MTP vs. MPO Cables
MPO connectors are used to cap MPO (Multi-Fiber Push On) cables at either end. MPO fiber connectors are made for ribbon cables with more than two fibers and are intended to serve high bandwidth and high-density cabling system applications by combining numerous fibers into a single connector. MPO connectors are commonly available with 8, 12, 16 or 24 fibers for standard data center and LAN applications. For specialized extremely high-density multi-fiber arrays, large scale optical switches are also capable of supporting fiber counts of 32, 48, 60, and 72.
MTP® connectors, also known as Multi-Fiber Pull Off are present at both ends of cables. A variation of the MPO connector with better characteristics is known by the trademark MTP® connector, which is owned by US Conec. Therefore, MTP® connectors can directly connect to other MPO-based infrastructures and are fully compliant with all generic MPO connectors. The MTP® connector, as opposed to conventional MPO connectors, is a multi-engineered product upgrade that enhances mechanical and optical performance. The quickest links, which provide the most sensitive services and data to clients, are connected using MTP/MPO connectors, which also enable high-speed interconnects and provide redundancies.
The MPO connector is available in both male and female configurations. The male connector is identified by the two alignment pins protruding from the ferrule's end. MPO female connectors will have holes in the ferrule for the alignment pins from the male connector. To read more about MTP/MPO cables, read this article here.