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I got a server rack and it comes with square holes. I also got some server cage nuts & bolts.

Why do you use the nuts when the server can be held in place with just the screws sitting inside the squares?

Darius
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  • You mean like just leave the rails resting on the bolts? – David Mar 30 '18 at 14:26
  • Yes, why not just leave it in the screws? The rails have a max width they can extend to that won’t let it pull the screws out. – Darius Mar 31 '18 at 00:28

2 Answers2

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Read the fine manual, obviously.

No manual? The rails have latches/hooks and matching screws? Then usually nuts are not needed. The nuts are needed e.g. when rails have no threaded holes (older models).

kubanczyk
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  • more importantly some half-depth devices (KVM, network switches) can be mounted without shelves/rails – aaaaa says reinstate Monica Mar 30 '18 at 15:36
  • The OP indicated they are square holes. So, nuts are always needed. Very rare a rack has round holes that are unthreaded (I came across an IBM one a few years ago - and they used 1/4-20 bolts and nuts to put things together instead of the slip on cage nuts). – Dacid Salin Mar 30 '18 at 16:39
  • I guess the reason I asked the question is, I have no manual, and the rails only extend to the max length of the cage, so it seems I wouldn’t be able to pull them out of them slip off if the screws are in there. But I don’t have enough nuts and bolts to mount all of them properly. So is the answer , because some rails are longer and can potentially slip out? And/or it keeps the square holes from being damaged by the screw putting weight on it? – Darius Mar 31 '18 at 00:35
  • @Darius You know that you can simply buy some additional nuts and bolts, don't you? – Zac67 Apr 01 '18 at 07:58
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The cage nuts lock into the rectangular holes for securing some server rails. Some servers have rails with built in hardware "latches" that forgo the use of these cage nuts.

They also come in useful for mounting blanking panels, patch panels, wire management, switches, routers or anything else you can think of to mount into a rack.

One reason you may consider using them instead of just screws resting inside the square holes is for safety. If a server falls, a human can be injured, the server could be damaged (at minimum, be concerned with hard disks - there is no G protection sensors in a server like in a laptop).

Dacid Salin
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