Choosing the right height
Server rack heights are measured in ‘U’ units of size / measurement. One ‘U’ is about 44.45 mm in height, so a standard 24 port switch is about 1U in size. The initial step to choosing the right size is to work out which kind of equipment you will be keeping inside your server rack. You are able to measure everything you have and then divide the height by 44.45 giving you an estimated height in ‘U’. A space of 1U should be left for good measure especially as it makes it easy to adjust things in the rack.
The thing about the ‘U’ measurement of server racks is that it refers to the space inside of your server cabinet. For example a 42U server cabinet should give you a space of approximately 1867 mm however the external size of the cabinet will end up being larger as it will also support cable entry, castors, and fan trays. So with a 42U cabinet you need to be sure that you have a minimum of 2120mm of working space height to find the rack.
The width of the Server Cabinet
The usual width of a server rack is 600mm or 800mm dependent upon the configuration that you selected. Having said that, regardless of the configuration the server cabinet will have 19 inches (in length) mounting angles for the rack mount equipment. The big difference between the 800mm and the 600mm version is cable management room. If your server cabinet is being used for patching, then an 800mm wide server cabinet is recommended since it has lots more space for good cable management.
Depth of a Server Cabinet
The depth of a server cabinet is becoming a lot more essential since several popular manufacturers have started to produce shorter servers (in height) however these servers tend to be extremely deep. As a general rule of thumb you should always buy a server cabinet which is deeper than the depth of the server itself so if you have an 800mm server you ought to get a cabinet measuring 1000 mm in depth.
Ventilation of Your Server Rack
Just like all computer equipment your servers need proper ventilation in order to make sure that they perform correctly. Paying for server racks that do not allow proper air flow will lead to equipment failure and also breakdown. Ideally there should be a vent in the front of the cabinet where a fan can be fixed, in addition to a mesh door in the back. The server ought to have a fan in the front and the back which pulls in fresh air from the front, passes it through your equipment and pushes it out the back. Also, you should make sure that the area in which your cabinet is placed is well ventilated and cool.
I used to work in sales but now I am an IT support engineer. My company has began using server racks and it has certainly succeeded in saving more space inside the office. When I'm not working, I like to relax in the sun and hang out with friends at the park.
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