Okay, for all of you network engineers/specialists, I'm new to networking and I'm a bit confused. What's the point of a patch panel, why not just use a switch or a router? And why even use a switch, when you can just use a router? It's my understanding that a router connects networks to other networks, like a home network to the web, and that a switch connects computers together, but nowdays don't most modern routers have switching capabilities? Also, correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't a network configuration go Modem>router>switch>patch panel>wall socket? Thanks you guys, I would really appreciate the help in understanding.
why would i know anything about networking?
All of those questions, particularly "why use switches instead of routers?" are Googleable. I know because I looked up that exact question on Google back when I was a college freshman. Try a little OP.
From what I understand, a patch panel is just a manual/physical switch.
>>54895985
Who ever cabled that system is a dipshit.
>>54895985
a patch panel is just a thing connecting installation wire to rj45 sockets.
you do not use network cables with plugs on it for network installatinos but connect the bare wire to a patchpanel on one side and a network wall socket on the other side.
you then use patch cables to connect the ports on your patchpanel to ports on your switch / router / NICs on a server etc.
>>54896072
why? how often would you even change one of these? It's obviously a very permanent setup.
>>54895985
patch panel=building plugs
switch=level 2 device, works with MACs
router= level 3+ device, works with IPs
>>54896141
>>54896139
thanks you guys, I get it a little better now. I did some more research because I was confused and I kind of get now that it would be expensive to have a 24 port router, and is just easier to buy a switch. I appreciate the help guys, as I haven't really had any real physical experience on a network
A patch panel is more for infrastructure purposes. It's so that your hundred foot run of Ethernet can come into your closet and terminate neatly, then be plugged into anything there using a patch cable. Let's say a computer on port 7 is replaced with a printer and needs to be plugged into a separate switch. With a patch panel, you just unplug the cable you had and plug it into the other switch. Not long enough? Get a longer patch cable. Simple.
Now, let's say you just ran the cable right into the switch, and it's not long enough. What do you do? You look for a new job. Better yet, you get into the gay porn industry with the poor fuck that just needed to print out his TPS report that couldn't do it because your dumb ass didn't use a patch panel, and you got him fired, so you're obviously pretty good at fucking him over. Too bad you're both too poor to afford a good camera operator, so you have this guy's wife film it and market it as amateur because Lord knows she's to good for porn, and this guy won't let you get out of this that easily. Now if only people would buy your sorry excuse of a porno.
Use a patch panel.
>>54895985
patchpanels give you flexibility for connections (wanna run a phone line/modems on particular connector? no problem since UTP/STP is "transparent"). Lots of reconnecting involved means you WILL need that flexibility. And almost any production enviro means ~500 users ona a LAN.
>>54896690
second thing is organisation: let's say you have a 100 room building and there are 4 wall sockets in a each room, a girl from room 40 is moving to room 80 and needs the same connections there - since most of your pairs wall socket/patchpanel are generally numbered you're golden, if not then wire tester is your friend and you lost a whole a lot of the time that you could use to shitpost on /g/.
Like most question answer, money, it's always about the money.
It's cheaper to centralize your network equipment, it's cheaper to buy a 48 ports switch than a 48 ports router.
And that pic is poor man patch panel lol
