Abstract: An apparatus and method for support and alignment of electronic modules. Electronic modules have V-shaped grooves in their top and bottom surfaces. A rack assembly includes an upper frame and a lower frame, each having a plurality of parallel guide members attached to a support member. The upper and lower frames are advantageously constructed as mirror images of each other. The guide members are adapted to be received in the grooves in the electronic modules, the guide members of the upper frame receiving the grooves in the top surfaces of the modules and the guide members of the lower frame receiving the grooves in the bottom surfaces of the modules. A module is installed in the assembly by aligning the grooves in the module with the corresponding guide members of the frames and pushing the module into the rack assembly.

Abstract: An assembly capable of enclosing and sealing an intermediate section of an optical fiber includes a plurality of sealing mechanisms arranged such that the assembly can be entered to gain access to electronic components for servicing without affecting an environment occupied by optical fiber broken out of an optical fiber cable. Accordingly, physical integrity of the exposed fiber, and its associated connectors and splices, is not compromised. The assembly further includes a plurality of card cages, each of which has its own integral backplane having socket connectors which allow for connection to an adjacent card cage backplane within the assembly. During initial deployment of the assembly where less than all card cages for maximum capacity are initially required to be deployed, segmenting the backplane reduces the first installed cost of the assembly.