A technique for optical fiber management in a chassis-based network system
involves using a blind mating optical interface at the back of a line
card and an optical transceiver interface that is accessible from the
front of the line card. The blind mating optical interface and the
transceiver interface are optically connected by an optical signal path
that includes and optical fiber. When the line card is secured within a
compatible chassis, the blind mating optical interface of the line card
connects to a blind mating optical interface of the chassis and creates
an optical connection between an external optical fiber and the
transceiver interface.