[GTALUG] Server rack questions

James Knott james.knott at rogers.com
Mon Nov 9 16:31:31 UTC 2015


On 11/09/2015 04:14 PM, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 09, 2015 at 03:42:24PM -0500, James Knott wrote:
>> On 11/09/2015 03:27 PM, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
>>> Given one would think each rack mount server shipped with matching rails
>>> from the factury, the number of rails and servers on the planet should
>>> be in sync.
>> Nothing says you have to buy a rack with a server.  With today's compact
>> hardware, you can have several in the same rack.  Will you get a rack
>> included with each one?  You might also want to mount a server in a rack
>> you already have.
> Who was talking about racks?  We were talking about the rails that go
> on your rack mount server to allow putting it into your rack of choice.
>
> What would be the point of a rack mount server that you can't put in a
> rack because you have no rails.

>From your previous post:
"

Given one would think each rack mount server shipped with matching rails
from the factury, the number of rails and servers on the planet should
be in sync."

Servers don't come with rails, cabinets do.  Every server cabinet I've ever worked with has front and rear rails that are movable to best match the equipment.  There are also shallower cabinets that have only front rails, but rear rails can be added.  I have bought plenty of those from a company called "DL Custom" in Markham.  On one occasion, I even had to order non-standard rails to mount a certain type of equipment.

Bottom line, you can buy cabinets from the same place as the servers or you can buy 3rd party ones, from companies such as DL Custom.  You get the rails from the cabinet supplier, which may or may not be the server supplier.  Even when bought from the server suppliers, they tend to be a separate item.

> Now I suppose there are enough styles of racks that perhaps one type of
> rails won't work in all cases, so in that case buying the rails on the
> side would make sense.  I have only ever seen servers in deep racks that
> mount the rails at each end, but for other gear I have seen center mounted
> (where the rack has only one wide column in the middle).  The same rails
> for a server would not work for that.
>
I have seen deep and shallow cabinets, as well as stand alone racks,
which are simply a pair of rails with cross pieces top & bottom and
bolted to the floor.  Some also require cable rack on top to provide
stability.  In cabinets, you also have the choice of threaded rails (at
least 4 different threads) or caged nuts (at least 3 different types).

BTW, when I was in planning at Unitel, I had over 6000 bays of equipment
to manage, both cabinets and racks, at 151 Front St. W.



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