Cabling Basics - Patching in a small business or home rack 

Great video. I've been in the business over 25 years and still enjoy seeing a well designed IT rack. It's a thing of beauty.

I really commend you for going through the paces, physically showing what each option might look like. I recently purchased the neat patch for my home network build with 2 ft patch panels. I appreciate your influence on my decision to go this way. Mahalo!

I like to patch 24 ports from above and below each switch with 6in cables. Very clean, every port activated, and no reason to make a mess in the rack!

I'm watching every video of this channel! Really good! Very detailed and explained

You know what looks best to me? The first version. Because it's maintenanceable. Those longer cables tangled up and shoved into a box is going to make things much worse to change and maintenance later, even if you've managed to cover all of it up behind a panel.

Signamax and or ICC offer 48 port 1U keystone patch panels. I really like them and have used them a number of times, as you can use 6" cables the entire way with 48 port switch. Keep up the good work! 🤠👍 Here is the part number for the Signamax: 48U-HDMMP-1R I have used many of them.

From my naīve perspective using 4u to hold 2u of devices is inelegant, but I understand your logic and appreciate your taking the time to share it.

I watched this video just in time! I was going to buy a 48 port patch panel for my upcoming 48 port switch, but now I'm buying two 24 port patch panels plus 48 6" cables. Thanks!

Thank you for your fantastic video! I recommended the last method you showed be done at our company where I work last year, but our (stupid) ICT Consultant couldn't see why it made sense - even after explaining it more than 3 times to him. He couldn't even think ahead that it would cost us MORE money to buy longer cables and cable management rails with covers - when short 0.15m cables could be used instead. Thankfully, I won out in the end (a little bit) with 3 of our sites able to be done like you showed in your last example. Our Cabling Contractor that we brought in had never seen that done before, but it didn't take him too long to be won over after he saw how I arranged it. Keystone Jacks makes it so easy to change the arrangement also if you end up upgrading from a 24 Port Switch to a 48 Port Switch. I never saw the sense in braiding cables or tucking them away - hiding them behind a panel that just takes up extra space... especially when you may have to find a faulty or damaged cable and then unravel everything just to remove it! Thanks again for your video!!!

This channel is one of the best resources for home lab-ers! I appreciate the way you presented this. You had the patience on showing us the different setups and telling the pros and cons on those setups. P.S. You look like HBK (Shawn Michaels) from WWE. 🙂

I'm going to start a cable patching company. I'm going to call it, The Speghetti Factory.

1:50 resonates with me a lot. I'm an IT tech at a K12 school district. Some of our network cabinets are horrendous. A lot of if it comes down to tech laziness and lack of time. 4 years ago I spent many hours during the summer cleaning out and organizing nearly 10 cabinets across 2 school sites. That was 4 years ago and I haven't had the time to do the same at my other sites. A lot of the time when we work on a cabinet, we just patch/unpatch cables quickly but don't spend the time to tidy it up. We're just too busy doing other tasks. Even when we plan during a break to clean up stuff, we get random projects thrown at us, but that's a different issue. This summer we have an all hands on deck classroom technology refresh project coming up so I doubt we will be able to clean up our cabinets.

Thanks, well done!! Excellent instruction and production quality. I wish this video had been available when installing my small network rack last year. I ended up using your exact method (24-port panel, 48-port switch, 24-port panel with short patch cables, then UDM SE manager/router), but it took a long time to experiment and get there. 😀 In contrast to a business installation, home network racks are more space-constrained. My 4U rack has no space for cable manager units, so immediately-adjacent arrangement of patch panels and switches is needed.

My favorate are 48 Port 1U patch panels.

Have just about finished cabling home while doing renovations (managed to sneak in a little 'server room' 🙂) so you've given me some great ideas for the cabling itself, the rack and how to patch it properly, fantastic channel.

Really like that you emphasise that this is your taste! But honestly I'd go with your Modus Operandi as it basically served you well in the past years and is also tempered by the experiences you had.

