Server rack enclosure

D

Danny

n00b
Joined
Apr 9, 2007
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21
Hello there!

We currently have 2 Dell PowerEdge tower servers, but they are getting a little old and slow so we're beginning to look at replacing them.

Due to space problems, it was an idea of ours to buy rack servers instead of tower. The Dell PowerEdge 1950 or 1850 looks ideal for our needs (I believe both are the same dimensions).

Therefore, we have also been locking at the rack enclosures themselves, and found this one (which we purchased). I'm not sure if a dell 1950 or 1850 would fit in this, so wondered if you would know? If it doesn't, it's fine - as we can use this for switches, router etc. http://www.inksandaccessoriesdirect.com/450mm-deep-cabinet-p-490.html

Would any of you also know what the smallest type of rack enclosure there is, if the one above is not suitable? All the ones I've searched for, and seen on eBay are absolutely humongous, not only tall, but really deep -- way too big for us when we just need 2 rack servers!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Regards
 
If you are buying new Dell servers, get the rack with them from Dell. They usually give you a little bit of a discount when you do. Also consider your UPS, power distribution, and KVM setups.
 
Also, most standard server racks are about three feet deep. The one you posted is way to small. The one you posted is for things like patch panels. Standard rack size is 42U, which is around seven feet tall. You can get a 24U rack that is slightly is about half the height.
 
ah okay, thank you :)

I think we'll stick to towers then... looking at PowerEdge 2600's .

Our other hardware is a HP ProCurve 2124 switch (Or a 3com SuperStack 3 4226T) - we have both... just not sure which to use. Which do you think?

We also have a Cisco 1721 router, which is for our 2mb Leased line to ClaraNET uk.
 
With that kind of equipment, you should really get a rack and rack enclosures. They are much, much better with cable management and save incredible amounts of space.
 
Hey - thanks for those links!
Hopefully could get one imported or something as I'm in the UK

That portable 12U looks fab, but when it says adjustable width -- does that mean it extends?

Thanks !
 
Ah that truly did look perfect... until I saw:

Code: 
Total: $349.00  	 
   
	$433.97 	Shipping
	$782.97 	Subtotal
	$0.00 	*Sales Tax
	$782.97 	Total

shipping is phenomenal :(
 
Try to find a used rack on eBay UK that you could pick up locally or a government surplus sales facility if they have those there. Used racks are generally dirt cheap.
 
Hi :)

Yeah, I've been ebaying for a bit but no small ones seem to be like that on there.
That one looks so perfect, as it's adjustable, mobile and the right height.

I just e-mailed the Company to see if that delivery cost is true, I guess it probably is due to the weight; but worth clarification.

Going back to one of my other posts, the 3com or HP? :)
 
Danny said:
Hey - thanks for those links!
Hopefully could get one imported or something as I'm in the UK

That portable 12U looks fab, but when it says adjustable width -- does that mean it extends?

Thanks !
Click to expand...

The width of the rack (depth rather) is adjustable. The instructions typically recommend just setting them to the far back (29" depth).

I saw the note about shipping. Perhaps you could find a reseller locally or something similar in the UK. The shipping weight is heavy (almost 80lbs).
 
Any particular reason you chose not to stick with a dell rack cabinet?
 
Well size really - and this was a good cost
I know it's not the most attractive, but the point it's adjustable, right height etc is perfect :)

Servers I'm looking at...

DELL POWEREDGE 3250 2x 1.4GHZ ITANIUM 2 CPU'S 1GIG RAM
or
DELL poweredge 1650 dual 1.4G 2x 36gb 1GB ram RAID

Just asked the sellers how old each are - as need 2 :)
 
Danny said:
Well size really - and this was a good cost
I know it's not the most attractive, but the point it's adjustable, right height etc is perfect :)

Servers I'm looking at...

DELL POWEREDGE 3250 2x 1.4GHZ ITANIUM 2 CPU'S 1GIG RAM
or
DELL poweredge 1650 dual 1.4G 2x 36gb 1GB ram RAID

Just asked the sellers how old each are - as need 2 :)
Click to expand...

