[GTALUG] Server rack questions

Lennart Sorensen lsorense at csclub.uwaterloo.ca
Mon Nov 9 16:47:44 UTC 2015


On Mon, Nov 09, 2015 at 04:31:31PM -0500, James Knott wrote:
> 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.

Every server I have ever installed came with sliding rails that you
would attach to the rack and then slide the server into.  The rails were
specific to the server and not to the rack.

Now maybe there exists other types of rails that are not specific to the
type of machine you are using, and certainly shelves exist that may be
rack type specific.

Apparently what you are calling rails, to me is just the part of the
rack at the front and rear that you screw the rails onto.  The rails
are horrizontal, not vertical.

> 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.

Well the rack/cabinet is not important.  You need the right kind of
screw/nuts but after that, any equipment should just fit.

-- 
Len Sorensen


More information about the talk mailing list