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Rack Fundamentals
Transcript
Slide 1
Welcome to Data Center University™ course on Rack Fundamentals
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The screen controls
allow you to navigate through the eLearning experience
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Click the attachments link to download supplemental information for this course
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Slide 3: Learning Objectives
At the completion of this course, you will be able to:
Identify common rack types
Identify and explain some common rack system challenges
Explain ways to improve rack cooling
Explain some of the physical considerations for rack layout
Slide 4: Introduction
As technology compaction has evolved from mainframes to blade servers the need for power, cooling and
space optimization has dramatically increased
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Cutting edge rack technology streamlines the cable management and affords the
vertical stacking of IT equipment, reducing server sprawl and maximizing IT real estate
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How these racks and enclosures are
selected and configured affects a data center’s availability and agility for years after an installation is
completed
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Rack Fundamentals

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© 2013 Schneider Electric
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All trademarks provided are the property of their respective owners
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The 19 inch standard
2
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The intent of the standard is to
ensure compatibility and flexibility within the Data Center
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Slide 7: The 19 Inch Standard
EIA-310 defines the Rack Unit (U) to be the usable vertical space for a piece of rack mounted equipment
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75 inches
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5 inches available for equipment mounting
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These include square holes for
“cage” (captive) nuts and clip nuts, or round holes, with or without threads
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All rights reserved
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The 19 Inch Standard defines important dimensions for racks, enclosures, and rack mounted equipment
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72 inches), to
provide clearance for equipment chassis widths
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6 mm (18
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063
inches)
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4
mm (19 inches)
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The more common square holes with cage nuts support several thread sizes
and types
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Because
the cage nut “floats” in its mount, the nut has some freedom to move, which makes nut and bolt alignment
easier
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There are many thread sizes, but #12-24 is the
most common thread size
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Slide 10: Earthquake Standards
Uniform Building Code (UBC) and Eurocode specify how enclosures should be bolted to the floor in
geographies where there is a high risk for earthquakes
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© 2013 Schneider Electric
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All trademarks provided are the property of their respective owners
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Slide 12: Two Post Frames
The Two Post frame also known as a relay rack holds equipment that can be front or center mounted
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Although the two post frame has a relatively
low price, it offers no security, no airflow control, low weight capacity and low stability
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© 2013 Schneider Electric
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All trademarks provided are the property of their respective owners
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It is typically used for server, networking, and telecom applications in IT
environments
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Depending upon the manufacturer, common rack
accessories may include light and heavy-duty shelves, vertical cable organizers, brackets for power
distribution, and baying kits
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They are also a low cost, economical solution
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All rights reserved
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The Open Frame rack typically relies on natural convection to dissipate heat from equipment
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Enclosures, discussed in the next section of this course, provide an improved means to
control and manage airflow
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As these illustrations show, there are several varieties
of basic enclosure designs
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Within an enclosure, channels are created for forced air to move through rack-mounted equipment
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Slide 16: Enclosures
Depending upon the manufacturer, enclosures may also have cable management options, power
distribution units, power protection devices, cooling devices, environmental management systems, and
other accessories
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All rights reserved
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Slide 17: Open Frame Racks vs
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© 2013 Schneider Electric
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All trademarks provided are the property of their respective owners
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Slide 18: Server Enclosure
This slide shows an example of a server enclosure
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Server applications most commonly use 42U high x 600mm wide x 1070 mm deep
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Some applications that have high
cable density, combine network switches with server equipment, or use side-to-side cooling instead of frontto-back cooling
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Some rooms that have high ceilings may permit enclosures to be as tall as 47 U
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When using tall enclosures, be cautious about safety regulations and
overhead fire suppression sprinklers
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High-density cabling or networking applications
typically require 42U x 750mm wide
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All rights reserved
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Slide 20: Networking Enclosure
As shown in this illustration from behind the networking enclosure, networking applications require wider
racks than server applications, to give room for cabling
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Rack Fundamentals

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© 2013 Schneider Electric
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All trademarks provided are the property of their respective owners
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Seismic enclosures are specially reinforced to protect
equipment from earthquakes
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Most commercial data centers and
telecom central offices that are not in high risk zones, utilize less stringent standards like the UBC or
Eurocode, rather than the stricter NEBS or ETSI standards
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© 2013 Schneider Electric
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All trademarks provided are the property of their respective owners
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One
of the key features of the wall mount enclosure is its double-hinged frame construction, which allows easy
access to the rear of the rack mounted equipment
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Slide 23: Industry Survey Results
APC recently conducted a worldwide survey of CIOs, Facility Managers, and IT managers
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They are:
1
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Availability
3
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Adaptability and Scalability (Flexibility)
5
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The most common problems that pose a challenge to the optimization of lifecycle costs with regard to rack
systems are:
Non-standardized racks Non-standardized racks lead to a higher total cost of ownership, due to the
unique design features dictated by the IT equipment manufacturers
