Organising and wiring a rack cabinet: a complete guide for company networks

Rack cabinets facilitate the sorting and correct transmission of data signals within buildings. Let’s take a look at the essential components, selection criteria, and best practices for efficiency, order and protection of the network.

A network rack cabinet or panel contains servers, patch panels, connection panels and circuit breakers in a modular assembly, bolted to ensure security and efficient organisation for large data centres, IT equipment of any structure and company servers of different sizes. The modular and ordered composition facilitates the organisation and protection of the wiring, reduces tangling, and improves the reliability, maintenance and cooling of the installed components.

19-inch floor-mounted cabinets are named for the standard width of the modules they hold. This enables the user to plan configurations based on the number of units contained in the rack, which may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but usually consists of 42-44 units. A rack panel can be open, closed or hybrid, and offers various depths, finish types, IP ratings and installation types.

Floor-mounted network cabinets are mainly used for active and passive network components and are almost always fitted with metal or glass doors. Alternatively, 19-inch wall-mounted racks are better suited to small offices and residential contexts, hosting fewer units but in a more compact construction.

Rack cabinets contain various components. For fibre optic cabling there are optical splitters, patch panels, fibre supports and trays for optical services, as well as terminals, switchboards, optical connectors, fibre optic adapters, and optical cables.

Copper wiring requires different devices from those for fibre optic, such as data sockets for patch panels and cables for connections between panels, both in the UTP (unshielded cables) and FTP (shielded cables) version, with different data transmission characteristics based on the speed required.

There are then various accessories for safety and cable management, such as cable trays, entry panels, panels with cable grommets, mounting boxes, and enclosures to protect components from impacts and dust, and ventilation trays to house heat extractor fans.

Wiring a rack cabinet begins with the design, which can be generated using software, thanks to the standard measurements of the structure and components. At this stage, a complete list must be drafted of the devices that will be hosted by the panels, and the cables needed for complete wiring.

Next, we move on to installation of the vital components, such as the servers and other network management devices. The multi-socket devices, patch panels and accessories that ensure tidy cable organisation are attached to the structure.

During the wiring process, it is important to label the cables and choose recognisable colours for every function, in order to facilitate subsequent interventions and maintenance. The choice of cable length is also crucial, as it reduces costs and allows more space for the passage of air within the rack cabinet.

The space available determines whether you will need floor-mounted or wall-mounted cabinets. A high-quality rack panel offers plenty of space for ease of wiring and ventilation, reducing installation times and enabling rapid reconfiguration.

Depending on the number of devices, select the rack with the most appropriate load capacity and optimum dimensions to enable correct wiring, with the necessary space to house all the appropriate products to ensure perfect transmission of the signals throughout the building.

Every component must be earthed and easily detachable. To improve safety and prevent internal server crashes, some types of cabinets are fitted with key-operated locks and ventilated internal chambers to facilitate proper heat dissipation and limit dust accumulation.