Cables Management Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Fiber Optical Networking

Patch Panel Cabling—the Right Choice

What Is a Patch Panel?

The patch panel is a device that integrates both cable management and termination functions. The patch panel cabling is conducive to the structured cabling as the cables are put orderly on the patch panel. As the interface between multiple optical fibers and optical equipment, it serves as a termination unit that helps networking and fiber distribution from wiring closet to various terminal applications.

Lying on the front of it are an array of ports where we insert the cables. The ports in the back will lead to a server, switch, or another type of device. Each port in the front will have a cable coming from a PC, phone, fax, or any other device that needs to be networked together. Each port on the patch panel labeled with a number will connect via an Ethernet cable punch down on the back, through the wall, cross space or added to another location in the house.

Benefits of Patch Panel Cabling

It lets you use the proper type of cable in the proper place. Other than the point-to-point cabling, the patch panel contributes to a structured cabling, representing you a professional and neat look. In a large home or office with lots of connections, patch panels make quick work of re-configuring networks by enabling operators to identify where the cable is coming from and going to. By managing varying port densities and speeds in a single high-density patch panel, you save valuable rack space, helping to lower data center costs. A single patch panel can manage as many as (168) 10Gb ports.

Patch Panel Recommendations

We all know that the fiber transmits data faster than copper does. But the role of patch panels is to direct signal traffic rather than send the signal at a certain speed. Both copper and fiber panels are governed by the same TIA/EIA standards(the highest level of criteria that products must perform to) required to produce speed and signal performance for the rest of the cabling network. Patch panels must coerce data into performing up to the standards.

The 24 ports Cat5e shielded feed-through patch panel, a star product in FS.COM, can be mounted in to 1U racks. The shielded patch panel can minimize the crosstalk between cables, ensuring the smooth transferring of signals. It features with number coding, removable rear cable manager and rear cable management bar.

1U 19″ high-density fiber patch panel offered by FS.COM can hold up to 48 fibers with 24 ports. High quality steel adapter panel is suitable for 1U 19″ frame rack mount or cabinet, designed for backbone-to-backbone and backbone-to-horizontal fiber cabling. It is fully loaded with fiber couplers to save much cost.

Conclusion

A patch panel allows you great flexibility to move, add and change cables. It gives you the neat look and a simple way to manage and configure and reconfigure your network. If coordinated with a cable manager, the patch panels will do better in cable management since the cable manager has both horizontal and vertical options while the patch panel is only designed in horizontal type at present. It can be easily installed into the wall mount enclosure and rack mount enclosure. What’s more, the whole rack will be much nicer and the networks will work orderly. Remember that 30% space in the cable managers should be left for future growth.

Create Your Structured Cabling Solutions

Have troubles in vertical or horizontal cable management in your data center? Confused at the cables’ destinations and start points? With slack cables hanging here and there in server rack, blocking and pathway? Well, all these issues brought by point-to-point cabling will become the thing of the past as the structured cabling comes into being.

What Is Structured Cabling?

Before the 1990s, data and cabling system were proprietary which means they were vendor specified, each vendor had his own cabling system design and it was hard to have products from different vendors to work together. In the mid 1980s, the EIA was asked to develop a specification that would encourage structured standardized cabling. In 1991 the TIA published the first version of the commercial building telecommunications cabling standard, better known as TIA/EIA-568.

In the United States, we follow TIA/EIA-568-C as the structured cabling standard. It covers subsystems of structured cabling, installation methods and practices, connector and pin assignments, media types and performance specifications for horizontal and backbone cabling, connecting hardware performance specifications, recommended topology and distances, and the definition of cable elements (horizontal cable, cross-connects, telecommunication outlets, etc.)

How to Design Your Own Structured Cabling Solution

Presume that we have an empty building of four storeys, we need to design a structured cabling solution for different uses in it. One solution we must apply, also one of the subsystems of structured cabling, is horizontal cabling which can not be skipped in each floors. Horizontal cabling is the cabling that extends from horizontal cross-connect or main cross-connect to the work area and terminate in telecommunications outlets. Horizontal cabling includes the following: 1.Cable from the patch panel to the work area; 2.Telecommunications outlets; 3.Cable terminations ; 4.Cross-connections(where permitted); 5.A maximum of one transition point; 6.Cross-connects in telecommunications rooms or enclosures.

Furthermore, to achieve the connection between different floors, we need the backbone cabling, also known as vertical cabling. We can adopt it to to connect entrance facilities, equipment rooms, and telecommunications rooms and enclosures. Backbone cabling consists of not only the cables that connect the telecommunications rooms, equipment rooms, and building entrances, but also the cross-connect cables, mechanical terminations, or patch cords used for backbone-to-backbone cross-connection.

