Racks & Accessories

Racks are integral to the success of your organization because they provide the platform that houses the mission-critical IT equipment your business depends on.

Selecting the right rack and accessories will keep your business running smoothly, make the management and organization of your datacenter more efficient, and help effectively power, cool, and protect your IT equipment.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when planning to setup up a rack installation in your IT department:

Select the Right Rack for Your Application and Personal Preferences

• Server Racks – 4-post racks, enclosed cabinets or open frame, typically designed for mounting your "heavy-duty" IT gear such as servers and storage.
  
  Server Racks installations often require installing accessories such as battery back-up, UPSs, shelves, rack-mount LCD consoles, environmental monitoring devices, and remote power management devices.
  
  If your server-rack installation is cable-intensive, you may want to consider choosing a wider rack (such as Plyant CLC series) while incorporating extensive built-in cable-management solutions.
• Relay Racks – 2-post racks, bolted to the floor or free-standing, typically designed for mounting network and telecommunication gear such as patch-panels, Ethernet switches, hubs, routers, etc.  Relay Racks installation often are cable-intensive, requiring inter-bay cable-troughs as well as rack-mount cable management solutions.
• Wall-Mount Racks – enclosed cabinets or open frame racks designed to be mounted to the wall, for space-saving Network/Telco-distribution application and "communication closet" implementation.
• LAN Racks – open workbench/shelving systems designed for mounting and storing desktop/tower computers and other LAN equipment in an environment that requires easy access and rapid turnaround, such as test labs and burn-in facilities.
• Media Racks – designed for storing media cartridges, tapes, and disks in a variety of rack configurations to accommodate a variety for media-storage needs.

Protect Your IT Gear from External and Environmental Threats

Consider installing External Threat Detectors (ETDs) and Environmental-Monitoring Devices to proactively monitor your racks.

These monitoring and warning devices allow administrators to continuously monitor amperage draw per circuit, water leaks, temperature, humidity, airflow and other variables, while automatically sending alerts via SMTP/SMS/SNMP when conditions exceed established thresholds.

Such alerts provide early warning of conditions that can lead to equipment failure, giving administrators the valuable lead-time they need to save the network from costly downtime.

Some ETDs are also available to work with camera pods, allowing administrators to visually monitor server racks and rooms.

 

 

Maintain Your IT Equipment's Physical Security

Consider purchasing enclosed server racks that have locking front and rear doors, as many models offer this option.

You may also want to consider installing an External Threat Detector (ETD) with door sensors that support "normally open" or "normally closed" conditions and can alert administrators when a cabinet door has been opened.

You may opt for a solution that keeps users away from the racks at all times.  Deploy a Matrix KVM Switching System with dedicated user-stations setup outside the data-center – say in an adjacent room.  Alternatively, you could deploy a KVM (and Serial) over IP system that will allow users to access any IT equipment from anywhere, over an IP connection.  If you’re installing one rack – you may want to deploy a KVM Extender.  Either way – less people are physically accessing your critical IT infrastructure.

Effectively Manage Wires and Cables

Being that cable-management within a rack-installation tends to get 'messy' over a period of time – in which cables typically need to be added and removed, cable-management within a rack-installation is a daunting task.

Many racks come with their own fully-integrated cable-management hardware. Consult with a Rackit Sales Engineer to utilize such uniquely-designed hardware, as well as incorporating Rack-Mount Cable Organizers and Strain-Relief Bars.

Save Space in the Rack

Space is at a premium in any data-canter, and inside each rack.  Substitute ordinary (yet space-guzzler) peripherals such as monitor/keyboards/mice with space-saving (and sleek looking) 1U KVM Drawers and KVM Console/Switches, while optimizing space utilization shelves that adjust to your rack, for mounting odds and ends.