What is the Importance of Patch Panels?
With many electronics, cables are a necessary component for powering, data transfer, and more. When it comes to network ports, there can be a large amount of cords laying about, and cabling infrastructure can easily become a hassle if management is not put in place. Luckily, patch panels serve as a great solution for cable management. Patch panels are an assembly that can be mounted to aid with cable management, as well as ports for connectivity. Patch panels can also be called a patch bay, patch field, or jack field as well.
With an array of ports on the patch panel, all needed cables can be connected to consolidate all incoming and outgoing lines to one piece of hardware. With systems that may see future expansion, panels allow for flexibility of adding, removing, and swapping out parts.
Patch panels can also come in a variety of designs, configurations, amounts of ports, and more to fit many needs and requirements. While most patch panels have a configuration of 24 to 48 ports, some versions can even reach up to 336. There are also fiber and copper patch panels, fiber often being the faster alternative. As panels have the primary objective to route connections, rather than move them at a specified speed, there are disagreements on whether or not the material makes a significant difference.
Patch panels open up many opportunities to have a more simple and efficient system in either your business or home. From organization, troubleshooting, flexibility, and ability to change out components, panels create the opportunity to create successful cable management with ease. Patch panels also remain a fairly simple and easy management system to set up and do not require any special knowledge or tools.