The work area is where the horizontal cable terminates and wall outlets also called the telecommunications outlet. In the work area, the users and the telecommunications equipment connect to the structured cabling infrastructure. The work area begins as a telecommunications area and includes components such patch cables, modular cords, fiber jumpers, station equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines and so on.

The telecommunications rooms and telecommunications enclosures are the location within the building where cabling components such as cross-connects and patch panels are located. These rooms are where the horizontal structured cabling starts from. The telecommunications room and enclosure may also contain networking equipment such as hubs, switches, routers, etc.

The equipment rooms is a centralized space specified to house more sophisticated equipment than the entrance facility or the telecommunications rooms. Most often, telephone equipment or data networking such as routers, switches, and hubs are located there. Backbone cabling is specified to terminate in the equipment room.

The entrance facility specifies the point in the building where cabling connects with outside world. All external cabling such as campus backbone, inter-building, and telecommunications provider should enter the building and terminate in a single point.

Digital data is growing faster than any other commodity and its importance to businesses of all types cannot be underestimated. To learn how you can use structured cabling to better manage your data center, contact the experts at FS.COM.

Panduit Fiber Optic Enclosure and FS.COM Fiber Optic Enclosure

Not so long ago, fiber optic communication came into people’s life and provided us with great convenience. Its advantages could be found in such aspects as long transmission distance, large capacity and fast transmission speed. Therefore, the demand of fiber optic products like fiber optic transceiver, fiber optic patch panel and fiber optic enclosures has been soaring these years. But the products on the market are miscellaneous. Today, we will have a closer look at the two major fiber optic enclosure manufactures, namely Panduit and FS.COM. Panduit fiber optic enclosure and FS.COM fiber optic enclosure, which will you choose?

Comparisons of Fiber Optic Enclosures in Panduit and FS.COM

Panduit is a global manufacturer of physical infrastructure equipment that support power, communications, computing, control, and security systems. FS.COM (Fiberstore) is a leading global high performance end-to-end cabling and connectivity solutions provider which provides a complete portfolio of products and solutions.

Focusing on three groups including rack mount fiber enclosure, wall mount fiber enclosure and enclosure accessory(fiber optic cassette for example) which are all applied in 1U cable managemet, I have summarized several critical items that are most concerned by customers in the following table.

Rack Mount Fiber Enclosure

Items	FS.COM	Panduit
Products	FHD-1UFCE Fiber Enclosure	FCE1U Enclosure
Fiber Count	≤96 Fibers	≤96 Fibers
Type	Rack Mountable	Rack Mountable
Price	≈89$	≈289$

Wall Mount Fiber Enclosure

Items	FS.COM	Panduit
Products	FHD-FWME2 Fiber Optic Wall Mount Enclosure	FWME2 Enclosure
Fiber Count	≤48 Fibers	Unknown
Type	Wall Mountable	Wall Mountable
Price	≈60$	≈116$

Fiber Optic Cassette—Enclosure Accessory

Items	FS.COM	Panduit
Products	MTP-12 Ultra High Density MPO/MTP Cassette	FC26N-12-10AS
Fiber Count	12 Fibers	12 Fibers
Dimension (HxWxD)	11.3x92x171.2mm	35 x 89 x 125mm
Price	≈72$	≈293.4$

Panduit Fiber Optic Enclosure or FS.COM Fiber Optic Enclosure

Seen from the clear data and information about 2 pairs of fiber optic enclosures form FS.COM and Panduit, we can distinguish that there is a large gap between the product price and fiber count. The price, a significant factor that influence purchase, is greatly different from each manufactures. Fiber count of the roughly same products are also different, with FS.COM products outnumbering Panduit ones.

And the enclosure accessories provided by FS.COM cater to various needs. They have different fiber counts, connector types, and adapter types, and minimum insertion and return loss.

Price, and fiber count, the top three considerations of purchasers when looking for the ideal products, have been analyzed in the type of table and text for your reference.

Conclusion

When it comes to the choice between Panduit fiber optic enclosure and FS.COM fiber optic enclosure, you should figure out your own requirements to determine which to buy. The renowned Panduit and FS.COM both have their own reasons for each progress and designing. At FS.COM, we offer lifetime warranty and limited warranty for different products varying on the materials, workmanship, usage rate, and the availability of the spare parts for each product. And the relatively reasonable price is also the reason why so many people choose FS.COM. As a company born and grew in China, FS.COM grows with and by people. And it returns people with high quality and best service.

All above are some of my personal opinions and conclusions. The thinking and words just represent my own idea, if you find out any unreasonable, please forgive me and your ideas will be appreciated.

D-Ring Cable Manager for Horizontal Cable Management

The horizontal cable management solutions are springing up one after another as is expected. After the the explanation of versatile fiber optic patch panel, punch down patch panel, upgraded fiber enclosure, and various cable managers such as brush strip cable manager, finger duct cable manager, horizontal and vertical manager, we now focus our eyes on the new horizontal cable manager with D-rings.

