Cabinets/Enclosures
 Cabinets
for network equipment provide a secure and safe environment for
hubs, switches, routers, cable management racks, servers and KVM
systems.
Racks come in all shapes and sizes - ranging from
small desk- or wall-mounted enclosures to floor-standing cabinets
designed for a large amount of equipment.
Rack-mount cabinets have one common trait - they
all support the standard equipment width of 19". The capacity
of a cabinet is described in Units, or Us. For example a 6U cabinet
can hold 6 x 1U servers, or 3 x 2U servers, and so on. When purchasing
equipment to fit in a rack cabinet your supplier will inform you
of the number of Us that equipment will take up.
Cabinets provide further advantages as well -
often they include facilities to add extra fans and cooling equipment,
keeping your network facilities running at the correct temperature
and relatively dust-free. Power management is also available with
Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), support for multiple devices
to be powered from the same unit, and remote control of power management
by a network administrator.
When choosing a cabinet it is important to make
sure you account for the following features:
The correct dimensions to fit both the room
that will house the equipment, and enough space to hold equipment
you have now and intend to buy in the future.
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You might consider purchasing smaller cabinets
that can be stacked on/around each other if future expansion is
required.
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Cabinets with the correct cooling and power
requirements for the equipment it will be housing.
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Suitable access to all sides of the cabinet
(front, back, sides and top) for access to equipment and cabling
once the cabinet has been installed. Once equipment is loaded
into a rack it can be very difficult to move, and ample space
should be kept behind/to the side of cabinets for future maintenance.
-
Some cabinets offer castors for moving once
installed. However check with your manufacturer to ensure the
castors do not have to be removed before heavy equipment is installed
- sometimes they can cause further instability after installation.
Although expensive for small business, cabinets
are ideal for medium to large organisations to create manageable
and scalable networks.
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