Rack or Cabinet?

[Joel Jaeggli]

cabinets are really ideal when you have raised floors and forced-air 
cooling, in the absence of that, an open-rack will probably run cooler...

joelja

On Tue, 17 Jun 2003, Trent Piepho wrote:

> We're planning on buying a few rackmount systems, probably not so many
> that they take more than one rack, and I'm trying to decide between an open
> rack or a cabinet to house the systems+ups+switch+etc in.
> 
> I don't have much experience with rackmount systems, so I'm wondering if
> anyone here has any experiences to share.  The noise of the computer room is
> annoying the people near it, so I'd like to get a cabinet if they're quieter,
> but I'm concerned about the cooling issues.  Does the enclosed space cause
> cabinets to overheat?  I see some come with a few fans on the top, but is that
> really enough?  We have a cooled computer room, but no fancy underfloor AC
> ducts. 
> 
> >From what I've gathered about the pro/cons of the two.
> 
> Rack
> pros:
>   cheaper, usually < $500
>   open design probably results in better cooling
> 
> cons:
>   noisy
>   doesn't look as nice, with exposed rat's nests of wires, etc.
> 
> Cabinet
> pros:
>   Looks nice, with plexyglass doors and hidden wires, making non-techie types
>     more impressed with how their computer dollars were spent
>   dampens sound
> cons:
>   expensive, typical > $1500
>   lack of airflow may result in poor cooling
> 
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