DELL™
BEST PRACTICES GUIDE FOR RACK ENCLOSURES
A Dell Technical White Paper
PE2420 & PE4220
By Danny Alvarado
Dell │ Data Center Infrastructure
THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE AND IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF THIS INFORMATION REMAINS WITH THE USER OF THE INFORMATION. IN NO EVENT SHALL DELL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR OTHER DAMAGES, EVEN IF DELL HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.
DELL, the DELL logo, and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Inc.
©2009 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. For more information, contact Dell.
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary ................................................................................................... |
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Key Attributes ............................................................................................................ |
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Size ....................................................................................................................... |
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Strength................................................................................................................. |
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Cooling ................................................................................................................. |
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Rack Installation ........................................................................................................ |
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Removal from Pallet............................................................................................. |
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Moving into Place ................................................................................................ |
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Coupling Racks .................................................................................................. |
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Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Installation ............................................................ |
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Rear Mount PDUs .............................................................................................. |
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Zero U Mount PDUs .......................................................................................... |
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Cabling ..................................................................................................................... |
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Internal Cable Management ............................................................................... |
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Executive Summary
The Dell™ PowerEdge™ Rack Enclosures are offered in two sizes, 24U (2420) and 42U (4220). The Dell 2420 and 4220 Rack Enclosures are designed to hold and protect server, network, and data storage equipment. The Dell Rack Enclosure is a sturdy, practical design that is solidly built and delivered with Dell quality service, support, and reliability. The Dell 2420 and 4220 Rack Enclosure feature an array of enhancements over traditional cabinets to address critical power, cooling, and cabling issues of the datacenter. Dell 2420 and 4220 Rack Enclosures are designed to be used in any environment: a data center, a remote office, a wiring closet, or even a factory floor.
The Dell 2420 and 4220 Rack Enclosures are UL certified and adhere to the CEA-310-E standards for 19" rackmount equipment. Dell PowerEdge servers fit into these racks as do other important networking equipment including Dell PowerVault™, Dell EqualLogic and Dell EMC storage, PowerConnect™ or other networking equipment like routers, switches, and etc.
This document is intended only as a guide to some best practices when installing and using a Dell 2420 or 4220 Rack Enclosure. While not all deployment scenarios can be covered here, this document looks to provide guidance for some of the more common environments where Dell Rack Enclosures are used.
Key Attributes
Size
Dell 2420 and 4220 Rack Enclosures come in two key sizes to accommodate server mounting needs at both small office environments and in large scale data center installations.
The 2420 Rack Enclosure is a 24U rack that has the following dimensions shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Dell 2420 Rack Enclosure
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The 4220 Rack Enclosure is a 42U rack that has the following dimensions shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Dell 4220 Rack Enclosure
Strength
The new Dell Rack Enclosures have increased static load capacity versus the previous generation of Dell Rack Enclosures. They have been upgraded with redesigned frame base members, stronger corner weld joints, better reinforced leveling feet, and new castor wheels made of nylon with higher impact strength over the previous version of castor wheels.
Table 1. Rack Enclosure Load Capacities |
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Rack |
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Static Load Capacity (Lbs) |
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Model |
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2420 |
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1500 |
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4220 |
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2500 |
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Cooling
The Dell 2420 and 4220 Rack Enclosures have been designed to provide the necessary thermal environment to help reduce inefficiency at the rack level in cooling your rack mount equipment in the data center environment.
When it comes to cooling in the rack environment, the two key areas that need to be addressed are airflow into the rack and management of the hot air exhaust inside the rack.
The air intake into the rack enclosure is a function of how much cool air is presented to the rack and the amount of cool air that can make it through the perforations in the rack enclosure front door as well as how much hot air can be expelled through the perforations in the rear doors of the rack enclosure.
The door perforation design of the 2420 and 4220 Rack Enclosure front and rear doors provide 80% open area for greater airflow capability than many other comparable racks.
Figure 3: 80% Open Perforation on Front & Rear Doors
Although the size of perforations in the rack doors are not usually a key contributor to overheating in the rack and data center environment, a more open door perforation design ensures adequate airflow at the rack level.
Incorrect airflow management inside the rack enclosure can cause inefficiencies in cooling your rack mount equipment. In standard data center environments, IT equipment pulls cool air in through the front door of the rack enclosure and expels hot air through the rear of the system, and then through the rear doors of the rack. This cycle of air flow should be consistent and continuous.
Key to maintaining this airflow cycle is proper rack enclosure design and the use of best practices in configuring your rackmount equipment. The design of the rack should be such that the airflow path inside the rack does not allow hot air exhausting from the rear of systems to travel to the front of the equipment through the sides of the rack. When hot air exhaust travels to the front of the rack, it can enter rackmount equipment and disrupt the cooling cycle by introducing hot air into the systems, thereby decreasing the systems’ efficiency. See Figure 4.
It should be noted that the rack fan kit available from Dell for legacy rack enclosures will also install into the 4220 Rack Enclosure.
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