This is the video I’d been looking for and never found. Thank you!

Thanks very much for a well explained video. I’ve just started in IT and this makes so much sense. I’m going to be able to look more critically at the spaghetti in some racks now. Thanks again

When I install a 48port switch, I start with a 24 port patch panel, then plug all the odds into the 24 port patch panel and install a 48 port patch panel and patch all the evens to the first 24 ports on that. Then I can add switch and another patch panel.

This is badass, we at our radio station is about to redo our entire Office and Livewire network. its going to get crazy!

Great video. Gave me lots of ideas.

Aha! You ended up where I am!. 1 24-port Keystone Patch panel above and below my 48 port switches! AND the short 6" cables. This made my day. I also use the TOP switch's TOP 24-port keystone panel for "odds and ends" connectivity. Connecting to other switches, odd equipment tied to the rack, different cabling (Coax, for example) etc.

A very sound demonstration for rack building theory. Thank you.

Great explanation and details on the various ways to cable! Really good video for beginners.

Your videos are perfect for use as training videos for my team!

I wish that i saw this earlier! Totally agree, doing it very much the same but i struggled a while to get to it. I mean not only this but more importantly the bigger rack vida. Maybe ill take a job to cable again in the future if a customer cant get the electrician to do it but won't reach ur levels ever. Great job, a tech guy.

I would absolutely avoid booted patch cables on these kind of installations. The plastic tends to become less pliable and given the small amount of space, makes removing the patch cables very difficult. I only used bootable cables when running from a wall drop to a device.

Not bad at all. Been doing this for over 25 years, you nail all the basics here. I persoanlly like the use of brush panels over boxes but they both work. As for switching, I try to aim for a switch a PoE switch port for every cable port, patch it all the first time and admin down ports not needed until they are.

Being in IT for over 30 years and having to clean up on other's crap work, seeing those photos of typical racks gives me PTSD.

Your channel should be called Rack-sthetic or The Rack Whisperer or something that addresses chaos -> beauty, calm, logic, order. Mental health for sysadmins through rack order. love it.

I affectionately refer to the racks as ‘hot fire spaghetti mess’ 😂 I prefer to find patch panel densities that match the location of the ports on the switches (or get modular patch panels), to avoid the random cable loop lengths. In addition I usually split the upper and lower ports on the switches with an upper and lower patch panel respectively, for that extra clean look!

Thank you. for this great video, i will use your tips in building my home lab, love from India !!!

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

If I'm doing a multiple 48 port switches. I start with a 24 port at the top, then 48 port switch. Then a 48 port panel, then a 48 port switch etc etc

Hi Derek, there are some 24 port switches with two rows and the ports on the right side of the switch. I would be interested to see how you would patch those nicely to 24 port patch panel with just one row.

Great video, subscribed to your channel based on this alone. I came across the very same problem the other day, an existing Krone 48-Port Panel and a 48-Port Switch which didn't align with 6" cables, in the end I had to mix 6" and 12" as I didn't have a cable manager, really like the look of those neat-patch products. Like you I prefer using Keystone on new installations, but they are not very common in the UK, lots of contractors still prefer Krone, but that is probably based on price rather than on flexibility of use, and aesthetics. Straight up and down patching looks great when possible, hence why I like the Ubiquity Enterprise 24-Port Switch as the ports align with a 24-Port Keystone, but they are expensive.

Love this. Very well presented.

Fantastic video. So helpful. Thank you.

Waw. That software is amazing! I subbed

Thank you for showing the use case with NeatPatch. It might have looked better with 2ft cables they provide.

Final product looks so good 😍

Ah yes I took inspiration from your prev videos and started using similar spacing but used 1U brush panels to twist the cables into, note we have a more mixed environments medical and large entertainment venues where we have to physically separate different networks and use diff colour cable to denote

thanks , I love your ideas .

Great video, thank you!

loved ur content very informatic.

thanks for the ideas!

