Fiber optic networks can provide you with high bandwidth, reliable data transmission and long-term economy. In order to for them to perform to their full potential, they need to be built around a solid infrastructure of cable management. Just as you’d be far less efficient and much more vulnerable to potential damage if you didn’t have a skeletal system supporting your muscles, fiber optic networks run the risk of fiber damage, attenuation — and even total network failure — if cables are left hanging without the support of a proper cable management system.
Wondering how cable management can enhance and protect your fiber network? Read on for a few of the most significant benefits that fiber optic cable management has to offer.
- • Bend Radius Protection: When an optical fiber bend has too tight a radius, it can result in attenuation (signal loss) or even cause the fiber to break. In order to avoid cable malfunction or damage due to bending, it’s important to adhere to strict “minimum bend radius” guidelines. Those generally state any fiber bend should be over 10 times bigger than the cable’s outer diameter. Cable management systems can remove the danger from fiber bends by maintaining a safe bend radius for your fiber cables, while providing them with the support and protection they need at bend points. In the long run, these preventive measures add up to reduced operating costs and far less network down time.
- • Clear-Cut Cable Paths: Well-defined cable routing paths provide a hard-to-ignore “roadmap” that lets the fiber installation technician know exactly where and how cables should be placed. When cable management systems with distinct cable routes are laid out ahead of time, they ensure a logical and organized network from the get-go, since they don’t leave cable placement up to the imagination. As a result, installers don’t require as much training time, multiple technicians can work on the same installation without getting confused and retrofits can be accomplished safely and with minimal frustration.
- • Easy Access for Network Maintenance: Without cable management, isolating a particular network cable for maintenance or replacement can be a lot like a messy game of pick-up sticks: how do you remove the one you need without destroying the entire pile? Digging through twisted heaps of fiber optic cabling is just another way of violating the minimum bend radius rules we talked about earlier. When fiber optic cable management systems are in place, a sought-after cable can be clearly identified from one end to the other — and easily removed without damage to neighboring cables.
CableOrganizer® offers an unbeatable selection of fiber optic network compatible cable management solutions, including the Neat Patch®, horizontal and vertical cable managers, lacer bars and fiber optic rack mount enclosures.
