The N48K-42M8L168-B 50/125 Breakout Fiber Patch Panel not only integrates equipment with 10G and 40G speeds, but also provides a simple, flexible path from 25Gb to 100Gb, as well as upcoming 50Gb to 200Gb speeds and beyond. The 2U chassis features 14 breakout cassettes. Each cassette contains 12 LC duplex ports and three built-in two-meter MTP multimode cables for a total of 42 QSFP fiber switch ports breaking out to 168 LC ports.

Base8 wiring with built-in MTP trunks maximizes rack space and link performance, while enabling simple cable deployment and optimized harness mapping. The N48K-42M8L168-B uses all 168 LC ports, meaning no dead ports as in Base12 wiring, with streamlined 1-to-1 port mapping. Eliminating the need for 12-fiber conversion modules results in a reduction of up to 50 percent in link attenuation.

Hardwired cassettes offer a 30-percent improvement in insertion loss with no separate MTP connection in the rear, resulting in longer duplex link distances. Color-coded magenta OM4 cables are easily distinguished from traditional aqua OM3 multimode fiber. Base-8 Fiber compatible with both QSFP+ 40GBASE-SR4 to SFP+ 10GBASE-SR and QSFP28 100GBASE-SR4 to SFP28 25GBASE-SR connections.

The front panel folds down to protect the LC patch cords, as well as provide wire mapping by matching each cassette’s labeled MTP cables to the LC clusters. Writing space on the inside panel lets you custom-label each port. Each panel is serialized and insertion loss data is available upon request via the unit’s serial number.