I just love your work. Neat and clean. And doing it the right way.

Good video !

I try my best to use 24 port switch with 24 port panel.

You look like someone that is really cool to be around ;)

so far i like the 2 patch panel look. 12 CAT 6 up and 12 down to the other one and just block off the ones im not using. so many ways and price of doing this with all the same outcome of directly connecting it. lol. i also don't have a big house so 24 ports is enough for me.

thanks you for that important lesson

Instead of the gap between I would also install 2 patch panels with a 24p switch, same like you did with the 48p

Dios les bendiga equipo de TCI. Muchas gracias por este video, muy interesante y la explicación muy entendible, aunque no entiendo al 100% el idioma ingles pero si un 25% yo comprendí muy bien lo esencial. Saludos desde Honduras.

Me watching this for my 16 port switch at home 😂😂😂

They make vertical and horizontal management for a reason use it. You still have to add fiber patch cables and alot of other gear to any rack build.

it doesnt need to look neat it needs to work. and get the work done in a timely fashion. tested. and ready for the customers application.

This is golden.

You would think that the switch maker would provide patch panels that matched their layout. Or patch panel makers would make panels for the different switch brands to make things line up without the field guys having to juggle options and compromise.

Great education for me. Just curious, what software do you use on time 0:49 for rack plan. Thank you for sharing.

What about 2 24-port keystone patch panels above and below the 24-port switch. Fill the panel with jacks to suite your needs/OCD and put blanks in the rest. That way you have available keystone ports for expansion AND you can easily swap out the 24-port switch without needing to take out or move the cable management device.

Question. My house was a new build and it was wired with CAT5e cables to every room. The cables are not terminated in the box in my closet. Do I need to do this or can I just terminate the cables and plug them straight into the router?

Coming from a company that loves to add things after the fact, does anyone make a hinged patch panel that swings out (or better, down/up) to patch a new connection to the back? Currently I have a hinged rack, and hence have all the patch panels at the top or bottom or both for easy access when the rack is hinged off the wall to facilitate new punch downs, but it really stinks to manage, requiring a person with tiny arms and a strong headlamp.

I love the videos, they are just glorious! Question, do you have a Unifi/Ubiquiti Affiliated Code that benefits you? I'm overhauling quite a bit at my employer's racks and wanted to say thank you if possible.

Do you ever find value in colour coding with your cables ? I have some work to do on my home network and it's going to look just like your final example. I have some POE cameras and 3 NAS. I normally use different coloured cables for different uses.

I've got a stupid question, I'm not a network engineer or anything I just do this for my home stuff I mean I'm a 90s baby so I think we all have some sort of hands on with this now a days. But @11:41 You stated how annoying it can be to get in there and release the cables from the patch panel, what if you just installed the patch panel upside down so that the thumb trigger was on top and not on the bottom being constrained by the NEAT-PATCH? It would make it less burdensome to release those cables from the patch panel and not really mess up asthetically, ofc unless seeing the numbers upside down hurts you.

I noticed in one of your videos regarding the simple software you use for layouts. I took a screen shot and noticed it mentioned a 12U swing out rack. I was wondering g if you had a preference for brand. I found one on Amazon, I am trying to figure out my home network, and where my network home-run is, it would really benefit from a swing out design. Thanks!

Would love to get my hand on that sofware

How far out does the Neat Patch protrude from the front rails? Looks very tidy. Whats your best practice if you can't fit in a cable management unit and have to feed from the side? Also, how much time do you set aside for cable managing a 48 port setup as demonstrated?

