How safe, efficient and organized is your fiber optic cable? This depends largely on your cable management practices. The optimized organization of network cables can bring the following benefits:
- Enhance signal integrity by minimizing macro-bending loss
- Protect the cable from macro bending damage
- Improved accessibility for maintenance and upgrades
- Quickly identify cables
- Clean and beautiful fiber optic infrastructure
However, you need to use the right tools and methods to optimize your fiber optic cable management. The following is the correct approach:
1. Use vertical or horizontal cable manager
Vertical and horizontal cable managers connect your cables together for orderly and efficient management. You may need them to fix and organize your fiber optic cables.
For example, you can place horizontal managers in front of cabinets or racks to fix cables neatly together. These tools also work well with panel patches, by providing a neat way to route fiber optic cables from the back of the rack where the switch ports are installed to the front.
Level management helps prevent cable tangles, so you can quickly change or identify, access, and fix specific cable problems.
The available options include:
- D-ring
- Finger tube
- End ring
- With brush
- Lajin
Alternatively, you can install vertical cable racks on both sides of the rack to bundle cables safely. This management method provides a vertical path for the cables of a large number of switches or other network equipment.
With vertical cable management, you can also separate the power cord from the fiber optic cable.
Types of vertical cable management products include:
- Vertical finger pipe
- D ring vertical bar
- Vertical lace bar
- Use cable straps
Cable straps provide a cost-effective way to secure and support fiber optic cables in racks or enclosure systems. Use adjustable clips or cable ties to secure the cables to these metal rods. Their benefits include:
Reduce cable pressure and optimize network integrity. They also prevent stress-related damage to the ports of rack-mounted equipment. • Neat and beautiful horizontal and vertical wiring. • They help control the bending radius to prevent damage to the cable and minimize signal loss.
There are different shapes and types of cable straps, namely:
- Round lace strip
- Rectangular lace
- L-shaped lace strips
- Square lace strip
- Horizontal lacer panel
- 90 degree bending lacing
When choosing your drawing strip, consider factors such as the size of the cable run and the offset required.
2. Zipper tie vs. Velcro hook and loop packaging
You can also tie a bunch of network cables neatly and safely by winding or tying. In most structural fiber optic network projects, technicians use zipper laces or Velcro to complete. Both options are excellent, but understanding their different characteristics can help you choose the option that best suits your cable management needs.
Features of the zipper include:
- Easy to use: simply tie it to your cable and fix it.
- Robust: They hold the cables in place steadily.
- Durable: very suitable for permanent fastening.
- Cheap: cheap and available in large quantities.
However, the main problem with zipper ties is that they cannot be reused. You have to cut them off and add more cables. In addition, there are concerns that the zipper tie may be “too tight”-tying the cable too tight will cause attenuation or worse-fiber breakage.
Features of Velcro straps include:
- Reusability: To add cables to a bundle, you can quickly unwind, add, and rewind. Velcro is a very good temporary cable support solution.
- Cable safety: cutting the zipper carries the risk of damaging the cable. But opening the Velcro does not require cutting.
- Nevertheless, Velcro is more expensive than zipper tape, although their reusability makes them worth investing in cable management.
3. Mark and label your fiber optic cables
When you mark and label both ends of the fiber optic cable, you can quickly know what you are dealing with at any time. Doing so can save your troubleshooting time and make it easier and faster to reorganize or change the cable structure. Here are some correct suggestions:
Size: Pick a label with enough space to add identification information for the size of the simplex or duplex fiber optic cable.
- Visibility: The high-visibility label displays clear information for quick identification.
- Labeling standards use consistent labeling standards, such as TIA/EIA-606-A.
- The cable label includes:
- ID tags: You can wrap these tags on bundles of cables. Other types of ID tags come with hook-and-loop closures or cable ties.
- Wire mark: used to identify individual cables. They may be numbered or color-coded to simplify the labeling process. Some can be used as label tape.
4. Fiber frame cable management
The fiber optic frame is a box used to place equipment and equipment that connect or terminate fiber optic cables. They come in different types, including:
- Rackmount accessories
- Wall-mounted speakers
- Indoor or room perimeter fence
The 19-inch rack-mounted fiber frame is the most commonly used configuration for fiber optic cable management and terminals. There are usually 5 different configurations, namely 1RU, 2RU, 4RU, and 8RU. Of course, other configurations are also available-these are just the most common configurations.
Please select the correct rack frame configuration according to the following requirements:
- A number of connections required: Determine the number of rack units (RU) required. Rack-mounted boxes have more RUs that can accommodate more fiber optic adapter panels. The more the number of adapters loaded on the adapter panel, the more optical fibers the housing can hold.
- Accessibility: The removable top type is cheaper, but it is more difficult to access when adding or moving cables. The slide-out or swing-out type has a support tray out, which simplifies internal access. However, their cost is higher.
- Flush-mounted patch panel: One option is a flush-mounted patch panel enclosure for installing fiber optic adapters. Other rack-mount configurations may have several movable front panels. Their plug-and-play structure makes fiber optic network installation easy and makes them an excellent cable management solution.
5. Conclusion
When your cable management is optimized, it will bring organization to your cable infrastructure, enabling you to save time, effort, and cost. In this way, you can easily and quickly access the cables in the network for repairs, upgrades, or other changes. Equally important, keeping the fiber optic network clean and optimally managed means protecting it to maintain signal integrity.
