Server Rack – Computer Rack, Is There A Difference? at Great Computer Deals & Information

Server Rack – Computer Rack, Is There A Difference?

The morphing of words in the IT world is never ending. The meaning of the words change so fast I can hardly keep up!

Take the word server rack for example. Before server rack, we referred to to these as an enclosure cabinet. But before I get to comfortable, we also used the following to mean more or less the same thing: computer cabinet, computer rack, rackmount cabinet, data cabinet, data rack and a few more I won’t mention.

I bet you are wondering why this is so important to me? I determined that it is not possible to assume that all the different names refer to the same application. Everone I talk with seems to have a different understanding of what each name means. I found out that some cabinets are 20″ deep and others 42″ deep with all different vent patterns and woe be it unto me if I chose the wrong one for my hardware.

I spent a lot of time searching and found a site that did a good job defining the names to different applications. ISC, Information Support Concepts, Inc. http://www.iscdfw.com has done a good job explaining what their different names actually mean. I thought it might be helpful to write some of them here so others in case I was not the only confused person around.

Server Rack: These cabinets and racks are normally used for deep blade servers (made by Compaq, Dell, HP, IBM, Sun and others) that require steady airflow for proper cooling. Typically these racks and enclosures are deeper than conventional rack mount computer cabinets.ISC has server enclosures with “U” space ranging from 3U to 44U and with a usable depth up to 42″. ISC refers to a server rack as a rack-mount frame without doors or side panels. When these racks are fitted with vented doors and side panels they refer to it as a server cabinet. A server rack generally will have rackrails with square holes rather than tapped or threaded rails. In most cases, an M6 rack screw will be used with a cage nut. This will enable compatibility with most of the server manufactures.

Computer Cabinet: ISC classifies a computer cabinet as a shallower rackmount cabinet that is made for cooler running hardware is not as deep as a typical blade server. Many times the doors and side panels on a rack-mount computer cabinet are not vented or perforated because the heat build up is not as severe as for the deep hot running servers used in server racks. ISC defines a rackmount computer rack as a cabinet without the doors and side panels. Many network managers gang their computer racks so they only have to use one seet of end panels. a computer cabinet or rack normally has 10/32 threaded holes in the rails and is not compatible with most of the blade server mounting hardware. ISC also supplies several 10/32 rack screw options. A typical “U” size for a computer cabinet or rack normally go from around 8U – 44U.

I found this site very infomative and helped me know what series best fit my budget and application. Best of all, I know what a server rack is! Check out http://www.iscdfw.com I suspect it will be worth your time as well.