Investigate the rack's power-distribution system. Unsightly and unsafe six-plug power strips from Wal-Mart wire-tied to the back of your racks aren't going to impress the fire inspector or a perspective customer. An emerging trend coming from telecommunications technology is the use of DC-driven devices at 24 or 48 volts. Server vendors offer these options, and smart companies are using them to provide a single power system for all their data-center devices. If you want to take advantage of this opportunity, make sure your current racks can take such an upgrade without ugly third-party hacks.
You can simplify power distribution by going with the vendor's recommendation. Must each rack be plugged into a single power source? Can you split the sources? Do your racks need to be hardwired, or can you daisy-chain them? What brand of UPS do the racks work with by default? Although you can force most configurations to work, a bad decision can mean a nightmare of incompatible thread designs and off-center holes.
And beware of the cable demon (go to our previous Last Mile to see a particularly menacing mess of wires). Most cable demons are not as unstoppable as the one we show, but you should be sure the racks you purchase have cable-management provisions, such as cable ducting, cable tie points and cross-rack ducting.
The humble wheel deserves consideration. How mobile must your racks be? Even an occasional rack move makes wheels mandatory. You have to be careful, however, when loading rolling racks. The wheels should be lockable or have some other stopping mechanism. In addition, heavier equipment up top could make the rack tip, putting you and your staff in danger.
Heat buildup is a big deal in rack environments, especially with 1U servers. Dense storage arrays and blade servers add heat as well. You'll almost always need tools for keeping your racks cool. Look at air-distribution units, such as those from American Power Conversion (which also manufactures racks), that mount to the bottom of the rack and force air from the floor up the front of the rack to provide additional cooling.
Finally, there are all kinds of toys you can add to your rack. One of my favorites is the 1U console drawer with a 15-inch LCD monitor, laptop-style keyboard and eraser-head pointer, touchpad or trackball. Also consider keeping a small supply of extra cable guides and power guides on hand. When you're installing additional equipment down the road, not having these at the ready can delay the process or lead to kludged cable installations.
Associate Technology Editor Steven J. Schuchart Jr. covers storage and servers for Network Computing. Write to him at sschuchart@nwc.com.
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