My experience is that the intelligent patching solutions only work well where you have mature processes and standardised building blocks such as servers, networks, storage etc. In practice this excludes many organisations because data centers are constantly evolving, rarely has anyone had formal training and ownership of the cabling "knowledge" doesn't easily sit with any group. Many of the vendors play on this as one of the key benefits of their solution is that "the system will tell you the connectivity" saving on developing detailed workflow processes. You still have to manually configure the system with new components, as well as add cable labels where appropriate.

If any cabling doesn't go through the intelligent patching system (fiber, cabling within racks, distribution centres, open frame wiring, etc) then its back to the spreadsheet, or one of the data center management tools where connectivity might be handled well

Dave.

Nightlake Ltd U.K.