Vertical Wall-Mount Enclosures - Put Wasted Space to Work

Office space isn’t exactly cheap these days. Organizations are looking for ways to get the most from their square footage, especially in cramped IT rooms and closets.

Most everybody has discovered that wall-mount rack enclosures are a great way to fit more IT gear in a room with no more available floor space. But there is another type of product that allows you to truly maximize what little space you might have left: vertical wall-mount enclosures.

Wall-Hugging Top-Loaders

A vertical rack is top-loading – it turns your 19-inch-wide components 90 degrees so that they face the ceiling. In such an orientation they do not stick out from a wall some 2 or 3 feet like horizontal racks do. A 2U vertical enclosure extends only about 5 inches and a 6U needs less than a foot. And yet they are tall enough, up to 35.4 inches inside in SMC’s line of verticals, to hold your deepest components.

SMC’s vertical enclosures have most of the features of our horizontals, such as:

• For cooling, air vents on all models, two fan vents on 5U, 6U, 8U
• For security, 16-gauge steel panels; key locks on all models, a second lock on top panel for 5U, 6U, 8U
• For connections, cable access punchout holes on top and bottom
• For flexibility, a reversible front door for hinges on left or right
• For quick installation, ships fully assembled with mounting hardware

However, vertical wall enclosures are not always the right choice. Whether your next wall cabinet should be horizontal or vertical depends on the features you need. This blog post describes three big advantages of each type of wall enclosure. We hope this makes it easier for you to decide which is best for your needs. We conclude with some information about our line of vertical models.

3 Vertical Wall-Mount Advantages:

• Space Efficiency: Vertical enclosures utilize wall space effectively. They not only free up floor space but can be installed where horizontal wall racks do not fit. For example, vertical racks are low-profile enough to be often found in hallways, IT closets, and retail spaces.
• Accessibility: Swing open the enclosure’s reversible door and you can immediately access the front and rear of your components to get to the cable ins and outs. It is not quite as easy to reach the rear of most horizontal enclosures.
• Aesthetics: Looks count. Vertical enclosures have a sleek and compact design, which can contribute to a more aesthetically pleasing and professional-looking installation. They help keep the equipment organized and visually appealing, particularly in environments where the rack is visible or in customer-facing areas.

3 Horizontal Wall-Mount Advantages

• More Size Choices: Because horizontal racks are more commonly used than vertical, there is a greater selection of sizes, a better chance at finding the odd size you might need. For instance, SMC’s horizontal wall-mount line comes in 16 different RU capacities, while our vertical models come in 6.
• More Weight Capacity: While ShowMeCables’ vertical enclosures can hold up to 150 pounds of equipment, a few of our horizontal models hold up to 200 pounds.
• Equipment Monitoring: Many of our horizontal cabinets come with a tempered-glass door that allows you to visually monitor the components inside. While some of our vertical models have a tempered glass door as well, equipment inside is facing upward so you can’t see their front panels as easily.

SMC’s Vertical Wall Enclosures

NavePoint’s selection of more than two dozen vertical wall enclosures can help you get the most use of the space in your data center or IT closet. Our customers are using them to hold their servers, switches, patch panels, and much more.

Key Features:

• Size options to fit your room, from 2U to 8U of capacity and 13 to 35 inches of inside depth
• Low-profile design is good for a back office, closet, retail location, etc.
• Enough weight capacity, at up to 150 pounds, to hold all your gear
• Extra room in the cabinet’s top for an included removable mounting bracket for a 1U or 2U patch panel

SMC’s vertical wall-mount enclosures are in stock and available with FREE standard same-day shipping.

Summary

Vertical wall-mount rack cabinets are incredibly space-efficient, can be installed just about anywhere, and offer instant accessibility to the front and back of your components. They also look great in a professional business environment. On the other hand, horizontal enclosures come in more sizes, can take on a bit more weight, and allow better visual monitoring. Which benefits are most important to you?

SMC’s vertical wall-mount cabinets as well as our line of 10-inch vertical wall-mount enclosures and all our racks, cabinets and accessories are in stock and available for same-day shipping if ordered before 5 p.m. ET.

If you have any questions or need guidance on which wall-mount vertical cabinet is best for you, our U.S.-based customer service would love to hear from you at 1-888-519-9505. Or you can contact us via email or chat.

SMC’s Vertical Wall-Mount Cabinets

The cabinets in the table above do not include SMC’s line of 10-inch vertical wall-mount enclosures.