Do you really need cable management for a cabinet with just switches and patch panels?
- by ObligatoryMoniker
We are about to start wiring out a building expansion and our vendor has laid out the racks in the following configuration:
Option 1
1U Fiber patch panel
2U Cable Manager
2U 48 port Patch Panel
2U Cable Manager
2U 48 port Patch Panel
2U Cable Manager
1U 48 port Switch
2U Cable Manager
1U 48 port Switch
Total = 15U
All the patch panels would be connected to the switches with 1ft+ cables fed through cable management.
What I am considering instead is:
Option 2
1U Fiber patch panel
1U 24 port Patch Panel
1U 48 port Switch
2U 48 port Patch Panel
1U 48 port Switch
2U 48 port Patch Panel
Total = 8U
All of the patch panels would be connected to the switches with .5 ft cables directly on their face with the top 24 ports of each switch patched to the patch panel above it and the bottom 24 ports of each switch patched to the patch panel beneath it which would not require any cable management.
If I go with option 2 it save all of the space used by cable management and allows us to keep adding on switches and patch panels at the end without having to re-cable all of the patch panels above.
Our vendor has indicated that this is not best practice and that .5ft cables will introduce cross talk. I could understand that being the case if we were connecting the .5 ft cable directly into another switch but we are connecting it to a patch panel that likely has another 150 ft cable run from the back of the patch panel out to the port in the building in which case the real resulting cable is 150.5 ft at minimum before even connecting it to a PC.
It seems like it makes much more sense to go with option 2. It is easier to expand, saves space, and saves money on cabling and cable management.
Does this kind of configuration make sense or is there a legitimate reason to choose Option 1 over Option 2?
