Panduit FDC9N-24-LAULH FlexCore 24-Fiber Single-Mode Cassette

The Panduit FDC9N-24-LAULH FlexCore cassette delivers 24 single-mode fibers in a left-hand configuration designed for high-density ODF and OSF enclosures. Featuring LC APC duplex connectors on the front and dual MPO-12 male interfaces on the rear, this cassette bridges preterminated MPO trunk cables to equipment-side LC patch cords with standard insertion loss. The OS2-rated 9μm fiber supports 10G/40G/100G Ethernet, Fiber Channel, and long-haul campus backbone runs exceeding 10 km. Built from black polycarbonate and measuring just 11.7 mm high, the FDC9N-24-LAULH installs in FlexCore ODF chassis alongside mixed-orientation cassettes, enabling dense spine-leaf topologies in racks where left-hand cable routing reduces congestion and maintains the 1-inch minimum bend radius.

Key Features

• 24 OS1/OS2 single-mode fibers (9μm core) for datacenter and campus backbone
• LC APC duplex connectors (front) with angled physical contact for <-60 dB return loss
• 2x MPO-12 male connectors (rear) for preterminated 12-fiber trunk integration
• Left-hand orientation for rack-specific cable management planning
• Standard insertion loss performance across all 24 fiber pairs
• 11.7 mm height fits FlexCore 1U and 2U ODF enclosures
• Polycarbonate housing with integrated fiber management and strain relief
• Universal cassette design supports FlexCore ODF and OSF chassis
• TIA-568-C.3, ISO/IEC 11801, TIA-604-5 (FOCIS-5), TIA-604-10 (FOCIS-10) compliant
• RoHS 2002/95/EC and IEEE 802.3 / ANSI T11.2 Fiber Channel compatible

The FDC9N-24-LAULH uses a split-trunk architecture: two MPO-12 male connectors on the rear panel each carry 12 fibers from preterminated trunk cables, while the front panel exposes 12 LC APC duplex ports (24 fibers total). The APC (angled physical contact) polish on the LC connectors reduces Fresnel reflection to below -60 dB return loss, critical for high-bitrate protocols like 100GBASE-LR4, coherent DWDM, and 32G/128G Fiber Channel where back-reflection degrades signal integrity. OS2 fiber specification ensures <0.4 dB/km attenuation at 1310 nm and <0.3 dB/km at 1550 nm, supporting link budgets for 10 km+ campus backbone runs and 40 km extended-reach Ethernet without inline amplification. The cassette's standard insertion loss (typically <0.75 dB per mated pair) accommodates up to 20 duplex connections per 15 dB link budget, making it suitable for spine-leaf fabrics with three-tier aggregation. Panduit's factory-terminated MPO interfaces ship with alignment pins installed, eliminating field polishing and ensuring all 12 fibers per trunk achieve <0.5 dB insertion loss and >20 dB return loss per TIA-604-10 (FOCIS-10). The left-hand orientation routes fibers from the rear MPO connectors toward the left side of the cassette, exiting the front LC ports from the leftmost position—rack designers use this to separate transmit and receive paths or to align cable egress with vertical cable managers on the left rack rail.

Integrators deploy the FDC9N-24-LAULH in FlexCore ODF enclosures (1U or 2U chassis) where space constraints demand maximum fiber density without sacrificing serviceability. A typical installation: backbone MPO trunk cables (12-fiber or 24-fiber ribbon) run from a main distribution area (MDA) to intermediate distribution areas (IDA) or equipment distribution areas (EDA), terminating on the cassette's rear MPO-12 connectors. Front-side LC patch cords then connect to switch SFP+ or QSFP28 transceivers, storage arrays, or horizontal cross-connects. The 11.7 mm cassette height allows 24 cassettes per 1U FlexCore ODF panel (576 fibers per rack unit), critical for hyperscale datacenter leaf switches with 48-port 100GbE line cards. Left-hand cassettes pair with right-hand units in the same enclosure to segregate A-side and B-side diversity paths, or to route cables toward opposite vertical managers when dual entry/exit points reduce patch-cord crossing. The universal cassette form factor fits both ODF (fixed-depth) and OSF (sliding-tray) chassis, supporting migrate-in-place upgrades from 10G to 100G without racking new enclosures. Campus network architects use the FDC9N-24-LAULH for building-to-building single-mode links: preterminated outdoor MPO trunks enter the building at the MDA, cassette breakout provides floor-by-floor LC distribution, and the OS2 fiber supports future 400G migration via QSFP-DD BiDi optics on the same installed base. The black polycarbonate housing resists UV degradation and provides electrostatic discharge protection for fiber cores during maintenance.

The FDC9N-24-LAULH ships with TIA-568-C.3 and ISO/IEC 11801 compliance documentation required for LEED, BISCI, and federal network infrastructure certifications. Its TIA-604-5 (FOCIS-5) LC interface and TIA-604-10 (FOCIS-10) MPO-12 interface meet U.S. Department of Defense and DISA STE standards for cross-vendor interoperability, ensuring the cassette works with any manufacturer's preterminated trunks or LC patch cords without adapter loss penalties. RoHS 2002/95/EC compliance satisfies EU and California electronic-waste regulations, required for multinational datacenter operators and federal procurement under FAR 52.223-5. The 292.8 mm width aligns with 300 mm FlexCore ODF panel spacing, and the 10-pack carton quantity (Panduit standard) supports phased deployments where integrators stock common orientations (left/right, standard/low-loss) and mix cassettes per rack row requirements. For datacenter and campus integrators managing spine-leaf fabrics, building backbone distribution, or storage-area-network consolidation, the FDC9N-24-LAULH delivers the preterminated speed, APC performance, and left-hand routing control that separates one-pass fiber deployments from multi-visit rework projects.