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A much better
solution is to purchase vendor-neutral racks with guaranteed universal compatibility
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Slow speed of deployment
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Preengineered solutions save time and simplify planning and installation
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All rights reserved
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Slide 25: Availability
The survey revealed that optimizing availability was also an important requirement
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Inadequate airflow to IT equipment damages hardware
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And it is important to note that there is no
standard for measuring cooling effectiveness when comparing enclosures
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Inadequate power redundancy to the rack
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3
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Because of the increased demands to provide ample air, power, and data
to racks, the number of individuals accessing enclosures for service tasks has increased, leaving
the units more vulnerable to human error
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4
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The solution is to have all racks that are located in
Zone-4 regions to be in compliance with seismic building standards
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The following slides offer solutions for improving airflow as a means of increasing availability
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This slide shows examples of
perforated front and rear doors that provide for maximum ventilation
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All rights reserved
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Slide 27: Improving Airflow: Blanking Panels
Blanking panels are covers that are placed over empty rack spaces
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The main reason
why blanking panels are not commonly used is that the benefits of blanking panels are not always
understood
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Slide 28: Improving Airflow: Blanking Panels
Having blanking panels that snap-in to any square-holed rack enclosure, and install without tools,
significantly reduces the time and labor cost associated with installing panels
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© 2013 Schneider Electric
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All trademarks provided are the property of their respective owners
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An ADU is a cooling device for raised floor applications that mounts at the bottom 2U of any EIA-310 19 inch
rack that has an open base
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The ADU connects into the raised floor
and pulls supply air directly into the enclosure
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The ADU minimizes temperature differences between the top and
bottom of the enclosure
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This is a detailed view of an ADU
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5 kW per rack
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© 2013 Schneider Electric
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All trademarks provided are the property of their respective owners
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The blue lines represent cooling airflow
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The side ADU pulls air in
from the cold aisle, and redirects and distributes it to the equipment inlet, located on the right side
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© 2013 Schneider Electric
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All trademarks provided are the property of their respective owners
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It replaces the rear door of an enclosure
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Cool air enters the rack, exhausts out the rear of the rack equipment, is pulled through the rack Air Removal
Unit, and is released through the top
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An optional, ducted exhaust system delivers hot air to the space
above a drop-down ceiling or some other type of enclosed overhead space, and eliminates the possibility of
hot air mixing with room air
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The most common problems that pose a
challenge to maintenance and serviceability are:
1
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Limited space and deployment speed typically cause server migration
delays
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Quick release doors and side panels also save time
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Poor cable management leads to IT equipment damage, because of airflow obstruction
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Abandoned cables
get intertwined with active cables, and block airflow under raised floors
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Routing data and power cables above
the racks makes them more organized and accessible, and eliminates potential “air dams” under
raised floors
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Non-standardized racks are a maintenance issue, because server manufacturers often state that
the warrantee is void if a server is placed in a rack that does not comply with specific rack
standards
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Rack vendors should guarantee compatibility with all servers
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All rights reserved
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comply with the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) 310-D standard for rack mounting IT and
networking equipment
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Some of the problems that hinder
optimization are:
Frequently changing power and cooling requirements
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Rack systems therefore need to
provide tool-less Power Distribution Units (PDUs), and three phase power whips to support
changeover capability for different voltages, power capacities, and outlets
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Rack enclosures should provide
field-reversible doors, quick-release hinge pins, quick-release side panels, and castors for mobility
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Slide 34: Manageability
Some of the problems that pose a challenge to optimizing manageability are:
Lack of environmental monitoring capability at the rack level
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It
also causes difficulty detecting hazards such as smoke and humidity extremes
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The solution is to provide environmental
management devices, and a graphical user interface that allows remote monitoring, along with
automatic email, pager, or telephone notification of changes in the rack level environment
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Monitoring racks is critical to availability
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The solution is to provide display mechanisms that can
automatically report and manage power conditions on power strips at the rack level, locally or
remotely, through a digital display
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The study attributes this lack to the growing
popularity of server clusters
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All rights reserved
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clustering is increasingly used in mission-critical environments
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Lack of security at the rack level
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Slide 35: Floor Plan
Lastly, physical considerations for rack layout are very important when designing a data center
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When choosing a rack, it is important to select
dimensions that work well with layout calculations
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Slide 36: Summary
This course has covered Rack Standards, Rack Types, and Rack Enclosures, Best Practices for Rack
System Selection, and Physical Considerations for Rack Layout
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All rights reserved
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Enclosures enhance rack system cooling by preventing hot and cold air from mixing
Enclosures should be universal, modular, organized, and scalable
Racks should be arranged to form alternating hot and cold aisles
Slide 37: Thank You!
Thank you for participating in this course
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All rights reserved
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