About MTP to LC Harness Cable
MTP to LC harness cable, also called breakout cable, or fan-out cable, is generally a multi-strand cable has LC connectors on one end and an MTP connector at the other end. The commonly used MTP to LC harness cable is 12 strands that can be broken out into 6 or 4 duplex LC connectors. MTP harness cabling solutions allows higher port speeds to breakout out to several ports (links) of a lower speed successfully, helping users simplify patching and consolidate cabling. This post is about the MTP to LC harness cable configuration in switching area of data center.
MTP to LC Harness Cable Configuration Types
MTP to LC harness cable configurations come in two basic types according to different breakout arrangements. One type is designed with the equal breakout length, and the other type is with staggered breakout length.
Standard MTP to LC Harness Cable
Standard MTP to LC harness cable, namely MTP to LC harness cable with equal breakout legs, is a typical MTP harness cable assembly in the market, as shown in the picture below. It is usually used in the case from the front of a given port of a normal switch, e.g. a MTP adapter loaded front panel to given switch ports. In addition, for high-density applications, standard harness cables designed with HD MTP and HD LC connectors are used to meet the requirements.
Staggered MTP to LC Harness Cable
A staggered MTP to LC harness cable can be divided into two basic types—with staggered breakouts and with dual pairs staggered breakouts (i.e. staggered breakouts with two equal legs). See the following picture:
In addition, according to which side of the patch panel (left or right) the cable will enter from, it is required to configure whether the stagger pair 1 (or stagger pair 1 and 2) is the shortest or the longest cable in the stagger.
Staggered MTP to LC harness cable is an ideal solution used in high-density Storage Area Network (SAN) and Data Center LAN applications. Typically used in applications where the cable must be routed to one side, it allows connector/port mating while allowing for differing distance from blade switch port to cable transition.
Switch Port Equipment Harnesses
The typical application of MTP to LC harness cable is to connects LC ports of the transceivers in the switch to a single MTP port in an adapter panel installed in the switch cabinet (in-rack connections) or within 15m of the switch cabinet (e.g. middle of row or end of row), so that consolidates the switch ports. The following pictures will show us the switch port equipment harnesses with standard and staggered MTP to LC harness cables.
Standard MTP to LC Harness Cable Use Case
Staggered MTP to LC Harness Cable Use Case
