A Network Rack Cabling Management Guide

A successful fiber network requires a well-built infrastructure based on a strong network rack cabling management system. Management of fiber cables has a direct impact on network reliability, performance, and cost. It also affects network maintenance and operations and the ability to reconfigure and expand the network, restore service, and implement new services quickly.

Tips for Proper Network Rack Cabling Management

Tools for Efficient Network Rack Cabling Management

Use Horizontal or Vertical Cable Managers

Vertical and horizontal cable managers hold your network rack cabling together for orderly and efficient management. While keeping the cabling clean and beautiful in network/server cabinets, they also assist in maintaining proper bend radius control, which is crucial for preventing cable damage and minimizing signal loss. This is undoubtedly the ideal choice for protecting and tidying up your fiber optical cables.

Horizontal Cable Managers

FS can provide you with brush strips, D-rings, finger ducts, lacer bars, and other horizontal cable managers. As the following picture shows, you may place the horizontal cable manager with D-rings in front of network/server cabinets or racks and use them to hold your cables together neatly. These tools also work well with fiber optic panels by providing a neat way to route fiber cabling from the back to the front of the rack where switch ports are installed. Horizontal management helps to keep cables from tangling, so you can quickly make changes or identify, access, and fix specific cabling issues.

Vertical Cable Managers

There are bend radius finger and D-rings vertical cable managers for you to choose from. Alternatively, you may mount vertical cable managers on both sides of the rack to safely bundle your cables. This management style provides a vertical path for many premise cables from switches or other network equipment. With vertical cable management, you're also able to separate power cords from optical fiber cables.

Cable Management With Fiber Enclosures

Fiber enclosures are boxes that house devices and equipment that connect or terminate optic fiber cables. They're of different types, including rack-mount enclosures and wall-mount enclosures to provide a secure location for fiber optic cables, fiber optic panels, and fiber cassettes.

The 19-inch rack-mount fiber enclosure is the most commonly deployed in network rack cabling management and termination, and it's usually available in two different series at FS.com, namely FHD® and FHZ. FHD® series have multiple sizes (1U/2U/4U) and can hold up to 144, 288, and 432 fibers respectively. FHZ series have only 1U size and can hold up to 216 fibers. Of course, other configurations are available – these are just the most common. Rack-mount fiber enclosures provide a high-density solution that saves precious space and simplifies data center cable management.

Wall-mount Fiber Enclosures

FS wall-mount fiber enclosures have three types: 1 port, 2 ports, and 4 ports, which can accommodate 1pc, 2pcs, and 4pcs FHD® (FS High Density) series fiber adapter optic panels or fiber cassettes (exclude 36F). It provides a convenient convergence point for interconnecting and splicing in wall-mount applications. The enclosure features a well-engineered solution for fiber and cable management on both the ingress and egress openings of the enclosure.

For selecting the right rack-mount enclosure configuration:

Number of Connections Needed: These determine the number of rack units (RU) required. A rack-mount enclosure with a larger number of RUs accommodates more fiber adapter panels. The greater the number of adapters loaded on the adapter panels, the more fibers the enclosure can hold.

Accessibility: The type with a removable top is cheaper but more difficult to access when adding or moving cables. The slide-out or swing-out types have support trays that come out, which simplifies internal access. They cost more, however.

Flush Mount Patch Panels: One option is the flush mount patch panel enclosure for mounting fiber optic adapters. Other rack-mount configurations may have several removable front panels. Their plug-and-play construction makes light work of fiber optic network installation and makes them an excellent cable management solution.

Conclusion

Effective network rack cabling management helps to improve physical appearance, cable traceability, airflow, cooling efficiency, and troubleshooting time while eliminating the chance for human error. This way, you can conveniently and quickly access cables within your network to implement repairs, upgrades, or other changes. Equally important, keeping your optical fiber network neat and optimally managed means protecting it to preserve signal integrity. Still not sure of the tools or methods to use for your specific cable management solution? Contact us via sales@fs.com or visit www.fs.com to explore your options!