Open rack vs. enclosed cabinet

I'm looking to move my servers to a rack/cabinet in a 7-ft by 5.5-ft room.
About 6 tower servers, 1 rack server, 4 rack switches, 3 routers/telecom,
and 3 non-rack UPS.

Would an enclosed cabinet work in terms of cooling? Any general
recommendations of open rack vs. enclosed cabinet? Not much literature on
the topic...

--
Yoann Roman

thats like physical security, but i'm not expert when it comes to that
Yoann Roman wrote:
I'm looking to move my servers to a rack/cabinet in a 7-ft by 5.5-ft room.
About 6 tower servers, 1 rack server, 4 rack switches, 3 routers/telecom,
and 3 non-rack UPS.

Would an enclosed cabinet work in terms of cooling? Any general
recommendations of open rack vs. enclosed cabinet? Not much literature on
the topic...

--
Yoann Roman

My own experience has been that wire mesh shelving is best - affords
greatest flexibility, easy wire routing, few ventilation problems.
This is the sort of thing I'd recommend:
http://safcoshelving.com/shop/prodty...ageHistory=cat

Available anywhere - google on wire shelving

Racks are good for rack servers, rack routers, etc. but not great for
towers.

Yoann Roman wrote:
I'm looking to move my servers to a rack/cabinet in a 7-ft by 5.5-ft room.
About 6 tower servers, 1 rack server, 4 rack switches, 3 routers/telecom,
and 3 non-rack UPS.

Would an enclosed cabinet work in terms of cooling? Any general
recommendations of open rack vs. enclosed cabinet? Not much literature on
the topic...

My own experience has been that wire mesh shelving is best - affords
greatest flexibility, easy wire routing, few ventilation problems.
This is the sort of thing I'd recommend:
http://safcoshelving.com/shop/prodty...ageHistory=cat

Available anywhere - google on wire shelving

Racks are good for rack servers, rack routers, etc. but not great for
towers.

My problem is that the room is fairly small (7 ft. by 5.5 ft) so I would
prefer to have only one solution. I could stack all the rack-based
equipment, but that wouldn't be a very neat solution, IMO.

--
Yoann Roman

thats like physical security, but i'm not expert when it comes to that

Physical security seems to be the main argument for enclosed cabinets,
whereas better ventilation and easier access to components seems to be the
argument for open racks. But I see those two argued for enclosed cabinets,
too.

And it seems that secured environments I've seen still use enclosed
cabinets, so I figured there must be another reason to have them.

--
Yoann Roman

On Wed, 7 Sep 2005 17:58:46 -0400, "Yoann Roman"
wrote:

I'm looking to move my servers to a rack/cabinet in a 7-ft by 5.5-ft room.
About 6 tower servers, 1 rack server, 4 rack switches, 3 routers/telecom,
and 3 non-rack UPS.

Would an enclosed cabinet work in terms of cooling? Any general
recommendations of open rack vs. enclosed cabinet? Not much literature on
the topic...

A closed cabinet needs sufficient forced air (fan(s)) to
deal with the thermal load and placement of components in
it. It is not just a matter of open or closed cabinet but
the exact equipment, placement, and closed rack. In
general, either option can work, but-

The room itself also needs active airflow. It is not enough
to just have an HVAC duct that only moves air when temp
deviates. If you had a failsafe 100% on-time blower for the
HVAC and large enough ductwork, it could suffice but
generally one looks at supplimental cooling local to the
room... and the way that's implemented can have a lot to do
with the area surrounding the room, the ceiling above or
floor below, and acceptible noise levels and/or noise
isolation.

Either way you approach the racks or cabinets, the room
tends to need similar ventilation rate, or to put it another
way, sufficient rate and a little excess is better than too
little.

The system/component chassis themselves are generally not
meant to aid in cooling, so whether that chassis is exposed
to outside air or not matters little relative to the front
intake and rear exhaust potential of whatever you choose.
For example, either way the cooling will be worse if you put
several butted-up against a corner wall(s). Some air will
recirculate and how much of an impact that has can depend on
the ambient room temp. Air-conditioning is desirable.

and keep in mind that HVAC may be turned off at nights, weekends,
holidays. If the equipment is 24/7, the environment must also be
suitable 24/7. To judge whether you need extra A/C or ventilation,
put an electric space heater (or two) into the room and see how hot it
gets - they typically output ~1300-1500 watts as heat. The PCs are each
putting out ~100-300 watts of heat; the networking gear adds some more;
ditto any VDTs.

