The most effective strategy for cable organization is to place your network patch panel directly adjacent to the switch it serves. Switch: What's the Difference? Although a patch panel and a switch can look similar in a rack, they. I have a 4-post 19" rack with a 72-port 2U quickport patch panel where horizontal structured cabling terminates. The idea is simple, divide the ports horizontally so half the ports are on the top and half on the bottom. They come in a range of sizes, and are typically mountable, whether that's on a wall, or on a rack to make for easier. Currently, on the 4' rack I have the patch panel, (48 port) at the top but am considering moving it to possibly the middle of the rack and placing the primary switches above and below the patch panel for wire management reasons.