Why consider racks?
Racks are freestanding frames without sides or frames. You need to consider many things when choosing a rack solution provider. An open rack is more convenient than any cabinet if you need more access to the cabling and equipment sides. If your equipment needs ventilation, racks have more air circulation than any cabinet. They have an open design making them be the best fit in areas where security isn't a threat. Racks are also fit if they are inside closets or data centers that have locked doors.
Rack types
Before choosing any rack type, understand what you will put inside it. It will help you determine if you want a floor mount or wall mount model. It will help whether you need two-post or four-post racks.
Wide options
You have several options that depend on the equipment type that you need to house. If installing patch panels, the best choice is a two-post rack with cable management. You need a four-post rack if you have servers, patch panels, and networking equipment. It's because it's more stable and has four-point mounting for deep equipment. You can get a four-post rack if you need flexible mounting for extra deep and standard equipment. It has adjustable rails from back to front.
Rack widths
A key component of racks is a set of vertical rails. They have mounting holes that you can attach to your shelves or equipment. Many racks have rails spaced at EIA standards of 19 inches. The hole-to-hole centers measure 18.3 inches. To mount smaller equipment, add adaptor brackets. To mount old legacy equipment, use the 23-inch-wide racks. The two post racks have threaded 10 – 32 or 12 – 24 holes that allow quick installation of the patch panels. The four-post racks have M6 square mount holes that mount servers.
The rack heights
Rack units or height is a vital specification in choosing your rack. 1U (a single rack unit) has 1.75 inches of usable space. Any rackmount device with 2U high will take 3.5 inches, but the standard height is 45U (6.5 ft height). They fit in any room with a standard ceiling. There are other rack options of 10 U and even 58U. The tall racks that lower nine feet will permit dense equipment installation. It will save on floor space.
The Wall mount racks
They save on floor space. Very convenient in installing in narrow hallways or cramped wiring. Some racks swing out for easy cable connection and equipment installations.
Powering an equipment
After choosing your rack, you need to power your equipment. The rackmount power strips are in different versions. You can mount horizontally or vertically. Some have widely spaced outlets that accommodate the transformer blocks. Power management and surge protection are other important issues. You can get power strips with inbuilt surge protection. It's good to protect the money you invested in the equipment by ensuring it's well protected. Connect any vital equipment to the rackmount UPS (uninterrupted power supply) and distribution power unit to reboot and remote-control power.
Management of cables
Most racks pose inbuilt cable management cable rings and troughs for cable routing. If they aren't on your rack, add the managers for neat cable routing. The vertical managers are good for organizing cable runs from top to bottom. The horizontal manager's design holds cables and guides them to the mounted equipment.
