What is a patch panel and what are its purposes

[Lambard]

My company have a server room. As you might be thinking there are lots of racks on which various types of routers, switches, firewalls are placed. Many a times I have noted almost all the cables goes from the wall outlet to the patch panel and then a small cable from the patch panel goes to the actual network switch. I always used to have the doubt about this setup. Can you explain me this? I mean why such setup is created? What is the patch panel and what all are the purposes that patch panel serves in the network diagram?

[Kirt]

According to Wikipedia, "A patch panel or patch bay is a panel, typically rackmounted, that houses cable connections. One typically shorter patch cable will plug into the front side, whereas the back holds the connection of a much longer and more permanent cable. The assembly of hardware is arranged so that a number of circuits, usually of the same or similar type, appear on jacks for monitoring, interconnecting, and testing circuits in a convenient, flexible manner.

Patch panels offer the convenience of allowing technicians to quickly change the path of selective signals, without the expense of dedicated switching equipment. This was first used by early telephone exchanges, where the telephone switchboard (a massive array of patch panels) and a large room full of telephone operators running it was ubiquitous."

So, in short, it is basically used for simplicity of network diagram.

[Wguy2008]

A patch panel is a panel that contains multiple cable connections. It allows you to connect a group of individual components. A typical patch panel will include ports or jacks where patch cords and wires can be plugged into the device. The patch panel allows circuits to be arranged and rearranged by plugging and unplugging the patch cords.

[Aleksandra]

Patch panels are used in various companies like telephone and cable operators have. The basic advantage of a patch panel is that it helps you to connect multiple devices to a switch/router even if there are not enough connections on the switch/router. Since all the devices will be going into the patch panel, there is only one cable connection needed between the panel and the switch/router.