The Structure of D-ring Horizontal Cable Management Tool

The name “D-ring” stems from its design that a ring goes in “D” frame. The five metal D-rings stand vertically on the cable management panel in a good order. Without complicated design, it won’t add unnecessary trouble in the cabling procedure or additional energy for you to identify each gadgets. For 1U cable management, we have 1U horizontal cable management with D-rings, and 2U horizontal cable manager with D-rings for 2U cable management.

The Advantage of D-ring Horizontal Cable Management Tool

Why is the D-ring horizontal cable manager standing out among all those cable managers? Why you want choose it? Look here.

For those who want neat and clean cable management, it perfectly caters to their need as it uses a D-ring method of cable management to run cables vertically along the side of your rack, neatly guiding them between equipment that’s mounted at different heights. This provides a tidy and well-organized way to run cables from devices mounted toward the bottom of your rack to other devices mounted near the top, without leaving a mess of cables hanging in between.

For those who long for easy installation and effortless maintenance, this D-ring cable manager can satisfy them because having neatly organized and routed cables not only improves the appearance and accessibility of your rack, it also makes it easier for you to install, access and maintain rack components. As a consequence, we can see that it improves the appearance and accessibility of your rack. That’s why we want to have it.

How to Arrange Horizontal Cable Management with D-ring Cable Manager

The user-friendly design makes it easy to use by customers and even novices. With screws and installing tools, you can attach this device onto server rack or cabinet. In the video, the cable managers are sitting below the switch. When the fiber cables on the switch are all on their position, we can now come to the cable management step. The first 4 fiber cables pass through the first ring and go through the second ring together with another 4 cables and so on. A single horizontal cable manager with D-rings can manage up to 70 patch cables. Here if you use cable ties to strap the cable, it will be the icing on the cake.

If you keep wondering where your power cords and video cables go in your 24 port patch panel, then our horizontal cable management panel with metal D-rings to provide stability so each cable can make a clean entry and exit. Make your patch panel look organized and professional. FS.COM horizontal cable management solutions provide data center managers and IT professionals with a variety of options.

Assist of Patch Panel—Innovative Horizontal Cable Manager with Brush Strip

The hot-debated topic—cable management, is a critical part when planing a data center. Failure in cable management will expose cable to high fatigue rates, hinder people to identify cables or even bring difficulties when expanding or upgrading equipment. To meet the management needs, tools like patch panel, cable managers, and cable rings are brought in to life. Cable manager, the subject of the article, comes in varied types, among which I’d like to introduce the upgraded one—1U brush strip horizontal cable manager designed for server racks.

Brief Introduction of the Patch Panel Assistant

The patch panel is partly a cable manager, but it also has other functions. With the brush strip horizontal cable manager, the cable management can be perfectly maintained. The new cable manager is made of refined metal and comes in different heights like 1U and 2U. Compared with original 1U plastic single sided horizontal cable manager with finger duct, it is a flat panel greatly saving the steel. The panel is designed to be mounted on any 19in EIA style rack or cabinet and features built-in brush that allows passage of up to 25 cables while blocking airflow.

What Are the Advantages of the New Type of Cable Manager?

Compared with ordinary cable manager with a certain number of ports, the brush strip cable manager can allow for relatively flexible cable management, and the cables that come from or to patch panels is less likely to be rubbed when passing through the brush. What’s more, it can minimize the risk of unnecessary bending or subject cables to heat sources or sharp edges, thus enabling the cables to live longer.

It comes with high-density nylon brush separating and organizing cables that increases overall air flow within your network cabinet while improves the efficiency of your cooling system by covering unused rack space. The sturdy steel structure and black powder coat finish fights presents durability, resists corrosion, and keeps your rack looking smooth and professional.

The Way It Helps With Patch Panel

Using four screws, it can be installed above or below the rack patch panel, and the two can coordinate seamlessly to present neat cabling. Just as the below video shows, brush strip panel is used to allow the passage of patch leads from the rear of the cabinet and then the patch cables are connected to the slots on the patch panel. They are installed within a data rack to neatly draw cables away from equipment. This type of management is typically slotted directly in front of equipment. The slots are masked with ‘brush’ strips which allow cables to pass through while presenting a tidy appearance and avoiding the cables dropping back into the rack.

Conclusion

1U brush strip horizontal cable manager can organize cables while keeping dust and dirt out of the rack. FS.COM produces a wide variety of cable management accessories specially designed for use in various cabinet and enclosure systems. These accessories include everything from vertical and horizontal cable managers, cable rings, and Ethernet patch panel to more easily route cables through the cabinet and preserve signal strength and data transmission. All these devices enable you to identify and track cables easily, while maintaining the freedom to remove or change cables with ease whenever necessary. FS.COM are always here for your suggestions and comments.