User`s manual

B-8 Rev B NetDoc™ User’s Manual
Patch Panel
Also called a Patch Bay. A panel, typically rack mounted, that houses cable connections and
used to modify, reconfigure or administer communications networks. Usually, a shorter patch
cable will plug into the front side, while the backside holds a much longer and more permanent
cable. The hardware assembly is typically arranged so that the same or similar type of circuits
appear on jacks for monitoring, interconnecting, and testing circuits in a convenient, flexible
manner. Patch panels can have any different types of electrical connectors, often with a
different type on the front than the back. If it has a compound connector on the back and
individual ones on the front, it is also a breakout box.
Patch panels allow technicians to quickly change the path of select signals without the
expense of dedicated switching equipment.
Pathways
An intra- or inter-building pathway element that is a cabling support vessel typically connecting
one space to another, or that runs the span of a common routing cable route, but resides in
one space. Pathways can be set up at any time, but to connect them to backbone cables,
termination hardware, or horizontal links, pathways should be set up first.
Racks
A vertical or horizontal open shelf structure (support), usually made of aluminum or steel, that
is attached to a floor, ceiling or wall. Cables are laid in and fastened to the rack and connected
to the equipment.
A 19-inch rack is the standard for mounting various modules in a "stack," or rack. Equipment
designed for placement in racks can also be described as rack-mount, a rack mounted
system, a rack mount chassis, subrack, or even shelf. Because racks originated as mounting
systems for railroad signaling relays, they are still sometimes called relay racks.