Category Archives: Racks & Enclosures

Comparison of FS 1U Rack Mount Fiber Enclosure

Since the demands for high-density cabling increase, data center operators should look for devices that can provide higher performance without expanding physical space. Now as a necessary fiber cable management component, the 1U rack mount fiber enclosure is widely used in data centers to house, organize, manage and protect fiber optic cables. The 1U rack mount fiber enclosure comes in different types. Today we will make comparisons of two types of FS 1U rack mount fiber enclosures as an example to give you some professional buying guidance.

What Is 1U Rack Mount Fiber Enclosure?

The rack mount fiber enclosure is generally made for 19 inch rack mounting and comes in rack units of 1U, 2U, 3U, 4U, or more rack units depending on the number of required connections. It offers full front and rear access with a drawer that slides forward and backward. FS 1U 19 inch rack mount fiber enclosure is generally loaded with four fiber optic patch panel, cassettes or modules. There are also two ways of pulling out the tray, cover removable type and slide-out type. The slide-out type is more expensive but is more convenient for high-density cabling deployment. The slide-out rack mount fiber enclosure features the pull-out sliding trays, so there is no need to remove the whole fiber enclosure from the rack to gain internal access.

Types of FS 1U Rack Mount Fiber Enclosure

There are two types of FS 1U rack mount fiber enclosures, FHZ premium fiber enclosure and FHD series fiber enclosure.

FHZ Series Fiber Enclosure

FS FHZ premium fiber enclosure provides solid fiber-optic-link protection and space-saving cable management. The highest fiber densities and port counts contribute to maximizing rack space utilization. FS FHZ series 1U rack mount premium ultra HD fiber enclosure use the FHZ cassette platform to provide a premium ultra high density solution for inter-connects or cross-connects between backbone horizontal cable and active equipment. It’s ideal for ultra high density fiber applications in data centers, equipment rooms, and central offices.

altComparison of FS 1U Rack Mount Fiber Enclosure FHZ Series Fiber Enclosure

FHD Series Fiber Enclosure

There are two different types of FS FHD fiber enclosures: FHD-1UFMT-N and FHD-1UFCE.

FHD-1UFMT-N

FHD-1UFMT-N can house 4 pcs FHD series MTP modular cassettes or fiber adapter panels. Equipped with a cover removable drawer, it provides a high-density flexible system for managing fiber terminations, connections, and patching in data center application to maximizing rack space utilization and minimizing floor space.

altComparison of FS 1U Rack Mount Fiber Enclosures FHZ Series Fiber Enclosure
FHD-1UFCE

FHD-1UFCE is designed to accept up to 4 series MTP modular cassettes or fiber adapter panels within a 1U space. It provides a modular system for managing fiber connections and offers best-in-class cable management for every installation. Equipped with a new-design parallel sliding drawer, FHD-1UFCE can be pushed or pulled more stably as well as faster. It also serves as a transition from backbone cabling to distribution switching, an interconnect to active equipment, or as a cross-connect or interconnect in a main or horizontal distribution area.

altComparison of FS 1U Rack Mount Fiber Enclosures FHZ Series Fiber Enclosure

Buyer’s Guide

Here we list three main factors for your consideration when purchasing a 1U rack mount fiber enclosure.

Scale Requirement

Firstly you should know the external specification you need, such as height, width, numbers of ports. Rack mount fiber enclosure usually comes in 48/96/144 ports. The more ports, the more expensive the enclosure will be. We suggest that you choose a bigger one for your existing requirements considering the near-future growth.

Accessibility Requirement

Secondly you should think about cover removable type or slide-out type enclosure to better suit your situation. Cover removable type enclosure can fit your current situation, but takes more energy and time to add, move or change cables without moving or disturbing active fibre cables in the future. While slide-out type provides larger adjustment space.

Budget

Most importantly, whether to choose a cost-effective one for current situation or a expensive one with high-quality for future. You should balance factors that matters to you and make the final decision.

Conclusion

Now that you have a comprehensive understanding of four different FS 1U rack mount fiber enclosures. I believe that you are able to choose the most suitable enclosure for yourself. If you have made the decision, you can visit FS.COM and bring your favourite enclosure home.

