Adidaswood Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 I'm looking at some options to centralize my gear. I want to build it into a wall in my basement so I'm thinking the slim5 series from Middle atlantic would do fine. I'm a server guy so I understand racks and thermals from that standpoint but I'm wondering how if there are any differences from a consumer electronics standpoint. Server on top of server blocking any openings on the front.I'm essentially trying to figure out how big of a rack I need. Seems simple, but maybe i'm over thinking it here.i realize how to add up all the Us but what i'm wondering about is spacing. so what tools do you guys use to plan your racks and are there any standards that I should employ while building my rack. Do i need to leave a U between each component? Should I just get the biggest rack I can accommodate?..etc...etc.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWRobinson Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 http://www.racktools.com/It's free and good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kahn Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Nice link....thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth_j Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Racktools is good but you also need to know what the 30 bajillion SKUs Middle Atlantic offers to do it right.. Takes time or you have to do it everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueWater84 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 I have a 5-43 Slim 5 Rack with all of my equipment in it. As mentioned above, RackTools is a good resource if you are familiar with the parts/options available from Middle Atlantic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceOfSpades Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 One other thing to consider is how much equipment will sit in the rack and whether your current residential electrical and cooling can support all the equipment. I have my equipment stored in two location for the reasons above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramorous Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 Visio is a great tool and we use that to design our lan rooms and racks. Once you've figured out a layout you can then go looking for parts and putting it all together. We normally just send it out to our vendor and let them figure out SKUs and everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth_j Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 They'll do that for a lan room sale.. Ours won't do that.. There's a lot of little parts and pieces you probably don't get since you're working with AV gear and not IT products. There is some overlap but not much. To learn a few tricks of the trade you could check out CEPro's rack build competitions... I think MA puts them on each year now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 ^I really think this is good insight and appreciate you sharing this. I am not a HA pro but I have done countless racks in my day for industrial testing automation. I bought nothing but Crenlo and I know the 1,000,000 catalog by heart. I could dance around kid engineers that thought they knew more. What happened was those kids ordered a bunch of parts and some are not what they though. By the time they were done, they were over-budget and out of time and there was a pile of unused parts in the corner (ordering screw-ups). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWRobinson Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 While I am posting tools, http://www.avsnap.com/ is great for designing a system. Also free. You can get as detailed as you want, or just produce a high level overview. You can build your own libraries with your exact products or use generic stuff they have. You can use pictures or diagrams. You can create just about anything you want in there. Check out the sample projects and notice that most of them are multiple pages. High level map down to pin connections on some.If I knew how to upload a picture, I would upload the diagram of my system that I created. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoonman56 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 My 2 cents, take whatever rack size you think you need then double it. Seriously.Its like NAS storage or cold beer, you can never have too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seth_j Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 ^I like the cut of your jib. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 My 2 cents, take whatever rack size you think you need then double it. Seriously.Its like NAS storage or cold beer, you can never have too much.Right on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanchow Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 a few things to consider* device heat output* device weight* device cabling requirements* patch panel placement* switch placementBased on these considerations you will be able to come up with a rack solution where the weight is mainly at the bottom with hot devices at the top and have a nice neat cabling solution where you can easily service your equipment. Same rules apply to IT and automation racks.Make sure you label your cables and draw up a cabling schedule and diagram so that you can service the equipment down the track when you forget what each cable does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted December 22, 2011 Share Posted December 22, 2011 My 2 cents, take whatever rack size you think you need then double it. Seriously.Its like NAS storage or cold beer, you can never have too much.+1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWRobinson Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 While I am posting tools, http://www.avsnap.com/ is great for designing a system. Also free. You can get as detailed as you want, or just produce a high level overview. You can build your own libraries with your exact products or use generic stuff they have. You can use pictures or diagrams. You can create just about anything you want in there. Check out the sample projects and notice that most of them are multiple pages. High level map down to pin connections on some.If I knew how to upload a picture, I would upload the diagram of my system that I created.The most recent update to this program has included the ability to design racks. They have all sizes of generic racks and plates so that you can design your own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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