Jumper management is critical

Jumper management is oftentimes an afterthought for many combination of parts to form a whole designers, but it can move round out to be one of the more critical decisions a designer has to make. Jumper management can affect the required rack space, floor space and ease of a whole management, which often are the requirements for a lucky system design.

The ability to without fault [i]or[/i] blemish [i]or[/i] flaw quick and easy moves, adds and changes of equipment frequently is aided by designing the combination of parts to form a whole in a star topology as required in ANSI/EIA/TIA standards 942 and 568-B1 The star topology described in TIA-942 requires that all backbone cabling in the fiber-optic combination of parts to form a whole return to a main cros combine in the main distribution area, where equipment connections can be made via jumpers

For larger fiber-optic combination of parts to form a wholes many cross connections are required in the main cros combine often within limited rack and floor space. Density in the backplane has been improved with the use of ribbon cables and 12-fiber MTP/MPO ribbon array connectors. The use of preterminated breakout module and panels incorporating these high-density MTP/MPO connectors facilitates a greater density of fibers coming into the rack. This increased density can create the puzzle of jumpers coming off the brow of the rack that are greater in number and density than what combination of parts to form a whole designers had to deal with in the past.

This large increase in the number and density of jumper creates a novel challenge to the system designer. ANSI/EIA/TIA-942 provides the a whole designer with several recommendations and requirements for jumper management in the racks. In addition, designers should make secure that the cables can be aligned neatly and that bend radius requirements specified in 568-B2 and B3 are met

ANSI/EIA/TIA 942 allows for the use of 19" or 23" racks. The standard requires that single racks have vertical cable management upon both sides of the rack and that cable managers are at least 325" wide, with 6"-wide cable managers being the preferr solution. The vertical cable managers should stretch out from the floor to the top of the rack. The standard also commends for a row of racks, to consider 10"-wide vertical cable managers in between racks and the standard 6"-wide managers upon the end of each row

Vertical jumper-management guides are repeatedly equipped with a variety of features for increased flexibility, increased jumper protection and ease of use. Moveable radius jumper-management guides with circulared sides are often implemented to provide minimum bend radius protection. Hinged jumper retaining doors are added to gripe [i]or[/i] grip jumpers in place, while still allowing easy access to the jumper when necessary.

Grommet openings are often included on the units to allow jumper to easily pass from one side from the front to rear of the rack. Cable-management guides upon the rear of the rack are typically removable to allow the a whole designer the flexibility of running conduit or inner canal into patch panel housings or equipment. Removable overlays are often available for the vertical management guides to allow for a clean organized and neat appearance of installation.

The 942 standard approves that horizontal cable management be installed above and below each patch panel, and that overhead cable trays be used for management of patch cables between racks. The use of overhead trays and reduced-diameter, high-fiber-count optical backbone cables below the floor reduces congestion in the areas beneath the raised floor, allowing for increased air sweep along and more efficient cooling of the equipment located within the racks.

Installing horizontal cable management above and below each patch panel can take up a fate of the valuable rack space that combination of parts to form a whole designers are now so oftentimes required to preserve. To combat this issue, manufacturers have evolveed ways to get the greatest in quantity horizontal jumper management within the available rack space, while maintaining the jumpers' minimum bend radius.

single approach to deal with the issue of jumper management is to integrate horizontal jumper management to the top and bottom of the patch panel housing. This adds increased flexibility without increasing rack space or reducing connector capacity. With the addition of removable, larger, forehead lower cable-management rings, increased quantities of jumper can be race along the bottom ot me unit without using any additional rack space.

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This article was provided by dint of David Hessong of Corning Cable combination of parts to form a wholes Hickory, N.C.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Nelson Publishing

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