What Is the Function of Patch Panel

As we know, patch panel is a passive device with a number of ports. It’s a cable management tool that most frequently used, typically in a data center. However, for some people, they are still confused about the function of patch panel, and post questions on forum such as what is the purpose of patch panel in networking, why not connect end device directly to switch? This article will help you find the answer.

How Patch Panel Works

Patch panels work in different ways due to the two types, fiber patch panel and copper patch panel. Usually, fiber patch panel is designed with ports both on the front and rear sides. Just insert the corresponding fiber cables into the ports, then you can achieve a neat cable management.

fiber patch panel

Figure 1: Fiber patch panel has ports on both sides.

Unlike the fiber patch panel, copper patch panel is divided into feed-through and punch down types. The feed-through panel contains RJ45 ports on two sides, which is convenient for users to plug the cables. And the punch down panel is equipped with Rj45 ports on the front side and punch down terminations and color coding on the rear side. Each set of punch down terminations corresponds to a port on the front side. So you have to terminate all cables into the patch panel first.

copper patch panel

Figure 2: The rear side of copper patch panel.

Main Function of Patch Panel

As a cable management tool, the primary benefit of using patch panel is the improved organization and easier management of your network. But how? As the figure 3 shows, a patch panel is usually installed within a server rack. And you may encounter many or even thousands of fiber optic cables and cable connection. Using a patch panel, you can label the patch panel, so that you know which end device or room the cable run goes to. This will be helpful when you need to make changes on the cables.

Also, we can see that all cables on the server rack have a bend radius (a term used to describe how sharply a cable can safely bend at any given point). If the fibers bent beyond the minimum bend diameters may lead to break, causing network failures. Therefore, using a patch panel, the cables bend radius will be reduced, which can enhance the cables’ long term reliability.

As described above, we have learned the main function of patch panel is to provide a robust, reliable management solution and protect the cables. It doesn’t have any electrical or logical function like the network switch or router. Patch panel is solely a physical connection, which means patch panel can’t replace a switch or a router.

function of patch panel

Figure 3: Cables are connected to the patch panel.

Where to Buy Patch Panel

FS.COM is the reputable source to buy patch panels. The following are some 1U patch panels I’d like to recommend to you.

1U Fiber Patch Panel

FS 1U fiber patch panels are designed with LC and SC ports. In order to meet different customers’ demands, FS has released 24 port patch panel and 48 port patch panel.

FS P/N
FHU-FPP48FLC10GMM
FHU-FPP48FSCSMF
FHU-FPP96FLCHSMF
Adapter Type
LC Duplex
SC Duplex
LC Duplex
Fiber Mode
OM3/OM4
OS2
OS2
Fiber Count
48 fibers
48 fibers
96 fibers
Insertion Loss
≤0.2dB
≤0.2dB
≤0.2dB
Return Loss
≥50dB
≥50dB
≥50dB

These 1U patch panels adopt the same material and design, but for different fibers connections. You can choose one according to your actual need.

1U Copper Patch Panel

FS provides Cat5e and Cat6 patch panels. Both are available in feed-through and punch down types. Here are the best-selling products.

FS P/N
C5EP-U24FT1U
C6P-U24FT1U
Cable Category
Cat5e
Cat6
Termination
Feed Through
Feed Through
Application
Unshielded
Unshielded
Port No.
24
24

The two products are used to connect unshielded copper cables. They share the same design. When you need to buy a copper patch panel, you should know what cables you want to connect, and this is very important.

Blank Keystone Patch Panel

If you need versatility of running different types of networking cable on a project, blank keystone patch panel is suitable for you. With a blank keystone patch panel, you can combine Ethernet cable, fiber cables through one patch panel. The following is a blank keystone patch panel from FS.COM. With no keystone jacks are pre-loaded into it, you can customize it according to your application.

keystone patch panel

Figure 4: Use blank keystone patch panel to make a mixed connection.

Conclusion

From the above, we know the main function of patch panel is to terminate all the cables, and provide a neat, reliable solution for cabling. When you want to buy one, please contact us via sales@fs.com.

Will Cat6 Patch Panel Work with Cat6a Cable?

As information technology develops, we have to upgrade our network products such as the cables, patch panels, etc. Besides, to reduce our data center’s cost, we are tempted to use the old and new ones to make a mixed connection. For instance, run Cat6a cables on Cat6 patch panel. However, does it work? Is it a reliable connection? Here we’ll discuss it in this article.

Comparison of Cat6 and Cat6a Cabling

Cat6a and Cat6 are both designed for Gigabit Ethernet. They can handle 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-TX, and 10GBASE-T rate. Cat6 and Cat6a sound almost the same, but a single lowercase “a” sets the two terms apart. The word “a” stands for augmented, which makes them behave differently in performance, size and so on.

Cat6 usually has 23 AWG wire conductors, and can support transmission speed of up to 10Gbps at 250MHz. But the theoretical top distance with 10Gbps speed is only 33-35 meters. While Cat6a also has 23 AWG wire conductors, but doubles the capability by delivering data at 500MHz. Moreover, it supports 10Gbps standard over the full 100 meter distance. Note that Cat6a is usually thicker than Cat6 cables, because Cat6a uses extra thick plastic. Therefore, Cat6a takes more space in a patch panel than Cat6.

Can I Use Cat6a Cables on Cat6 Patch Panel?

Ethernet patch panel is the easiest method currently for your networking needs by providing a reliable and neat Cat6 and Cat6a cabling. Usually, we use Cat6 patch panel to connect Cat6 cables, and Cat6a patch panel is for Cat6a cables. However, there isn’t much practical difference between Cat6 and Cat6a patch panel. Then how about installing Cat6a on cat6 patch panel, will it work? There are several things to consider before answering it.

cabling of Cat6 patch panelExample of Cat6 Cabling

Do the Connectors Match?

Cat6a is the updated version of Cat6, they share the same RJ45 connectors. Therefore, it’s no doubt that Cat6a cables can be plugged into the Cat6 patch panel.

Is It Safety?

Cat6a cable’s size is bigger, so the corresponding minimum bend radius is larger, which will change installation requirements for routing and handling as well as design of pathways and spaces. For example, when we install Cat6a on a 48 port Cat6 patch panel, the larger wire may end up bending. So it’s not entirely safe to wire Cat6a on the 48 port patch panel, you have to manage it with much more patience and caution.

It Might Work

Commonly, conductors determine whether the connection works or not. Thus, in this respect, Cat6 patch panel will work with Cat6a cables, since they have the same RJ45 conductors. But from the above we know it’s not safe enough to do so.

Conclusion

To sum up, Cat6a cables are able to run on Cat6 patch panel. However, there are some disadvantages exist in this job. So I’d like to suggest that if you just want to make an experiment at home, it’s surely OK. But if you want to use Cat6 patch panel with Cat6a in your data center, that’s not inappropriate. Because the cables may be out of work, which will cause damages to your business. If you would like to know more about designing or choosing the right cabling infrastructure, please contact us via sales@fs.com.

Related Article: Does Cat6 on Cat5e Patch Panel or Cat5e on Cat6 Patch Panel Work?

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.
cat5e shielded patch panel

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.

fiber patch panel

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.)

structured cabling solution

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.

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.

brush strip cable manager

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.