-rings is a kind of cable organizer to keep the cables in an acceptable condition and satisfy the functional requirements of high-density network cabling.

 

(7) Ethernet Patch Panel + Horizontal Cable Manager with D-rings

Ethernet patch panel includes Cat5e, Cat6, or Cat7 patch panel. They are an ideal method to create a flexible, reliable and tidy cabling system for Ethernet cables. The horizontal cable manager is often used to arrange small bundles of patch cables from network switches and patch panels. It provides an economical and superior cable management solution for organizing patch cords and maintaining required bend radius.

 

Conclusion

Today’s data centers require a reliable, scalable, and manageable cabling infrastructure, and then the patch panel cable management solutions address these trends and facilitate the efficiency of high-density data center cabling. By the way, when purchasing the cabling infrastructure, there is no single solution that will meet all of the cable management needs. Hope this article provides you with the comprehensive patch panel cable management techniques for the successful cabling deployment in your data center.