Two Patch Panels?

[Mike K]

My server will be mounted high on a wall above a tractor bay lift door. I will have a patch panel in the enclosure but I would like to also have some of the panel interfaces available at a lower more accessible level in the tractor bay. Things like the external hard drive, PC USB ports, and monitor. Not necessarily camera ports. My question is:

Can the related cables be split to accommodate both panels?

 

[nayr]

split? no you want to terminate all your cables in your locked rack, on your primary Patch panel.. then if you want, put one of these down low:

http://www.amazon.com/ICC-Patch-Panel-Vertical-HD12-Port/dp/B00HEOO8DA/

and also wire it up to your primary patch panel, anything you want access to down low.. like maintance ports or whatever, patch it through inside the cabinet with jumper cables.

 

[Mike K]

split? no you want to terminate all your cables in your locked rack, on your primary Patch panel.. then if you want, put one of these down low:

http://www.amazon.com/ICC-Patch-Panel-Vertical-HD12-Port/dp/B00HEOO8DA/

and also wire it up to your primary patch panel, anything you want access to down low.. like maintance ports or whatever, patch it through inside the cabinet with jumper cables.

I'm not sure what Jumper cables are? Maybe Patch Cables?

Maybe Some specifics would make my point better. Here is the list of cables for my Tractor Bay. But, consider just one interface to make it simple. Take the VGA port as my example. If it is routed from the back of my Server PC to the primary patch panel (custom panel because it won't fit a keystone format), in the wall mounted rack enclosure, then it is dedicated to that location. If I ALSO want to have it in a panel at the lower location Panel, then I need to SPLIT the cable from the back of the PC so it can go to both locations. Something like a HUB with 3 ports one in and two out. Although that would be sort of messy. But that is the concept. Not sure if this is done somehow as a standard practice or not?


Some Ports and associated cables are not listed because they are already at the front of the rack like the (6) short cables that go from the camera/panel location to Switch 1.

 

[nayr]

yes, jumper cables == patch cables..

your missing the entire point of using the patch panels.. sigh.

okie leme try this.. run all your wires to a central point, this is your cabinet.. nothing goes to anything else directly, everything goes to cabinet.. then from that cabinet you can distribute them to devices within the cabinet, or back out the cabinet to another termination point..

if you want 2 computers right next to eachother wired up directly, you run 2 separate cables all the way to the cabinet.. then patch them together inside the cabinet, electrically its directly connected but physically its: Computer A <--> Patch Panel Port #1 <--> Patch Cable <--> Patch Panel Port #2 <--> Computer B

all ports go to patch panel, from there you can patch them anywhere you like, in any way you can imagine.. and lots of ways you cannot yet, but will someday.

so if you want a bunch of termination points somewhere accessable, outside the rack; put them there.. then wire it to the patch panel and connect it up in there however it needs to be

perhaps this will help, good ole wikipedia to the rescue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patch_panel

many of the facilities I work in have massive patchracks that look like this, man I am glad I dont have to wire this stuff up anymore.

 

[Mike K]

I always say "communication is everything". I appreciate your tolerance.

I'm with you in concept, and if I was not clear before; ALL the cables in my list, above, go to my panel in the rack. In fact I already have some of that hardware as shown in the photos below. That is a high density keystone rack panel shown with just one Ethernet coupling for effect. My system may require additional panels but I'm leaving additional space in the rack frame.



In the example you site with additional computers Let me revise it some in order to make my point. Lets try it something like this: Two Ethernet cables from the each of the two PCs are routed to the panel and then two short cables (Jumper Cables), are routed from the panel to the switch and with some configuration SW work the switch ports are dedicated to the server PC and WA-LA. I would have three computers connected (hard wired), together in my LAN.

However, the devil is in the details. In the case of two monitors wired into the panel there is only one VGA port in the back of the PC to accommodate (jump to), both monitors. It seems to need a cable splitter to jump to both places on the panel (VGA interfaces). There are other types of ports that are similarly problematic where there is only one unique port to service multiple needs, or points of access in my case with a lower mounted panel.

Am I still missing something?? I want to make sure I get this right so I don't end up creating a monster mess.

 

[nayr]

ah yes for a monitor, your going to have to split the signal if you want the output to be displayed on 2 devices at the same time.. presuming you dont have dual outputs or cant put a video card into it with dual outputs.

i thought you were talking about switched data, like network.

