The Difference Between Network and Server Racks

The Difference Between Network and Server Racks

Before purchasing a server cabinet or server rack it is import ant to understand the difference between the different products that are available. This will ensure that you purchase exactly what you need.

Server Cabinets

  Server Rack Cabinets such as the 42u Server Cabinet are generally nineteen inches wide by industry standards. This products is mostly used to install servers, UPS ES, monitors or similar equipment. Server rack cabinets, for the most part, are twenty-four inches in width, and thirty six inches deep. Some companies offer other measurement options to meet customers’ needs, however. Floor standing network server rack cabinets usually have a perforated front and rear. This feature offers ventilation for the equipment being housed. This is crucial to providing a safe environment for this type of equipment which generates a good deal of heat.

Network Cabinets

Network cabinets or Network Racks are often confused with server cabinets. However, there is a difference. Network cabinets are generally used for the storage of routers, patch panels, switches and a wide variety of networking equipment as well as networking accessories. In most cases a network cabinet will be far shallower than a server rack cabinet, generally measuring in at less than thirty one inches deep. Outdoor network cabinets will sometimes have glass or a strong plastic front door. Network cabinets also generally do not have perforated enclosures. The type of equipment generally housed in network cabinets does not generate the same amount of heat as that housed inside a server rack.

Because one product can not fulfill the needs of all office equipment storage, it may become necessary to do a thorough evaluation of the type of equipment being used, or that will be used, in order to make the most informed purchasing decision. In many cases, office spaces will require the use of both a server rack and a networking cabinet in order to house the various equipment that will be used there.
It is important to note, that improperly housing heat generating equipment is dangerous. This could cause damage to your equipment, or worse could become a fire hazard due to the temperatures which some servers can generate. Good rack dealers will help you decide which product is best for you.

Monitoring can be done either at the incomer of the PDU sockets in terms of the total power being drawn from the whole PDU, or it can be focused on an individual device’s demands from the socket. The latter provides a greater granularity for analysis but not all meters have the same accuracy, it may range from one to five percent, so it is worth investigating into the technical specifications.

PDU electronics also consume power at levels which can be significant, especially in a large scale data centre, given that it can range from as little as six to 60 watts. If intelligent PDUs are installed in a 200 rack data centre with dual PDUs in the rack then their power consumption could be as little as 2.4kW or as much as 24kW.

The switching function allows users to remotely shutdown individual sockets and to ‘hard boot’ any device that is connected to it. It is worth checking which type of switch device (or relay) is within the PDU construction, either monostable or bi-stable. The monostable needs a permanent supply of power to change state and stay there. Bringing it back means removing the power. 

The bi-stable needs to be pulsed with electricity to change state and pulsed again to come back. Bi-stable therefore uses less power than monostable, which can again be significant in terms of the aggregate consumption from a lot of sockets.