You might think that server enclosure accessories are add-ons − useful but not essential. But one thing we’ve learned at ShowMeCables in our years of providing server enclosure accessories to IT professionals is that these devices are some of the most essential products we offer. They allow our customers to get the maximum use and value out of their server racks and to create efficient cable installations that take less time to manage and maintain.

There are thousands of these products on the market, so we’ve distilled them into three categories to help you zero in on what you might need. The following table shows what products fall into each category. We hope the rest of the blog helps you find the basic features and benefits of what you are looking for.

 

3 Types of Server Enclosure Accessories

Product Categories

Products

Server Enclosure Parts

·        Rack tops and bases

·        Enclosure sides and doors

·        Panels and covers

·        Rack rails

·        Rack hardware

·        Shelves and drawers

Power and Temperature Management Products

·        Power supplies

·        Rack enclosure fans

Cable Management Products

·        Cable management accessories

·        Patch panels

·        Ladder racks

 

  1. Server Enclosure Parts

With server enclosure parts you can build custom enclosures, increase a server rack’s ventilation, or make it more functional with shelves or drawers. Following are the most popular types of enclosure parts you will find:

Rack Tops and Bases

Rack tops and bases encompass add-ons that will make your enclosure cooler, more mobile, more stable, and more ladder-rack-friendly. They include:

  • Top panels with fans built in, or with openings for fans.
  • Top panels that are vented or solid.
  • Inner riser bases that fit MRK gangable enclosures.
  • Adjustable leveling feet for ensuring an enclosure sits flat and level.
  • Caster wheels you can attach to ease mobility.

Enclosure Sides and Doors

Enclosure sides and doors include standard as well as special panels with added security, venting, and access. Choose from:

Panels and Covers

Panels and covers consist of solid or vented blank panels that cover your rack openings to keep out dust and prevent unauthorized access. We also have a nifty line of vented Mid-Atlantic security covers that mount in front of your gear to prevent tampering while allowing you to monitor the component.

Rack Rails

We offer threaded rack rails from 2U to 45U in several brands, as well as rack-space adapters that enable you to widen 19-inch equipment to fit 23-inch racks.

Rack Hardware

Server enclosure hardware includes:

Shelves and Drawers

Want your server rack to work harder for you? Then consider adding rack-mount shelves and drawers.

Rack shelves are great for holding equipment that either cannot be rack-mounted or would serve you better if it were more easily installed and removed. This includes computer keyboards, laptops, servers, routers, switches, PDUs, AV equipment, UPSs, and more.

Rack drawers ensure you keep your essentials close at hand, such as tools, extra cables, and test equipment.

  1. Power and Temperature Management Products

At the heart of every server enclosure is a power management device, or power supply. And sometimes it is necessary to disperse the heat from that power supply and other components using rack enclosure fans – either mounted in the enclosure panels or rack-mounted.

Power Supplies

The three types you will most typically encounter are backup power devices known as uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs), 1U rack-mount power supplies with multiple outlets, and power strips. ShowMeCables offers:

  • 2U, eight-outlet uninterruptible power supplies providing from 750 to 1,650 watts of backup power, with a “hot-swappable” battery that can be replaced without power interruption.
  • A selection of 1U, 15-amp, rack-mount power supplies with 8 to 12 outlets, surge suppression, and EMI filtering.
  • A line of professional-grade power strips, some rack-mountable, with from 8 to 24 outlets.

Rack Enclosure Fans

Having a vented rack enclosure is sometimes insufficient for preventing damaging heat buildup. Your rack might need fans installed. Typically, you will find three types of fan products:

  • Single fans that mount in square or round ports in the back or side panels of enclosures.
  • Rack-mount fan panels that either expel hot air out the front or back of a rack, or are installed in the top rack space and draw air out through a vented top panel.
  • Fan tops, which consist of the top panel of an enclosure, either with fans included or with cutouts for fans.

 

  1. Cable Management Products

Most cable management products can be grouped into one of three categories: cable management accessories, patch panels, or ladder racks.

Cable Management Accessories

Cable management accessories encompass many types of products that allow you to route your cables so that they are protected, well organized, and easy to find and maintain. They are:

  • Wire-mesh cable trays and cable tray mounting accessories route and protect network cable, communications wiring, and electrical wire throughout buildings. The cable trays are mounted on walls, ceilings, or under raised floors to provide an orderly path for up to thousands of cables.
  • Lacing bars and lacing strips. Lacing bars are strain relief for cables where they enter a rack, to prevent extreme bending. Vertical lacing strips attach to rack rails to provide holes and raised lances as tie points for fastening cables.
  • Vertical and horizontal rack attachments such as cable raceways, Neat Patch bays, D-ring panels, cable management rails, and cable ducts prevent “rat nests” from forming by protecting and directing cables away from racks in an organized fashion.
  • Rubber gland grommets are placed over a round hole in an enclosure to protect cables from the sharp edge of the hole as they pass through and to keep out dust and moisture.
  • D-rings are individual rings that mount to a rack or wall to neatly gather and direct cables.
  • Cable spools are individual rack-mountable empty spools that are ready to hold any excess fiber or copper cable you might have.
  • Wall-mount cable hangers are a great way to store your unused cables, keeping them close at hand but untangled.

Patch Panels

A patch panel is an arrangement of ports on one panel that can be mounted to a rack or wall, allowing you to bundle and connect multiple ports for incoming and outgoing lines. Often it is installed on a rack in a communications closet to connect racks to one another. On the front face of the panel, Ethernet and fiber optic patch cables connect to servers and network switches. In the rear of the patch panel, bare wires are punched down to and from other patch panels.

Ladder Racks

Rooms with high-density cabling benefit from ladder racks − horizontal bars or rungs spaced apart at intervals, resembling a ladder. Cables are laid across the rungs, providing a structured pathway for them to run along. Ladder racks often are mounted on walls or installed overhead, allowing cables to be neatly routed from one location to another.

ShowMeCables’ server enclosure accessories are in stock and available with same-day shipping, and in-stock products ordered before 5 p.m. ET ship the same day. If you have any questions about our server enclosure accessories, contact our U.S.-based customer service at +1 (888) 519-9505, email us, or chat.