Interesting.. no idea why I want to make one

At 11:20, have you tried using a flat head screwdriver and sliding it between the fingers to press the boot allowing you to easily just slide the cable out of the patch panel? I don't have any of those fancy cable management things for my homelab yet, but I've always found it remarkably less painful to use a flat head either normal size or the smaller ones (#1 I think?), especially when needing to disconnect cables from a switch and/or some servers. Otherwise, I appreciated your content sir!

great advice - i fit comms cabs (racks) for my day job. Can i ask as i always draw my layouts before hand. what software did you say you made and are you able to share it for designing the layout of the rack? thanks - you have a new subscriber :)

Question: when you are complaining about the cable manager and making it difficult to hit the boot of the cable to remove them. Is there a valid reason to not just flip the orientation of the patch panel so the boot is on the top?

Would you mind posting your software for rack design in the description of the video? Can't seem to find it anywhere. Thank you

I'm looking at my rack, and it's pretty gnarly, but all my patch cables are thin 1' ones, so not that bad. Because some switches aren't 100% 2.5Gb or not 100% PoE++ or using a combination of SFP and SFP+ ports. I have issues where I have 2 drops or more per room, and I one gets plugged into one switch and the other into another switch. How would you recommend organizing that mess? I'm not too keen on putting cable organizers everywhere either, but if I had them, they'd have to be 1U because I only have 4 slots of open space at the moment and 3 switches with 28 cables coming in (this is at my house).

What's the of Software you wrote to plan and design your Racks?

What's the name of the software you rae using to create and design the network racks?

what software are you referring to when doing these layouts.

Just for the giggles, what do you think of the patchbox?

i have to say that this doesnt go in the data center. most of the time you have two 24 patchbays and a 48 switch inbetween. if they see long cables they have to remove them. by default you use as short as a patch as possible. if you need longer runs from a server then its through runs in the sides of the rack up to the point where it goes into a switch. But then im an it admin that comes often into datacenters :D

Wow. You have thought about this way too much. I guess this is fine if it is your business. But for a home rack, functionality and the extra U's trump aesthetics.

Is the software available? For purchase?

10:21 My rack looks great when my eyes are closed.

I don't get why switch makers don't make switches with port outputs on the same spacing as patch panels.

Cable slack... lul... Like I am not spending hours making custom length patch cables to perfect my rack.

First

Pet peeve. They are not "wires". We don't pull "wire" we pull cable. Sez it right on the box, Cat 6 CABLE. The electric fence at yer local prison is made with wire. You wire your house for electricity. You might use a piece of wire with a hook on it to fish a door frame for a panic bar. Snot wire, it's cable

30 years in networking and I do not approve of any of these methods. I can't stand the short little loops right over the top of the switch - you can't see a d...ed thing, and can't easily access any of the bails to remove a cable. Plus, when the day come that you need to replace a switch - and that day _will_ come - you have dozens of short cables to pull before the switch can be moved even an inch. In your example, the "neat-patch" doesn't make anything neat, or even promote being neat. All it does is hide the mess. (and I've seen some unimaginable messes behind those panels.) To a novice (or consultant) a 1:1 mapping may sound like a great idea, but it isn't. It's a wasteful plan, and for almost any business, a security risk. In any network, every patch port will not be used. Just like every power receptacle in your house isn't used. (and every one of them isn't on its own circuit.) We put ports (power, network, phone, cable) where we think we might someday want to put things. For example, in the last office I built, each office has (at least) two boxes with two ports each, to support different working configurations. (the conference room has two four port boxes on opposite ends of the room - being on the ground floor, I couldn't put one in the floor) In any network I've ever touched, the patch ports aren't exclusively ethernet. The patch-on-top-switch-on-bottom method works well and can be neat, clean, and easily managed ... _if you take the time to make it neat._ But that's the problem in all of networking: no one ever takes the time. Often because _everything_ has to be done yesterday, and we never have the time to do it over. At my last telco job, once or twice a year we would make the time to clean up all the wiring closets. (other than phone... that's a mess no one would even talk about.) (I've only done the "1:1 thing" once... a 24 port patch to the top of a data center rack. It was stupid. Every other rack got it's own switch(es). If you look far enough back in ethernet's past, there were line cards with 50 pair amp connectors. The Cisco FEX (fabric extender) is the modern take on that.)