Designing a rack

Just wondering if anyone has any rule of thumbs when it comes to the way you put in your devices.

So say in a typical full rack, do you have any special methods like putting firewalls up on top, routers underneath and switches go on the bottom?

Is there really any proper or right approach to where you put your equipment?

Do you leave space so that you can insert a "like-type" equipment for the future? Like leaving the 1U underneath your firewall available in the event you get a failover firewall that you can insert right underneath it?

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Comments

DPG

You are probably going to get a different answer from each person.
It is a matter of personal preference.

I have customers that keep their racks nice and clean and others that just stuff everything in there without rhyme or reason.

mikej412

Heavy stuff on the bottom -- unless someone else is racking it.

tiersten

mikej412 wrote: »

Heavy stuff on the bottom -- unless someone else is racking it.

This and whatever just makes sense to yourself since its your lab.

xciton

In a small lab, you can logically place things (routers with routers, switches with switches).

I know you asked about home/lab placement, but here's some tips when you're working for someone.

In a production environment, you're going to have to consider many things.

1) physical dimensions. Some equipment is deeper than others. Putting a 3" deep cross connect panel in-between two 16" deep routers may cause you physical access problems if you need to get to the panel to punch something down.

2) Heat flow in open style racks. This is more dependent on adjacent racks than within a single rack, you don't want to push hot air to one side into the cold air in for some other device next to it. You can't always avoid this, but you really should. If you've got cabinets, then this is not a problem, it all goes out the back.

3) Heavy stuff at the bottom (UPS's, major chassis).

4) Network direction/flow. Leased equipment at top, owned stuff beneath. Not always possible due to your topology styles, but it's nice if you can actually pull it off.

I'm sure others will step in to add their comments.

Forsaken_GA

It really doesn't matter, it'll mostly just end up being aesthetics, but I'm in full agreement with mike - make sure the heavy stuff is on the bottom.

You do *not* want to mount something like a catalyst 6509 in the top 24 RU of a 48 RU rack. It's.. painful when you need to move it. Trust me.

notgoing2fail

Thanks guys, all good tips.

My question was actually directed towards production environments.

I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't some "De facto" standard that I wasn't aware of. The heavy equipment going on the bottom makes very much sense, I didn't even think of that.

What prompted this question was that yesterday in my lab, I had a hard time putting in the rack/cage nuts in my rack underneath my 3550.

The 3550 is kinda deep and sticks out so it made me wonder if I didn't put the 3550 or any other "deep" unit in the right way....

ConstantlyLearning

notgoing2fail wrote: »

What prompted this question was that yesterday in my lab, I had a hard time putting in the rack/cage nuts in my rack underneath my 3550.

The 3550 is kinda deep and sticks out so it made me wonder if I didn't put the 3550 or any other "deep" unit in the right way....

Yeah I found it harder racking my 3550's because they were more difficult to balance on one hand while trying to screw in the nuts.

I racked my 3550's inbetween my 2950's which I thought made more sense.

Gogousa

I like to arrange everything trying to replicate my network topology (not always easy or feasible) WAN on top and from there...