A well-selected server rack can go a long way in making your data center more efficient in layout, cooling, flexibility, and ultimately profitability. It is, therefore, crucial to treat the selection of server racks as an important part of data center planning and designing.
So while choosing server racks, here are some of the important points you should keep in mind.
1. Ventilation
Overheating in a data center can damage your servers beyond repair. And the biggest contributor to reduce overheating in your data center is ventilation. In order to improve airflow in your data center, you could choose server racks with a mesh front door and a perforated rear door. You could also consider buying server racks with removable doors, which can allow for quick and easy release of hot air in emergency situations. If sophisticated ventilation solutions are not within the scope of your budget, you could also place a fan above the servers to keep them relatively cool.
If ventilation is your main requirement, you could go for an open server rack which just comes with mounting rails to support your server. However, if you want your servers to be protected by enclosures, you could go for top-cooled racks with precision and dedicated cooling units for individual servers.
2. Enclosements
Choosing to keep your racks enclosed or open, each comes with its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, an open rack dissipates maximum heat into the surroundings but a closed rack provides your servers with moisture-, dust- and chemical-protection. A closed rack is also more aesthetic compared to open racks.
If security is your first priority, you could go for the standard 42U server cabinets which comes with lockable glass doors.
3. Assembly
The proper assembly of your rack, along with the strength of material with which it is built with, determines its load capacity. Therefore, it would be unwise to consider rack assembly as a trivial task. We would suggest hiring trained professionals to do the assembly for you, to avoid any errors in the assembly which could cause structural failures and even damage to your servers.
The easiest server racks to assemble are open server racks where the mounting rails are to be attached to each other. However, ease of assembly should ideally never dictate your server rack decisions. Prioritize ventilation, security and adjustability over assembly and let the professionals do the work for you.
4. Adjustability
It is important that your rack system should allow for flexibility, adjustability, and easy accessibility, all of which should be an important part of your data center design plan. Inspect the type of servers and cables which will go into the making of your data center and optimize the racks and other elements of your data center in such a way that connectivity and accessibility are never compromised on.
27U enclosed server racks come with adjustable server mounts – since it is of considerable size, it can also fit most of the popular servers from top companies.
5. Customizability
Most times, buying server racks off-the-shelf might not give you the flexibility that you are looking for. This is where server rack customization can help you. Depending on the type of servers, PDUs and the other elements of your data center, a custom built server rack can help you optimize all of the points mentioned above and give your data center, the business edge it needs.
At Hardy Racks, we work closely with you to understand your data center requirements. Our services include manufacturing customized server racks, assembling them as per your requirements and expectations. To know more about our other products and services, get in touch with us now!