As for physical security, a metal or solid core door with a key which
you control affords much more security than a rack with a cheap cabinet
lock that is better suited to protecting a desk drawer from pencil theft.

kony wrote:

On Wed, 7 Sep 2005 17:58:46 -0400, "Yoann Roman"
wrote:


I'm looking to move my servers to a rack/cabinet in a 7-ft by 5.5-ft room.
About 6 tower servers, 1 rack server, 4 rack switches, 3 routers/telecom,
and 3 non-rack UPS.

Would an enclosed cabinet work in terms of cooling? Any general
recommendations of open rack vs. enclosed cabinet? Not much literature on
the topic...


A closed cabinet needs sufficient forced air (fan(s)) to
deal with the thermal load and placement of components in
it. It is not just a matter of open or closed cabinet but
the exact equipment, placement, and closed rack. In
general, either option can work, but-

The room itself also needs active airflow. It is not enough
to just have an HVAC duct that only moves air when temp
deviates. If you had a failsafe 100% on-time blower for the
HVAC and large enough ductwork, it could suffice but
generally one looks at supplimental cooling local to the
room... and the way that's implemented can have a lot to do
with the area surrounding the room, the ceiling above or
floor below, and acceptible noise levels and/or noise
isolation.

Either way you approach the racks or cabinets, the room
tends to need similar ventilation rate, or to put it another
way, sufficient rate and a little excess is better than too
little.

The system/component chassis themselves are generally not
meant to aid in cooling, so whether that chassis is exposed
to outside air or not matters little relative to the front
intake and rear exhaust potential of whatever you choose.
For example, either way the cooling will be worse if you put
several butted-up against a corner wall(s). Some air will
recirculate and how much of an impact that has can depend on
the ambient room temp. Air-conditioning is desirable.

and keep in mind that HVAC may be turned off at nights, weekends,
holidays. If the equipment is 24/7, the environment must also be
suitable 24/7. To judge whether you need extra A/C or ventilation,
put an electric space heater (or two) into the room and see how hot it
gets - they typically output ~1300-1500 watts as heat. The PCs are
each putting out ~100-300 watts of heat; the networking gear adds
some more; ditto any VDTs.

As for physical security, a metal or solid core door with a key which
you control affords much more security than a rack with a cheap
cabinet lock that is better suited to protecting a desk drawer from
pencil theft.

Thank you both for your input.

Physical security is not a concern here. The room locks and access to the
key is controlled. The environment is secure enough for the application,
too.

My main concerns a
- to protect the equipment from general dust
- provide a stable physical environment (safe from bumps, hits, etc...)
- have a setup that allows easy maintenance and setup, but nothing regular
- protect against accidental pulling of cables (the room is also the telco
closet open to telco companies)

This is a small/medium business, as you can tell by the number of servers,
so cost is the key. Dedicated HVAC is probably hard to obtain from the
building. Regular HVAC is never shut off during the year, though. There will
be a duct added to the room.

If air flow became a problem, maybe some of APC's air flow products would
help, although the room has no raised floor. It has tiled ceilings, but I
don't think there is much air circulation up there. This will be the only
rack/cabinet in the room and I figured I could center it so that it had
plenty of space on all sides. The rack I'm looking at is a SMC rack on
casters with fully perforated rear door, fan at the top, and perforated
sides on either side of the front door's plexiglass.

With a 42U rack/cabinet, I think I could guarantee at least 1U of space
between each component. I didn't notice any component giving off much heat
other than the UPS's.

I realize this is no where near the ideal data center, but I don't think the
hardware/application demands that type of setup, right?

--
Yoann Roman

On Thu, 8 Sep 2005 11:35:41 -0400, "Yoann Roman"
wrote:


My main concerns a
- to protect the equipment from general dust

Air filtration can be necessary. Could be whole-room, could
be on a sealed cabinet, either way if this is a dusty
environment then a service interval needs to be maintained
for the filter inspection and/or replacement.


- provide a stable physical environment (safe from bumps, hits, etc...)

If people are getting in and hitting the racks, you need
better locks or a guard or pre-employment screening or
something of this nature.


- have a setup that allows easy maintenance and setup, but nothing regular
- protect against accidental pulling of cables (the room is also the telco
closet open to telco companies)

You can partition things off, demand a telco check-in and
supervision, or have insurance cover any damage, yours or
theirs. It's not a large room so is there even space for
everything you need in it and still the realistic
expectation that a stranger can walk in and service
something? Depends on where you situate everything. We
can't easily do that or advise on it.