Keep in mind - machines with Itanium processors cannot use any old x64 operating system. They generally require a 64 bit operating system specific for Itanium processor based systems as far as I know.
 
MixManSC said:
Keep in mind - machines with Itanium processors cannot use any old x64 operating system. They generally require a 64 bit operating system specific for Itanium processor based systems as far as I know.
Click to expand...

Correct. Itanium is a completely different architecture.
 
I would get those newer dell servers(1950, 2950) and a half height rack from them also. Thier very nice with thier power distribution units and are a steal for the price. We just bought a 42u one with a 3000 ups, 15in lcd kb/mouse 1u console, and pdu for $2200 shipped.
 
Danny said:
All ordered. I found racksolutions.co.uk, naturally!
http://www.racksolutions.co.uk/portable-12u-server-rack-photos.shtml

Thanks for that guys - I can't tell you how perfect this is opposed to those humongous tall ones.

Now I'm going to look at purchasing some Dell servers off of eBay - and selling our old tower ones.

The Dell PowerEdge 3250 looks nice - there's one there for £329 (fab price)
Click to expand...

Glad you liked that rack. It has the square holes so it will mount Dell rapid rails with ease.
 
Hi guys, thanks for all your advice and support :)

Just to inform you... I have purchased two brand new Dell servers from their website, the del poweredge 860 with the following specs:

Code: 
PROCESSOR
Intel® Pentium® D processor 925 at 3.0GHz, 2x2MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB

MEMORY
1GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz Memory (1x1GB dual ranked DIMMs), ECC

RAID CONNECTIVITY
C1 - Motherboard SATA, 1 Hard Drive connected to onboard SATA controller

1ST HARD DRIVE
80GB 7,200rpm 3.5inch SATA hard drive

RACK MOUNTING RAILS
Static Versa Rails for 3rd Party Rack

OPTICAL DRIVE
CD-ROM 24x IDE

The server rack I mentioned before (the adjustable depth one) arrives tomorrow...

and a new Dell 5210N laser (can't wait for that!)

We've decided to revive our HP ProCurve 2124 switch instead of the 3Com one we were using.

I will take pics when it's all here and mounted... I'm sure it'll look lovely :D
 
Danny said:
Hi guys, thanks for all your advice and support :)

Just to inform you... I have purchased two brand new Dell servers from their website, the del poweredge 860 with the following specs:
Click to expand...

Single hard drive and 1 gig of ram? What the hell are you planning on running on these things?

Generaly you want at least a raid 1 on the drives and depending on what you are going to run more ram.
 
Nothing demanding - we're only small :)

Compared to our current servers... these are fantastic. Got a good price on them too - rather than buying from ebay with no warranty, these are brand new.

Our current servers are like 256mb ram...
 
You may want to revise your order. You ordered the versa rail kit (screw-in kit). You'd be better off with the rapid rails as they're made specifically for the square hole racks. I'd also highly recommend you add a 2nd drive for RAID1 to give you drive redundancy. 1 drive is asking for trouble.
 
Thanks for that - I guess either would work, but it's good to have the ones if it can - contacted Dell :)

One quick question... I have a 160GB hard drive in our current server (which is a dell tower) - could that be added as a second drive in the new server, or do rack servers use a different type of HDD?

Thanks guys
 
Dell servers are longer than most standard servers , and most rack enclosures. Your safest bet is to get a dell server rack, or go with an open rack.

Measure twice.
 
Danny said:
Thanks for that - I guess either would work, but it's good to have the ones if it can - contacted Dell :)

One quick question... I have a 160GB hard drive in our current server (which is a dell tower) - could that be added as a second drive in the new server, or do rack servers use a different type of HDD?

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

What interface is the old drive(Scsi, pata, sata)? You may be able to use it, may not. If anything you might need a controller card.

I would double the drives on the new servers and run raid 1 on them. Don't worry about hooking an old drive in. Just replace it with mirrored new ones.
 
thespeakerbox said:
Dell servers are longer than most standard servers , and most rack enclosures. Your safest bet is to get a dell server rack, or go with an open rack.

