October 11, 2008: New twist in rackmount networking
Here is a nifty thing I found at RackSolutions.com - a vertical rackmount patch panel! Optionally you can put a vertical powerstrip right next to it.
The 44U, 88-port assembly, without the vertical powerstrip, goes for $199. And listen up: it is not prewired. In fact it does not even come with the keystone jacks pictured here. You buy those separately, patch and label them yourself (or have your cabling people do it).
I’d love to see this stuff up close. It looks to me like it can only mount on the outside of an open 4-post rack, but there may be a way to fit it inside enclosures (which have metal sides and doors front and back); it is hard to tell from the information and pictures shown.
Depending on your racks, need for KVM, and use of cable management arms, this would make for a sweet looking and easy-to-manage setup, I think.
Also: RackSolutions.com has a very nice writeup on various rackmount details - hole placement and shape, various cable arms and shelving options, open vs closed racks, portable and wallmount racks, and so on. If you’re new to racking, I heartily recommend at least skimming this document, which is no-nonsense and completely free of sales pressure. A very welcome presentation of the minutia of infrastructure racks.
