The QRapid panel is a 48-port rack-mountable fiber distribution panel that incorporates CommScope's RapidReel fiber cable spool and contains electronics that enable it to function as part of a CommScope Quareo physical layer management system. The QRapid panel simplifies fiber connectivity in the data center or central office by allowing technicians to pay out exactly the right length of fiber needed while storing the excess neatly, rather than having to order and wait for custom cables. The Quareo functionality enables the user to know, on a real-time basis, whether each front port of the panel is connected, and to what. The use of Quareo-enabled connectors on the far end of the spooled cable provides connection point readability at the termination equipment.
Each QRapid panel consists of a metal chassis plus a RapidReel cable spool assembly that is mounted within the chassis. The RapidReel cable spool assembly is equipped with an integral adapter bulkhead and is wound with a single-mode or multimode indoor plenum-rated cable. The adapter bulkhead is preloaded with adapter packs that are Quareo-enabled on the front side. Cabled modules are available in 24-fiber (12 duplex) LC multimode and 24-fiber simplex LC single-mode configurations.Judge's comment: "While CPUs for servers get all the media attention, the biggest problem for data centers is actually the 'dark' connectivity within them. The #1 cause of outages is miscabling…[It] solves a big DC [data center] problem."Click here to return to the 2016 Lightwave Innovation Reviews page.