Rack Cooling
Rack cooling is mostly about the type of rack, where the rack is installed, how much space have available in the rack and of course what is in the rack.
Just to start, hands down our favorite rack product is the Universal Cooler - 1U. This unit fits in tight spaces, it can blow air into a rack or exhaust the hot air. Can blow air upward or downward and when used with the vented faceplate looks great in a rack system! It can even be mounted in the back of most racks as well. Mentioning this now saves us giving strong recommendations for it many times over again!
Type of Rack. There are of course various types of racks, from open 4 post racks to fully enclosed racks to racks installed in cabinetry...
Open 2 or 4 Post Rack. This is of course the easiest to cool and with very few cooling products. Can use Component Units, Cool Shelves, Universal Coolers, and also the Side Coolers if are low on space or just because they are really perfect for open racks.
Fully Enclosed Racks. These racks typically require exhausting through designated fan locations such as on the top of the unit. Often times if the rack came with fans, they are not good fans as rack companies typically buy by what's cheap, not what's good! For this reason it makes sense to replace the fans with our replacement kits. This is for venting the racks as should also then use products to cool the heat producing components in the rack and this can be accomplished by using spot coolers or higher cfm units like the Component Units or Universal Coolers.
Location of Install. Where the rack is installed is also a big factor in the products that are recommended.
Closets. When a rack full of equipment is installed in a closet, it is important to cool the components in the rack but also vent the closet. Refer to this page for this applications.Cabinetry. As with closets, when racks are installed in cabinetry it is also important to vent the cabinet to exhaust the heated air and bring in cooler air. Click here for more information on venting cabinetry.
Products for Rack Applications
Fan Kits (FK-120-2/4) - These can typically be used in the top or bottom of most racks.Duo Cooling Unit (CP-DUO) - For spot cooling within a rack.Spot Cooler (CP-SPOT) - This is also for spot cooling with a rack and is bit more aggressive but not as slim as the DuoUniversal Cooler (CP-UC) - This is the 1U version that is most recommended.Universal Cooler - 2U (CP-UC-2) - This is simply and obviously the 2U version which just moves more air but takes up more space.Component Units (CP-CU) - To aggressively cool in 1U and there's a variety to choose from. The LT2 has a built-in display/controller to full size coolers including to 2 fan, 4 fan, 4 fan with cover, the fully loaded, and 9 fan versions to cover most any application. The 4-fan with cover is commonly recommended for rack applications.Cool Shelves (RK-CS-2/3/4) - These are the rack shelves with integrated cooling which saves space and provides for very direct cooling of components.Side Coolers (RK-SC-2/4FN) - These are for mounting to the side of an open rack.