Typically an Ethernet patch panel has a connection on the "back" leading to another rack's patch panel back side. Your hosts plug in the front of the patch panel in their rack and the front of the patch panel in the switch rack is plugged into the switch ports - both using Cat 5 (or better) jumper cables.
So end-to-end it's like this:
host network interface card - jumper - front of patch panel in host location - back of patch panel in host location - fixed wiring in place in the data center that interconnects patch panels - back of patch panel in switch location - front of patch panel in switch location - jumper - switch port.
