Why are rackmounts so damned deep?

[imported_goku]

I'm looking at some rackmounts and I saw one that is 600 and 750mm wide and I thought that was good but when I found out they were 1070mm deep, I was like WTF! HOLY CRAP. So, why are they so damned large? I thought 1U or 2U systems were fairly small?

 

[Maluno]

Are you sure you read that right??? 1070mm == 1.07meters!!! Even 600mm and 750mm is over half a meter.

 

[imported_goku]

http://apcc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=301

 

[keeleysam]

Cooling.

 

[imported_goku]

Whats the most shallow rackmount I can buy?

 

[atom]

What exactly are you looking to build? First post you ask about 1U/2U rackmount. Next post you link to a massive 42U enclosure. Third post you want the shallowest rackmount you can buy. Are you actually looking to build a 42U sized unit? Most 42U cabinets are that deep to hold the large cooling units required for a system that big.

If you are just looking for the absolute smallest rackmount:

http://www.casetronic.com/Products/Rackmount/1U-Rackmount/1U-Rackmount.asp

The travla mini itx rackmounts. Many other companies make mini itx rackmounts and they are about as small as you're gonna get.

 

[Zepper]

The individual computer chassis can be 23 inches deep or more to hold an extended ATX mobo for dualie or quad processor plus drives and PSU. So the rack to put them in has to be deep too.

.bh.

 

[imported_goku]

Originally posted by: atom
What exactly are you looking to build? First post you ask about 1U/2U rackmount. Next post you link to a massive 42U enclosure. Third post you want the shallowest rackmount you can buy. Are you actually looking to build a 42U sized unit? Most 42U cabinets are that deep to hold the large cooling units required for a system that big.

If you are just looking for the absolute smallest rackmount:

http://www.casetronic.com/Products/Rackmount/1U-Rackmount/1U-Rackmount.asp

The travla mini itx rackmounts. Many other companies make mini itx rackmounts and they are about as small as you're gonna get.

Well I thought that it would make sense to get something that is 42U or 48U high, that way I could have more components stacked up, that is the point, right? I thought the 1U systems had their own cooling, so why would they need a rack that deep? Is it possible to get a rack that is that is 42 or 48U high but is more shallow since I don't have any special cooling needs?


I first intend to get shelves for this rack mount and then over time get 1U/2U/4U devices to fill up the voids.. (The shelves would house a standard desktop system and it would effectively let me stack up systems)

 

[atom]

Cooling is more than the sum of its parts. One 1U unit can cool itself, but when you have 40 of em packed into a single cabinet, it's a whole other beast.

Most 42U sized units are built for eatx so like zepper said it's a minimum of 23 inches and most are at least 30". For what you want to do, I think you should try finding stackable cabinets. It's much easier to find 14U/20U stackable cabinets that are regular atx, which only requires something like 18 inches depth wise.

 

[imported_goku]

Originally posted by: atom
Cooling is more than the sum of its parts. One 1U unit can cool itself, but when you have 40 of em packed into a single cabinet, it's a whole other beast.

Most 42U sized units are built for eatx so like zepper said it's a minimum of 23 inches and most are at least 30". For what you want to do, I think you should try finding stackable cabinets. It's much easier to find 14U/20U stackable cabinets that are regular atx, which only requires something like 18 inches depth wise.

Thanks, that sounds like a good idea. Are the stackable cabinents narrower? Do they allow you to remove the bottom/top peice so they look contiguous? Link to one of these?

Edit:

Now that I remeasured, I see that 23 inches and 30 inches aren't too deep for my standards.. So, are you saying that there are 23/30inch DEEP 42/48U rackmounts? Link to any of these? How deep are the ATX cabinents usually compared to the EATX cabinents? 30Inches deep is fine but when it gets up to 40inches deep, thats just too much...