Choosing the right server rack or 19” amplifier road case can be a tricky task. Here’s a little secret, it's not as complicated as you might think. Let's take a look at a step by step way to find the right rack for you.
Step 1: Get Your Dimensions
You’ll want to look at the dimensions of each piece of gear you’re going to be installing in your rack. Its essential to make sure your gear is smaller than the internal dimensions of the rack. Also keep in mind you might need to allow for some room if you're plugging cables into the back of your rack mounted equipment.
If you have a piece of 19” rack mountable gear, that's great! You know that will fit because 19” racks are an industry standard size. Some gear might come with additional accessories called rack ears to make it compatible for 19” racking.
The depth of your server rack or roadcase plays a big part in what will fit.
For example, let's say you have a power conditioner that is 350mm deep it is definitely not going to fit into a 300mm deep server rack or if your audio power amplifier is 300mm deep it won't fit into a 285mm half depth case.
It may seem obvious but when you’re setting up a rack for the first time details like this can get missed. (That’s why we’re going through this step by step process!)
Step 2: Draw it out
You don’t have to be an artist. Just grab yourself a piece of paper or your ipad and draw yourself a box.
The box represents the front of your rack. You’ve probably got a good idea already what you’re going to put in your rack, so now all you have to do is doodle in your gear.
RACK UNITS: Your equipment is measured in terms of rack units (usually written as "RUs") with 1RU counting 3 vertical mounting holes equal to 44 millimetres (1.75 inches) in height. You’ll need to know how many RU spaces your equipment will take up so you know what RU size rack you need.
Here’s an example
Like I said, you don’t have to be an artist!
Step 4: Future-proofing
With technology changing and your needs changing, always keep in mind that the one 1RU cantilever shelf you allocated for space can quite quickly turn into the need for two shelves. The one network switch you’ve got now might need to be updated/upgraded sooner than you realized, you might need to add another hard drive, audio amplifier, DSP processor, you get the point!
Some questions to ask yourself when future-proofing;
- Should I get a rack that is an extra couple of RU bigger in case I need the space later?
- Do I have room/space for a bigger rack just in case I need to add some equipment later?
I’m not saying you definitely need a bigger server rack, I’m just saying things change over time and if you can set yourself up for the future now, go for it (wow, that just got pretty deep)!
Step 5: Double check
Once you’ve gone over steps 1 through to 5, go over them once more. Double check you’ve got enough RU space for all your gear, possible future gear and air flow if needed. Make sure none of your equipment is deeper than the rack you have chosen.
All the dimensions for our server racks are on the product page of the rack or case you’re looking at. Please reach out to our team if you have any questions.