Related Articles:
Rack Enclosure Basics and Buying Guide
Which Type of Rack Mount Fiber Enclosures Should You Choose?
FS 1U Rack Enclosure Types and Selection Guide

Rack Enclosure Basics and Buying Guide

Rack enclosure, an effective solution to a tidy rack cable environment, has been a popular choice for IT technicians. Conventionally, being a kind of cable organizer, the rack mount enclosure is widely used in data centers to house, organize, manage and protect fiber optic cables. With such great significance, it’s necessary for us to explore this device.

Rack Enclosure Basics

In the beginning, let’s drive from physical features of the rack mount enclosure, including rack units, accessible types, and loaded items.

Rack Unit of Rack Enclosure

Specifically, the rack enclosure is designed into a 19-inch rack mount. When it comes to application, the rack units of this fiber optic enclosure are available in 1U, 2U, 3U, and 4U in the market. Usually, users may prefer to choose two or more 1U rack mount enclosures instead of buying one rack mount enclosure 2U, 3U or 4U type. For 1U and 2U rack mount enclosures, they are accessible both from front and rear with a drawer sliding forwardly or backwardly; while 3U and 4U rack mount enclosures are featured with a fixed bulkhead design.

Rack Enclosure Units

Figure 1: Rack Enclosure Units

Accessible Types of Rack Enclosure

Since the rack mount enclosure 1U version is commonly used in organizing server rack, we take 1U rack mount for a case to study this feature. Altogether, there are three types of rack enclosures: cover removable, slide-out, and swing-out fiber enclosures.

Compared with a cover removable type, the slide-out and swing-out fiber enclosures are more favored. Neglecting the fact that the cover removable type is the cheapest one among these three types, the slide-out and swing-out types are more convenient for their pull-out sliding trays. In that way, users don’t have to remove the whole fiber enclosure from the rack to gain internal access.

Accessible Types of Rack Enclosure

Figure 2: Accessible Types of Rack Enclosure

Loaded Items：FAP or MPO/MTP Cassettes

Catering to different requirements for cabling, different accessories are loaded with rack mount enclosures: fiber adapter panels (FAPs) and MPO/MTP cassettes.

A rack enclosure with FAPs can be applied in both pre-terminated and field-terminated cabling environments. Generally, adapter patch panels are available to connect with LC, SC and MPO/MTP fiber cables. According to adapter numbers on FAPs, rack mount enclosures can support up to 96 fibers. In most cases, a 1U rack mount enclosure can support up to 4 FAPs, while a 4U rack mount enclosure can support up to 12 FAPs.

Besides FAPs, rack enclosures can also be loaded with MPO/MTP cassettes, providing secure transitions between MPO/MTP and LC or SC connectors. As a pre-terminated rack mount patch panel, this rack enclosure is designed to achieve interconnections between MTP/MPO backbone and LC/SC patching. When in a 1U rack space, rack mount enclosures loaded with MPO/MTP cassettes can support up to 144 fibers , such as the FS FHX 1U rack mount enclosure of ultra-high density.

Rack Enclosure loaded with FAPs or MPO or MTP Cassettes

Figure 3: Rack Enclosure loaded with FAPs or MPO/MTP Cassette

Buyers’ Guide

Through the above basic introduction of the rack enclosure, we can find it can never be an easy task to select a suitable rack enclosure. There are many factors you need to consider, such as rack units, accessible types, and loaded items. Still, there are other factors needed to be taken into considerations, such as the number of ports you need. And when it comes to the patch panel, you have to figure out whether the fixed or removable front panels are needed. Besides, you still need to think about the way to do fiber termination: splicing or pre-terminated. Last, but not the least, your budget for this purchasing. Obviously, all these factors, mentioned or not in this article, can have an impact on configurations or combinations of rack enclosures, contributing to your final decision. By the way, if you are looking for the detailed guidance of a 1U rack enclosure, you can refer to the article FS 1U Rack Enclosure Types and Selection Guide.