6 Easy Steps to Buying the Right Cabinet

Welcome to our exclusive Cabinet Guide, designed to be your compass in the (sometimes) baffling world of selecting a network cabinet and accessory options.

Whether you're setting up a new cabinet or upgrading an existing one, this simple guide will aid you in making the correct choice whilst covering the optional accessories.

Read on for more information, or you can download our handy guide for use offline

 Download Cabinet Guide 

Step 1 - Pick a Cabinet

Step 2 - Pick a PDU

Step 3 - Pick Shelves

Step 4 - Mounting Angles & Support Rails

Step 5 - Cable Management

Step 6 - Options & Extras

1. Pick a Cabinet

What to consider when choosing a cabinet:

• A "1U" is 44.45mm.
• Need to decide how tall the cabinet needs to be.
  This would be worked out in "U" height. i.e. 42U (Which is approximately 2m in height).
• Need to decide the width (a wider cabinet provides more room for cables).
  Width is mainly decided by where the cabinet has to go and if it can fit through the door!
• Find out how many servers need to go in and how many U they are.
  Don’t forget to leave plenty of leeway for growth and airflow (around 5U).

Other options are available. Please contact sales on 01276 405300 for further information.

2. Pick a PDU

What to consider when choosing a PDU:

• Power Distribution Unit.
• How many servers do you need to plug in?
• Do you need an Intelligent PDU? Please visit the Intelligent Power & Active section of this website for more options.

Other options are available. Please contact sales on 01276 405300 for further information.

3. Pick Shelves

What to consider when choosing suitable shelves:

• You don’t need shelves for all servers - as long as they come with a rackmount kit, it can be joined directly to the cabinet.
• Shelves are a good way of storing non-rack mountable servers in a cabinet.

Other options are available. Please contact sales on 01276 405300 for further information.

4. Mounting Angles & Support Rails

What to consider when mounting equipment in the cabinet:

• Mounting Angles make a shorter server secure in a cabinet that is too long.
• Mounting Angles attach to a support rail.
  An 800mm deep support rail is designed to fit a 1000mm deep cabinet.

Other options are available. Please contact sales on 01276 405300 for further information.

5. Cable Management

What to consider when deciding on suitable cable management:

• Think about cable management- to make sure your cables don’t get mixed up.
• Jumper rings and panels stop harmful strain (stretch) on your cabling - essential for a tidy solution.

Other options are available. Please contact sales on 01276 405300 for further information.

6. Options & Extras

What to consider when choosing optional extras for your cabinet:

• Every cabinet should have an earth bonding kit, as this aids earth continuity between the frame, doors and the top cover of the cabinet to help prevent risk of electrocution.
• Earth bonding kits should provide sufficient leads for all the panels on a cabinet to be bonded to the main frame.
• Fans are an option - depending on the number of servers being used within the cabinet.
• A baying kit is used to join 2 or more adjacent server cabinets.

Other options are available. Please contact sales on 01276 405300 for further information.