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first time trying to work out what rack to get for a specific machine.

The machine I am looking at is 1U and 400mm (15.5 inches) deep.

I am hoping to be able to use a 450mm (17.7 inches) deep rack due to space constraints.

However I have no idea what else to take into consideration.

I know that I need space between the back of the machine and the rack for cables but I am guessing that 50mm (2 inches) would probably be enough.

Ideally the rack would have a glass door on the front but I have read that with the configuration I have mind I may not close the door.

Additionally, some racks seem to have 4 vertical "poles" and others do not. I'm guessing due to the weight of the server I will need to have 4 of these verticals so that the server can be attached at the front and the back.

I would welcome some thoughts on how to spec this out.

Remotec
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2 Answers2

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I think your best bet is to ask your server vendor. They can spec the correct rack with any requirements you may have like glass door, fan, back door, removeable side panels, etc. One key point you are missing is whether to install the server on rails. Most servers mount on rails so they can slide in and out of the rack, you'll need door swing and space in front of the rack to pull the server (on rails) all the way out to open the cover. This allows you to access the inside of the server if needed. The best advice I can give is DO NOT GUESS, get them to spec the unit.

htm11h
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As you said, you need to take into account the cabling involved, power cables can usually take up to 2 inches in extra depth for a machine and different networking solutions can take up different amounts of space. For example a fiber channel (FC) cable will need a bit more space (not much) than a base-T ethernet cable (good old copper).

If you have no need for cables on the front of the rack, just take into account the back side, however this isn't always the case with network equipment, just in case you would want to expand on your installation down the road.

About the poles, almost all of the servers I've worked with need 4 poles to be in place for the server guides or rails to be screwed on; Which is not always the case for networking equipment, which (depending on the size) tends to be just screwed at the front.

I would make sure that the power cables fit what you need. You could grab one of the power cables, which as I said are usually the bulkier of the bunch, and measure how much give do they have, as in how close to the actual plug can you bend them (don't go overboard or you could damage the cable) and see if that's 2 inches.

I've had installations where we had a bit less space than we should and we still made it work. You got this.

Galdor
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