Panduit FHC9N-36-C3U 36F HD Flex MPO Fiber Cassette

Panduit FHC9N-36-C3U HD Flex 36-Fiber Cassette

The Panduit FHC9N-36-C3U is a double-width HD Flex™ fiber cassette designed for high-density datacenter and enterprise network deployments. Housing 36 OS2 single-mode fibers in a compact polycarbonate housing, this cassette features three 12-fiber MPO-12 male connectors on the front interface and 18 unterminated fiber pairs on the rear for custom splicing to customer-specified connectors. Universal polarity configuration simplifies deployment planning across diverse backbone architectures, while the HD Flex form factor maximizes port density in 1U and 2U Panduit fiber enclosures.

Key Features

• 36-fiber capacity in double-width HD Flex cassette form factor
• Three MPO-12 male connectors for trunk-side connectivity
• 18 unterminated fiber pairs (CS configuration) for field termination flexibility
• OS2 single-mode fiber rated for 10G/40G/100G transmission over extended distances
• Universal polarity design compatible with TIA-568 Method A, B, and C polarity schemes
• Polycarbonate housing with integrated strain relief and cable routing guides
• Compatible with Panduit HD Flex fiber enclosures and high-density patch panels

The FHC9N-36-C3U leverages Panduit's HD Flex architecture to deliver 36 single-mode fibers in a cassette footprint that traditionally accommodated 12 to 24 fibers. The three MPO-12 male connectors on the front (trunk) side accept 12-fiber ribbon cables from backbone or inter-rack trunks, while the rear interface presents 18 unterminated fiber pairs in a CS (customer splice) configuration. This design pattern is common in scenarios where integrators need to terminate to non-standard connector types, mix connector genders across the same cassette, or splice directly into existing fusion-splice-based infrastructure without adapter dependencies. The OS2 fiber specification (9/125µm single-mode with ≤0.4 dB/km attenuation at 1310nm and ≤0.3 dB/km at 1550nm) supports 10GBASE-LR, 40GBASE-LR4, 100GBASE-LR4, and coherent transmission standards over campus and metro distances.

Typical deployment scenarios include datacenter core-to-distribution layer aggregation where MPO trunks feed high-density enclosures at the distribution or access layer, and technicians field-terminate LC, SC, or ST connectors based on equipment requirements at the time of installation. The universal polarity configuration means the cassette works with straight-through or crossover MPO trunks, eliminating the need to stock separate polarity variants for Type A/B/C installations. Integrators working on phased datacenter builds or retrofit projects appreciate the unterminated design because it defers connector-type decisions until equipment is racked and final port counts are known, reducing waste from over-ordering pre-terminated assemblies. The polycarbonate housing includes internal radius limiters and strain relief boots that maintain the 30mm minimum bend radius required for single-mode fiber, protecting against insertion loss spikes caused by micro-bending during cable dressing.

The FHC9N-36-C3U ships in a carton quantity of 10 units, suitable for medium-to-large datacenter builds where consistent cassette inventory simplifies logistics and technician training. Each cassette carries Panduit's standard insertion loss specification (typically ≤0.5 dB for MPO interface, with field-terminated connectors dependent on technician skill and fusion splice quality), and is designed to integrate with Panduit's broader Physical Infrastructure Manager (PIM) documentation ecosystem for automated port mapping and moves-adds-changes tracking. For integrators building Clos-fabric spine-leaf networks, storage area networks with FC32G/64G requirements, or converged IP networks transitioning from 10G to 25G/100G speeds, this cassette provides the flexibility to deploy backbone infrastructure today and terminate access-layer connectors as equipment arrives, without locking into a single connector standard across the entire installation.