Denis Joseph Nexum Hardware.

Rack Enclosure

Eight Reasons to Design a Custom Rackmount Enclosure

Built around industry standard form factors for PICMG single board computers, passive backplanes and embedded motherboards, off-the-shelf industrial rackmount enclosures provide a solid foundation for most industrial, military and embedded computing solutions.  There are times, however, when customer applications demand a custom rackmount enclosure to meet unique program requirements.

1) Weight – most industrial rackmount enclosures are manufactured from cold rolled steel, as this choice provides excellent value and strength of construction.  However, when Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) are a driving factor in system design, aluminum becomes the metal of choice.

2) Power – depending on chassis height (1U to 6U) and depth (15" to 28") rackmount enclosures are designed to accommodate a wide range of power supply options, but when unique power requirements are called for, such as increased wattage or hot-swap capability, changes to the chassis may be needed to accommodate mounting requirements.

3) Cooling – while all Trenton rackmount computer systems are engineered to handle thermal management issues, high-density installations of certain I/O cards, or deployment in extreme temperature environments, may require addition cooling capacity.  Custom mounting brackets allow for changes in fan size, density or location.

4) Storage – front mount access is typical for hard drives, often employing hot-swap drive carriers.  Some rackmount enclosures even provide for internal drive mounting, yet there are times when customers will need additional hard drive capacity to meet application requirements, and that means adding a mounting bracket within the chassis.

5) Connections – applications within the areas of test and measurement or industrial automation often require connections above and beyond those found on standard industrial computers.  Accommodating multiple RS-232, RS-422 or RS-485 serial ports, Ethernet ports via RJ45 jacks or SCSI connectors for external drive capacity will require a custom rear panel.

6) Mounting – custom I/O or interface cards can present mounting challenges within a rackmount chassis.  This often requires the addition of self-clinching fasteners, such as threaded nuts, studs or standoffs that are mechanically pressed into the sheet metal to provide solid fastening points.

7) Labels – identifying the various connectors, switches and ports that appear on most rackmount computer systems is rarely an issue, but some customers do need to identify such components using silkscreened callouts to match system documentation and ensure proper configuration when deployed.   This is especially true when dealing with multiple USB ports, reset and power switches, or serial port connections.

Branding – black powder coat is standard for industrial rackmount enclosure front panels, but creating an OEM solution may require a unique color and/or company logo in order to match their brand.  By adding I/O cards and software, these customers can create industry-specific computing solutions.

About the Author

Mark Lovett is the Chief Marketing Officer for Trenton Technology. Mark has held various executive level positions in the embedded and industrial computing industries. For further information, please visit Trenton Technology.

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