S 1.62 Fire protection of patch panels

Initiation responsibility: Fire Safety Engineer

Implementation responsibility: Building Services Manager, Fire Safety Engineer, Planner

The internal cables of the in-house network as well as the external cables of the public network are connected to distribution frames or patch panels, and are then connected to servers, routers, etc., via the distribution frames or patch panels.

In many cases, at smaller sites the distribution frames and active components (servers, routers, etc.) are installed in a single room. To prevent the distribution frames and patch panels from being damaged by a fire in IT in operation, they must be isolated from the IT in operation using suitable fire protection.

If the capabilities and equipment for early detection and extinguishing of a fire are available (building or room extinguishers), E-30 fire protection (according to DIN 4102 Fire behaviour of building materials and building components) is adequate. If such equipment is not available and the fire protection concept only contains plans to extinguish a fire with the help of assistance (the organisation's own personnel or the fire department), E-90 fire protection is strongly recommended.

If the distribution frames and patch panels are installed in a room for the technical infrastructure (see S 2.6 Technical infrastructure room) while the servers, routers, etc. are all installed in a completely separate server room (see S 2.4 Server room), the corresponding fire protection can be implemented using suitable safeguards in the building.

If separate rooms cannot be used and the distribution frames and patch panels must be located in the server room, it is still possible to install them in suitable wall-mounted or stand-up distribution frames with the required fire protection function (E-30 or E-90). In this case, though, special attention must be paid to ensuring that all lines coming in from outside from the in-house and the public network are protected against fires in the same manner in the server room (using suitable cable ducts, for example).

Regardless of which solution is used, it must be ensured that the cable entries for the connection lines running from the distribution frames and patch panels to the IT devices through the fire protection structure are always sealed with suitable fire protection material. Since it is necessary to be able to work on these cable entries simply and quickly without having to perform time-consuming work to replace the fire protection every time, it is recommended to use fire protection cushions (when this type of work is done frequently) or bulkheads (when this type of work is only done rarely). When using fire protection cushions, the cushions must be secured to prevent them from falling out.

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