 

[copex]

you can run VGA over C5 using a vga balun (you will need a pair) if you only have a single output you can get a VGA Y cable to split to to baluns then to two monitors or something simlar to this http://www.smartvm.com/2-port-vga-video-splitter-extender-via-cat5-spl-vga-c5-2p.html ( again you will need two recivers ) Google for more info "vga balum" "vga over C5" "vga Y cable"

 

[bguy]

My server will be mounted high on a wall above a tractor bay lift door. I will have a patch panel in the enclosure but I would like to also have some of the panel interfaces available at a lower more accessible level in the tractor bay. Things like the external hard drive, PC USB ports, and monitor. Not necessarily camera ports. My question is:

Can the related cables be split to accommodate both panels?

Nayr commented on the data. The other cables are not as simple, they have much shorter distance limits. They don't get run through a patch panel. Plus some might be able to be simply split, others might require extra hardware. Each type of connection would need to be discussed separately, and more detail given. Most likely just video and USB.

For video, you mentioned VGA, the distance will be limited by the cable quality and the resolution. 15' may be the limit at 1920x1080. VGA can be easily split to more than one monitor, but the distance will be reduced due to a weaker signal. Some computers and NVRs have more than one video port. So if you have HDMI and VGA, it's easier to hook up one monitor with VGA, and the other with HDMI. HDMI limit is about 20'.

For USB, again, depends. The limit for USB 2 is about 15', and USB 3.0 is about 6-9'. I don't think I'd leave a live USB port publicly accessible on a system I was trying to keep locked down.

For almost any kind of connection, you can use it at greater distances, but you will have to buy hardware made to do the job. And that hardware can get expensive.

 

[Mike K]

For video, you mentioned VGA, the distance will be limited by the cable quality and the resolution. 15' may be the limit at 1920x1080. VGA can be easily split to more than one monitor, but the distance will be reduced due to a weaker signal. Some computers and NVRs have more than one video port. So if you have HDMI and VGA, it's easier to hook up one monitor with VGA, and the other with HDMI. HDMI limit is about 20'.

My PC has in fact 4 different video ports including VGA, HDMI, DVI, and a DISPLAY Port. Are their distance limits on these cables as well?

I need about 24' cable length to reach the low level Panel.

 

[nayr]

HDMI will reach that far, I have 4x 30ft runs into my cabinet and they work perfectly, they are even longer than that because they terminate at panels on both sides, then have a coupler and another cable going to the device... if you have multiple video outputs on your PC you just need to configure them up to mirror each other instead of using a video splitter.

 

[TiChucker]

First- I would start with why do you need ready access to the physical I/O on a routine basis? RDP or other remote access programs work pretty well for routine maintenance, and you could host a shared external HD off of another computer for backup purposes.

VGA is good for 100+ feet on good cable at 1080x1920, and can be broken out to 5x RG-6 cables if you want a slightly affordable high-quality cabling solution. USB 2.0 can be extended over moderate distances, but is really only good for 20-25'. USB 1.0 can be extended for hundreds of feet with signal boosters if you want just keyboard/mouse inputs.

HDMI/DVI/DisplayPort ect. can be extended over CATx cable with baluns and other converters, but it's a costlier solution.

For just extending KVM, something like this may fit the bill:
http://www.cablestogo.com/product/40322/vga-usb-over-cat5-kvm-extender?&utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=[ROI]+Shopping&utm_content=VGA

Keep in mind, this is not an IP or network based device. It's only USB 2.0, and I wouldn't count on it for high-speed data, but for keyboards, mice, ect they work pretty well.

 

[Mike K]

you can run VGA over C5 using a vga balun (you will need a pair) if you only have a single output you can get a VGA Y cable to split to to baluns then to two monitors or something simlar to this http://www.smartvm.com/2-port-vga-video-splitter-extender-via-cat5-spl-vga-c5-2p.html ( again you will need two recivers ) Google for more info "vga balum" "vga over C5" "vga Y cable"

Like this? What distance do you think could be spanned with this equipment using Cat 6 Ethernet cables?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812705123&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Extenders+&+Repeaters-_-N82E16812705123&gclid=CLjV1r2A98wCFRCOaQodnIYGVw&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[copex]

i know over people have quoted distances but this is what i get.

USB over C5 - 150 feet arround 45m used for keyboards and mouses on NVR/DVRs
HDMI 1080p - 60m upto 80m but the quality drops
VGA - 100m res 1024@786

HDMI over DTV also works well
i can also push VIDEO over IP but the equipment is pricey.

distance = lag

Like this? What distance do you think could be spanned with this equipment using Cat 6 Ethernet cables?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...w&gclsrc=aw.ds

7.5 meters - ( 30m max for VGA low resolutions ) anything over you need to using a suitable adapter.

maybe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186306&cm_re=vga_over_ip-_-12-186-306-_-Product

 

[Mike K]

7.5 meters - ( 30m max for VGA low resolutions ) anything over you need to using a suitable adapter.

maybe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186306&cm_re=vga_over_ip-_-12-186-306-_-Product

7.5m will do the job.