Fiber Enclosures, Fiber Optic Patch & Splice Enclosures are called many different names: Termination Panels, Patch & Splice Panels, Fiber Splice Box, Splice Distribution, Fiber Splice Panel, Patch Panel, Fiber Optic Panel, Patch & Splice Panel, Patch & Splice Module, Fiber Splice Closure, Fiber Splice Chassis.
No matter what you call them, they all describe a box that contains the devices to connect various fiber optic cables.
Fiber Enclosures come in different configurations such as rack mount (FIG. 1A), wall mount (FIG. 1B), and indoor or outdoor.
The rack mount type is made for 19 inch rack mounting. They may be one or more rack units (RU) high depending on the number of connections required.
One type uses fixed front panels (FIG. 2), (usually 12 slots), for mounting the appropriate adapters. Another incorporates 3 removable front panels (FIG. 3), that can accommodate 6 to 12 simplex or duplex adapter panels each. See an example of this type of Fiber Optic Patch and Splice Enclosure, here.
The rack mount enclosures come in two flavors. One is the slide-out variety (FIG. 4), and the other incorporates a removable lid (FIG. 5). The slide out type is more expensive while the lid type is less expensive but requires the user to remove the whole enclosure from the rack to gain internal access.
The indoor wall mount is available in two or four panel construction. Outdoor Patch & Splice enclosures are used on pedestal or pole applications.
Another ingredient is the splice tray (FIG. 6), that is used for efficient management and storage of the spliced fiber optic cables.
Fiber Optic Adapters are installed into the cut outs in the enclosure to accept the various fiber optic connectors. Fiber optic pigtails (a fiber optic cable with a connector on one end), mate with the adapters and the fusion-spliced tails are stored on the splice tray.
Fiber optic jumpers and pigtails can be either Single Mode (SM) yellow or Multimode (MM) Orange.
| Connector | Types | Color | Application | Configuration |
| SC/APC | Angle Polish | Green | Video, Data, Voice | Simplex or Duplex – Larger than LC – Lock on |
| SC/UPC | Ultra Polish | Blue | Data, Voice | Simplex or Duplex |
| LC/APC | Angle Polish | Varies | Video, Data, Voice | Simplex or Duplex – Smaller than SC- Latch |
| ST/UPC | Ultra Polish | Varies | Data, Voice | Simplex or Duplex |
Common Connectors Names:
SC = Standard Connector, Subscriber Connector, Square Connector
LC = Little Connector, Lucent Connector, Local Connector
ST = Straight Tip Connector