This is a small/medium business, as you can tell by the number of servers,
so cost is the key. Dedicated HVAC is probably hard to obtain from the
building. Regular HVAC is never shut off during the year, though. There will
be a duct added to the room.

I suggest not only a duct but fan local to the room.



If air flow became a problem, maybe some of APC's air flow products would
help, although the room has no raised floor. It has tiled ceilings, but I
don't think there is much air circulation up there.

There's where a fan comes in. If the fan is exhausting into
the ceiling, then there is air circulation... providing the
room isn't so sealed off that no air gets in but HVAC duct
will help there too. In other words with a localized AC
system the room can be fairly well sealed (except the
back-end of the AC unit itself) but without localized AC,
you'll want the room not so well sealed up, meaning typical
doors over carpeted areas are too much restriction without
*something* else to allow that flow while still keeping the
room secure.

This will be the only
rack/cabinet in the room and I figured I could center it so that it had
plenty of space on all sides. The rack I'm looking at is a SMC rack on
casters with fully perforated rear door, fan at the top, and perforated
sides on either side of the front door's plexiglass.

With a 42U rack/cabinet, I think I could guarantee at least 1U of space
between each component. I didn't notice any component giving off much heat
other than the UPS's.

Are any of these passively cooled devices? If not, space
between racks should not be an issue, each component should
be self-sufficient in cooing providing the ambient (intake)
air temp is low enough.


I realize this is no where near the ideal data center, but I don't think the
hardware/application demands that type of setup, right?

Same environment, smaller scale.

Are any of the adjoining spaces unoccupied? Perhaps, you could put a
window A/C through a wall and dump the heat 'next door'.

kony wrote:
On Thu, 8 Sep 2005 11:35:41 -0400, "Yoann Roman"
wrote:



My main concerns a
- to protect the equipment from general dust


Air filtration can be necessary. Could be whole-room, could
be on a sealed cabinet, either way if this is a dusty
environment then a service interval needs to be maintained
for the filter inspection and/or replacement.



- provide a stable physical environment (safe from bumps, hits, etc...)


If people are getting in and hitting the racks, you need
better locks or a guard or pre-employment screening or
something of this nature.



- have a setup that allows easy maintenance and setup, but nothing regular
- protect against accidental pulling of cables (the room is also the telco
closet open to telco companies)


You can partition things off, demand a telco check-in and
supervision, or have insurance cover any damage, yours or
theirs. It's not a large room so is there even space for
everything you need in it and still the realistic
expectation that a stranger can walk in and service
something? Depends on where you situate everything. We
can't easily do that or advise on it.



This is a small/medium business, as you can tell by the number of servers,
so cost is the key. Dedicated HVAC is probably hard to obtain from the
building. Regular HVAC is never shut off during the year, though. There will
be a duct added to the room.

Unclear what you mean here - You need both a supply duct (will it supply
cold air during the winter heating season?) and a return air duct -
something that will draw the air you've heated up out of the room.

I suggest not only a duct but fan local to the room.



If air flow became a problem, maybe some of APC's air flow products would
help, although the room has no raised floor. It has tiled ceilings, but I
don't think there is much air circulation up there.


There's where a fan comes in. If the fan is exhausting into
the ceiling, then there is air circulation... providing the
room isn't so sealed off that no air gets in but HVAC duct
will help there too. In other words with a localized AC
system the room can be fairly well sealed (except the
back-end of the AC unit itself) but without localized AC,
you'll want the room not so well sealed up, meaning typical
doors over carpeted areas are too much restriction without
*something* else to allow that flow while still keeping the
room secure.


This will be the only
rack/cabinet in the room and I figured I could center it so that it had
plenty of space on all sides. The rack I'm looking at is a SMC rack on
casters with fully perforated rear door, fan at the top, and perforated
sides on either side of the front door's plexiglass.

Consider removing the doors (or not ordering them); you'll get better
air circulation. If you do order a rack, get roll-out shelves for
towers, UPS, etc - i.e., everything heavy. Consider how you will
service a tower whose access panel is on the side.

With a 42U rack/cabinet, I think I could guarantee at least 1U of space
between each component. I didn't notice any component giving off much heat
other than the UPS's.


Are any of these passively cooled devices? If not, space
between racks should not be an issue, each component should
be self-sufficient in cooing providing the ambient (intake)
air temp is low enough.


I realize this is no where near the ideal data center, but I don't think the
hardware/application demands that type of setup, right?


Only you (or your bosses) can decide how critical the application is and how
much money to spend on protecting it.

Same environment, smaller scale.

I suggest you talk to the building engineer (if such exists) for ideas
and suggestions. You may be building a sauna.