How to Resolve Airflow Problems in your Network Cabinets
The main purpose of a network cabinet is to house networking hardware and connect it to the servers and networks that need it. But that task is impossible if your networking cabinet is not built to optimize airflow for that networking hardware.
Striking the right balance of rack units (RUs) in a networking cabinet, while optimizing airflow and ensuring cable management and service access is what motivates the product engineers and builders at Legrand Cabinets and Containment Business North America.
With decades of experience in the industry, we strive to build better networking cabinets, and we know how important that balance is.
Optimizing Usable Space Inside and Outside a Rack
Balancing these competing demands is less straightforward than you’d think because the networking hardware and cabling that needs to be housed in these cabinets isn’t standardized. Depending on your processing needs, there are an endless variety of servers, switches, and other hardware to choose from.
In addition, the volume of cabling needed to power and network modern servers, switches and storage can contribute to unexpected deployment problems.
Your servers may fit but leave no room for network cabling. Without sufficient clearance, wiring will obstruct airflow and reduce the efficiency and efficacy of your cooling and ventilation systems – and that costs money.
Let’s look beyond the individual rack. Your data center – no matter it’s size – needs to function seamlessly as a whole. Whether you’re managing a single room or a whole building, you are ideally using standard rows of racks to maximize the use of square footage for compute processing.
Choosing oversized racks to provide more room for servers or switches alongside their cables; however, can impact aisle containment or airflow duct work plans for your space. How each rack interacts with each other -- in addition to the plan for keeping the space cool – is critical. Small differences add up and can cause big problems in a tightly configured data center.
Appropriate Accessorizing for Better Airflow
That’s why Legrand Cabinets and Containment Business has spent years perfecting a suite of airflow management accessories to optimize our racks, so you can fit as much hardware as possible inside them without sacrificing efficient and effective airflow management.
Our EZ blanking and plastic blanking products snap in place with no tools required for installation and have no need for additional mounting hardware. They are designed to conform with EIA-standard, 19-inch rail spacing and can be used with almost any Legrand Cabinet and Containment racks. Furthermore, they are available to be used in multiple sizes. For example, the EZ Blanking is shipped in six sheets of 10RU panels – a total of 60RU of blanking - that can be broken into smaller panels depending on your needs.
Any configuration will allow you to block heat and funnel cool air as needed to keep racks cooled and functional.
In addition, our suite of cable management accessories can help keep a tangle of wires from mucking up your airflow – not to mention make it easier to access the right cable and the right connection when you need to provide service.
We offer:
- Cable fingers that mount to rails and create horizontal cable management systems to relieve cabinet strain.
- Front-to-rear cable channels that attach directly to mounting rails and run cables from front to rear of the cabinet.
- PCM Brackets, designed to manage equipment power cables. Mounted directly to cabinet struts, they don’t consume RU space and are compatible with a variety of cable management accessories such as “Snap and Twist” D-Rings, Saddle Wraps and Lobster Claws.
Check out our accessories catalog to learn more about our top universal accessories: Cabinet Accessories Catalog | Legrand