Measure twice.
Click to expand...

Dell, IBM, etc will all fit in 29" depth racks.
 
Yep - they should fit in that rack I got - queried that :)

Regarding the rack fittings, would the originals I ordered work instead of the power ones? I have contacted Dell, but I think there'd be a charge to alter my order now; if the original ones I pasted on the server specs would be ok, can you let me know?

Thanks!
 
Hi guys :)
Just wanted to let you know that Dell have been uber quick with processing this order, and it's already been dispatched; should arrive Monday.

It's still on the old rail kit (versa rail kit) which I hope will fit that rack I ordered (could you confirm?) - to change it would mean cancelling it and restarting, and obviously a big problem as it's been dispatched. If not ... will have to try and modify it

Will take pics when it's all setup :D

Also, I wanted to ask if you know if there are wheels you can buy to stand a UPS on? I have a APC SmartUPS 2200 and the thing weighs more than me (seriously!) -- tried ebaying but no luck
 
The versa rails will work. You will just need a lot of cage nuts to mount it. A limited amount come with the rack so you may need to purchase extra.

Is the UPS rack mountable or is it the tower kind? I believe you can convert it to mount in the rack as well. It all depends on the age of the UPS (newer ones I know you can convert it).
 
Thanks ofor that
The UPS is only about a year old, it's a tower one at the moment - just so heavy!
 
Some UPS's can be converted, many can't. It really depends on what type of batteries are in it and how they can be oriented. If the UPS can be converted, then it usually either comes with the rack kit or the kit can be ordered from the manufacturer...
 
I take it back. You may or may not need the cage nuts for mounting the versa rails. I've never tried the versa rails on the square hole racks. I know for sure though that the versa rails will work on that rack though.
 
Ok brilliant, thank you :)

I have just been looking at KVM's, too, so that we can use one monitor, keyboard and mouse for each server. I found some on dabs.com i.e. DLink ones, but would those work fine with rack servers (as most say PC)? We are running FreeBSD 6.2 on the servers

With KVM's too, is there a switch on the actual box to choose what server the peripherals control at any one time?

If you have a personal recommendation please let me know
Many thanks
 
Get a 1U (rack mountable) 8-port Belkin KVM. After that stick the monitor/keyboard/mouse on top of the rack. That, or get a 1U KVM that is all-in-one (KVM switch w/ monitor/keyboard/mouse all built into eachother - this can be expensive - $~1,300).
 
shade91 said:
Get a 1U (rack mountable) 8-port Belkin KVM. After that stick the monitor/keyboard/mouse on top of the rack. That, or get a 1U KVM that is all-in-one (KVM switch w/ monitor/keyboard/mouse all built into eachother - this can be expensive - $~1,300).
Click to expand...

Get a 1U Apex Outlook EL-80DT. Shouldn't cost you more than $30 shipped on eBay. And get you KVM cables from Monoprice. Shouldn't cost you more than $6 each for 10 footers.

As well I've seen brand new 1U KVM's with fold down monitors for way cheaper than $1300, and I'm sure they are even cheaper on eBay. More like $600.
 
FromTheLou said:
As well I've seen brand new 1U KVM's with fold down monitors for way cheaper than $1300, and I'm sure they are even cheaper on eBay. More like $600.
Click to expand...

I am referring to the name branded setups. Not the cheap no-name China brand garbage.
 
Hi :) Thanks for that, I've seen those KVM's on eBay, they are indeed lovely, but overkill for what we need. I've spent way tooooo much on the rack, servers and a 5210N dell Printer, so can't get an expensive one.

In the meantime - would this suffice? I don't see why it wouldn't, but hoping you could confirm :) http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=3SNG
 
Just a couple of shoutouts....

check out daktech.com , and siliconmechanics.com ...excellent server companies at a price nicely below dell. Just FYI...daktech.com builds all the computers for mcdonald's nationwide.
 
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