Rack Rail Mounting Kits Explained - For Servers, Arrays, KMM, Routers Mounted In 19

Rack Rail Mounting Kits are Explained in this Video

Server rail kits come in many flavours including:
4 Post Rack Rails - Versa, Rapid, Sliding, Static, Square Hole, Round Hole
2 Post Rack Rails

DiscTech offers every type of Rack Rail Mounting kit for servers, storage arrays, KMM/KVM consoles, routers, switches mounted in standard 19" racks - Dell, HP, IBM, Cisco, Synology, Pure, Nimble Storage.

For smaller lighter equipment, you can often attach it directly to the rack. However, for mounting of larger, heavier equipment, such as servers or hard disk arrays you will need rack mounting hardware, known as “rail kits”.

To purchase the correct rail kit for your system, you need to know the model of server you are mounting in your rack, and the type of rack. For example if you wished to mount a Dell R730 server in a two-post rack you would need a two-post Dell rail kit for the R730.

Two-post racks are used when space is limited or the equipment being mounted is light weight. Two-post racks are most commonly used in the telecommunications industry.

Four-post racks are robust, beautiful and have the most advanced cooling options. Four-post racks are ideal for when you have multiple servers to mount. If you have the space we always recommend four-post racks for enterprise environments.

There are three types of server racks. Two-post racks (sometimes known as Relay racks), and four-post racks, commonly known as rack cabinets which come in two flavours, four-post round-hole, and four-post square-hole.

If you have a two-post rack you can only use a two-post rail kit. All two-post rail kits are threaded.

If you have a four-post round hole rack, you need a “regular” four-post rail kit designed for your system. Dell calls round-hole four-post rail kits, Versa rail kits. This eludes to the fact that round-hole four-post rail kits, work in ALL four-post racks (both round and square hole types).

If you have a four-post square-hole rack, then you can use any type of four-post rail kit (as threaded hole rail kits can be installed using cage-nuts). Dell calls square-hole four-post rail kits, Rapid or Ready rail-kits. This eludes to the fact that square-hole four-post rail kits are quicker to install as they clip into place, and do not require mounting screws.

For some systems, Dell makes combination rail kits called “Rapid/Versa” or “Ready-Rail” kits that can be mounted in any type of 4 post rack.

Dell Ready-Rails are the update to “Rapid/Versa”. Ready Rails and are the most universal Dell Rail-kits; they use a unique latch and mounting system that connects directly to all types of rack enclosures with square or round un-threaded holes. It is a tool-less installation.

Ready Rails can also be installed in Racks with threaded holes using Dell's Rack adapters, which do require tools.

Some Dell rail-kits are also available in sliding or static versions. Sliding-rails allow you to fully extend your server out of the rack for convenient access, without having to remove it from the rack. Static rails do not offer you the ability to move the server, therefore to service it, it has to be removed from the rack. Sliding rails are preferred by most technicians, however, static rails can reduce your infrastructure costs.

Cable management arms allow cables at the rear of the server to be tidied up, whilst still facilitating sliding of the server. They are often included within sliding rail kits, but in some instances are sold separately.

As with the majority of our IT components, we stock these items for same-day shipment. It’s easy to find & order these parts on our website, however, if you have any questions regarding compatibility or integration please do not hesitate to open a web-chat or just pick up the phone. Our technical engineers are available daily, during regular business hours.

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