Why Fiber Patch Panels Make Scaling a Network Easy

As any network engineer or IT team will attest to, scaling a fiber network is (despite the headline up there) very definitely NOT easy. In fact, it can rapidly turn into a cable armageddon - a cablegeddon, if you will. Engineers have been known to disappear inside a room full of servers and cables and never be seen again.

Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but not much.

It’s an eternal problem. There you are building a fiber network. You love it. It works great. There’s just one problem. It works so great that there’s an immediate need for expansion. More capacity! More power! Except then cablegeddon appears.

Wait, why not go wireless? That should have an infinite capacity for expansion, right? If only it were so simple. The problem with expanding a wireless network to infinity and beyond lies in the fact that, past a certain point, speed and reliability begin to decrease.

So, we’re left with a thousand cables in a small room. Unless there was something else…

There is something else, and it is called a fiber patch panel. We’ll get into more depth in the next section. For now, the big idea to keep in mind is that an optical fiber patch panel (sometimes called a fiber enclosure or fiber distribution panel) simplifies the cable routing process when expanding a wired fiber network.

Introducing the Fiber Patch Panel

A fiber patch panel is essentially a distribution hub (thus the alternate name of “fiber distribution panel”) for fiber cable. Visually, it’s a small metal enclosure with a bulk (multi-strand) fiber cable going in the front. It is separated into strands in the box and outputted as individual fibers that terminate or provide further connection to an electronic device.

How a Fiber Patch Panel Works

Let’s dig a bit deeper into patch panel operation.

One easy way to think about patch panels is to consider them interface panels connecting fiber cables to individual fiber cable-powered equipment. Musicians are used to rack-mountable units, and that’s exactly what a patch panel is - they come ready to mount as part of 19”, 21”, or 23” systems.

We mentioned that the entry cable is a multi-fiber bulk cable that is part of the original network and is not intended to be unplugged. Inside the patch panel enclosure are adapter panels, splicing trays, and space to store excess fiber cables.

Each exit port consists of a single-strand fiber cable connected with optical equipment located elsewhere in the building. The interior ports are not meant to be unplugged - ever. Any tweaking needed should be accomplished through the exit ports via plugging, unplugging, or reconfiguring as required.

The result of patch panels is that you can bundle multiple network ports to connect incoming and outgoing lines without deconstructing the whole network. You can even include local network electronics, electrical systems, and communications.

To create a particular circuit arrangement via a patch panel strategy, all you have to do is plug and unplug the appropriate patch cords. Patch panels perform well in industrial environments that require a large number of devices, especially sound equipment.

Types of Fiber Patch Panels

When installing a fiber patch panel, the main concern is location. There are a variety of different patch panel types. Which one you use depends on the installation location. Let’s review the most common types.

Rack Mount Patch Panel

There are numerous benefits to going with a rack-mount fiber patch panel:

• Simplifies cable management
• Easy to reconfigure the network
• Saves wear and tear on the input ports of expensive networking devices

As mentioned, a rack mount patch panel makes sense if you’re looking to create a control hub for your network and don’t yet have a single central location.

Outdoor Patch Panel

Sometimes, your fiber optic splicing, installing, and configuring don’t occur in a climate-controlled environment. As you might have guessed by the name of this type of patch panel, it’s for conducting at least part of your network’s fiber optics maintenance outdoors.

An outdoor patch panel is easy to spot thanks to its hardened plastic enclosure that can be sealed against inclement weather. While placing this sensitive equipment outside seems odd, substations and power plants do exactly that.

Standard outdoor patch panels are made in a variety of configurations. For example, your needs might require four patch panel slots. Or maybe you need eight. Perhaps 10. For ease of installation, network engineers can order an outdoor patch panel pre-built with all the patch panels and accessories already installed.

DIN Patch Panel

A DIN rail is a strip of metal that is screwed into the wall in industrial environments. Its purpose is to mount circuit breakers and other industrial control equipment. When it comes to fiber cable, a DIN patch panel might be called for when you need only a few patch panels and want to mount it in a discreet, out-of-the-way location - like a wall.

DIN rails are manufactured to one of the following standards:

• DIN (German)
• EN (European)
• IEC (International)
• AS (Australian)

As for the DIN patch panel itself, the unit is typically small, containing only one or two patch panel units, often with a slimline design. If your needs go beyond what that modest number of patch panels will provide, you should look at a different type with more capacity.

Wall Mount Patch Panel 

The wall-mount fiber patch panel is similar to the rack mount and DIN rail-mount patch panels. Like the latter, it attaches to the wall, this time via a specialized bracket. It differs from the rack mount in that it only holds a single patch panel.

Consider the installation environment when deciding whether a wall-mount patch panel is the one you need. How much physical space do you have available? Will you need additional patch panels in the future? 

It might turn out that a wall-mount patch panel is perfect for your situation. Then again, maybe it isn’t.

How a Fiber Patch Panel Can Expand Your Network

Fiber patch panels aren’t cheap, but they might still be a good investment in the grand scheme. We’ve generally discussed that they have proven to be an excellent way to scale your network without tearing it down and rebuilding it from the ground up.

But that’s not the only thing network engineers like about them. Here are a handful of additional benefits.

Scalability

We keep talking about scalability, but what exactly does that mean? Scalability refers to being able to expand your network’s capacity without rebuilding from the ground up. That’s exactly what fiber patch panels offer - the ability to add new devices to a network by switching around a few patch cables. This saves a lot of effort because you no longer have to run a new cable from end to end to bring a new device online.

Easy Operation and Maintenance

If there is one certainty in network building, you will need to test ports, test cables, and carry out many other routine maintenance procedures. Patch panels prevent you from having to run an entirely new cable every time a test is needed. Once again, as with scalability, all you need to do is switch a few patch cables, and the test is complete.

Goodbye to Cablegeddon

You remember cablegeddon, right? An apocalyptic event spawned by too many network cables in too small of a room? While fiber patch panels don’t eliminate the need for cables completely, when properly deployed, you can expect the cable reduction to result in a more ordered and well-identified cabling infrastructure.

Cost Effectiveness

At around $300 for a multi-port patch panel, the initial investment is a moderate expense that allows you to go ahead and buy the devices you need and still be covered for future expansion needs. Rather than having to try and guess which devices you’ll need in the near future, patch panels allow you the flexibility to expand exactly as needed.

Final Thoughts

We’ve already revisited the idea a few times in this article, but let’s repeat it once more for emphasis. Back in the days before fiber patch panels, scaling a network was a beast of an undertaking. Many fine network engineers lost their minds to madness during the process. 

That might be another exaggeration. 

Let’s just say that the advent of fiber patch panels completely redesigned the network engineering game. It’s now a faster, more organized process than it was before. And when you can scale your network faster, you can do everything that relies on the network faster too. 

If you’re a company, your bottom line became much more profitable.