5 “must have” and “great to have” features which IT managers should
consider when buying server cabinets for their organizations:
Extra Depth
Servers in general and rack mountable servers in particular are
becoming slimmer and deeper. The 800mm deep cabinets, though enough
deep for hubs, switches and other passive IT hardware, do not meet the
depth requirements of many new rack mount servers like H-P’s Netserver
6000R and Sun’s E220R and E420R. We strongly recommend IT managers to
select server cabinets that are “extra deep” i.e. 900mm or more deep.
These cabinets should be able to properly house even the deepest
servers available in the market.
These “extra-deep” cabinets also have more space in the front and rear
for easy and systematic cable routing – another compelling benefit to
buy 900mm or deeper cabinets.
Front to rear server grade ventilation
Is a must have feature. To dissipate heat rack mount servers suck air
from their front and exhaust hot air from their rear. It must be
ensured that large volume of air can freely enter from the front and
exit from the rear of the cabinet. This can be achieved either by
removing both the front and rear doors from the cabinet or by
selecting cabinets with fully vented front and rear doors like Hanut.
An important note: partially vented glass door and perforated side
panels even with roof mount exhaust fans are not acceptable
substitutes for fully vented front and rear doors.
Cable management facilities:
For easy and systematic routing of data and power cables one must
select cabinets that have integrated vertical cable channels and cable
routing slots in the base and roof in addition to extra depth.
There is a growing trend towards short length rear doors in place of
full length rear doors. In cabinets with short rear doors the cable
management is further simplified and enhanced as routing cables
through the gap (approx. 3") between the short rear door and the base
is many times easier than routing cables through the cable access slot
in the base. Short length rear door is an optional feature worth going
for.
Ease of use and fast deployment features
For fast deployment select cabinets that come fully assembled. For
easy and fast equipment installation in the server cabinet give
preference to cabinets that come with individually numbered U-mounting
heights on all four equipment mounting rails. In such cabinets there
is no need to manually count the U height each time equipment is
installed.
Baying capability
Two or more baying capable cabinets can be bayed (coupled) together to
form a multi cabinet configuration. Baying capable cabinets allow you
to enjoy significant savings when you buy 2nd, 3rd,… server cabinets
as only two side panels are needed to secure the whole multi-cabinet
configuration against two side panels per cabinet in stand alone
configuration. If your organization’s IT setup is likely to grow
(obvious) it is wise to select baying capable cabinets.
More information including a complete server cabinet buying guide is
available at http://www.hanut-india.com - the comprehensive web site
of Hanut “Extra-Deep” server cabinet.
My firm’s Hanut “Extra-Deep” server cabinets have all these features
and more. Hanut server cabinets offer you the best value in terms of
suitability for purpose (housing servers and other active IT
equipment), extra value adding features and pricing. Select Hanut. |
