Rack Planner

What to enter and where to find each number

Each row is one type of equipment: what it is, its height in rack units (U), the watts of one unit and how many you have.

• Height. Printed on the datasheet as 1U, 2U and so on. One U is 44.45 mm, so you can also measure the front panel. Choose "Other" to set any height yourself. A vertical PDU mounts on the side and counts as 0U.
• Watts each. The presets are typical values (switch 40 W, firewall 40 W, 1U server 300 W, 2U server 450 W, NAS 120 W, NVR 60 W). Replace them with the maximum from the datasheet or the nameplate on the back of the unit. For a server, the iDRAC, iLO or similar management page shows real consumption.
• UPS. Enter only the UPS's own losses (the presets are 60 W for 2U and 100 W for 3U). The equipment it feeds is already in the other rows, so its load must not be counted twice.
• Free space for the future. 25% by default. Empty U also lets air move between hot devices.
• Switch ports in use and layout. Count the patched ports. "Interleaved" means each switch sits directly above or below its patch panel; "grouped" means all panels together and all switches together.

How the planner works out the results

The drawing fills from the top in list order and puts UPS units at the bottom, because batteries are the heaviest thing in the rack. The 25% is the only margin. Watts are not derated, and the heat figure assumes every watt ends up as heat, which is close to true for IT equipment.

Worked example: a small office with one server

A trading office in Vientiane: 2 patch panels, 2 switches at 40 W, 2 cable managers, 1 firewall at 40 W, one 2U server at 450 W, one 2U NVR at 60 W, a 3U UPS (100 W of losses) and a horizontal PDU. 40 ports in use, panels and switches grouped.

• U used: 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 1 = 15U.
• With headroom: 15 × 1.25 = 18.75, rounded up to 19U, so the next size is a 22U rack.
• Type: the server makes it floor-standing, at least 800 mm deep. Without headroom 15U would fit a wall-mount size, but the server still rules it out.
• Power: 2 × 40 + 40 + 450 + 60 + 100 = 730 W. Second check: 80 + 40 = 120; 120 + 450 = 570; 570 + 60 = 630; 630 + 100 = 730.
• Heat: 730 × 3.412 = 2,490.76, shown as 2,491 BTU/h. That is under 1,500 W, so no fan warning, but a closed rack in a store room will still cook.
• Cords: 40 at 1 m. Interleave the panels and switches and they become 40 at 0.5 m. Order about 44.

For the UPS, the load is 730 − 100 = 630 W, because the 100 W is the UPS itself. Enter 630 W in the UPS runtime calculator.

The default rows on the page give a simpler case: 12U used, × 1.25 = 15U, a 15U wall-mount cabinet, 300 W and 1,024 BTU/h (300 × 3.412 = 1,023.6).

Heat, power and placement in Lao conditions

• One ton of air-conditioning removes 12,000 BTU/h. The rack in the example adds about 0.2 ton (2,491 ÷ 12,000), but the room also gains heat from lights, people and a west wall in the afternoon sun. Size the air-conditioner for the room, not only the rack.
• Hot, humid rooms shorten battery life. A UPS battery kept in a room without air-conditioning ages much faster than its rated life.
• Brownouts between 17:00 and 19:00 hit just when the air-conditioner and lights also start. Put the air-conditioner on its own circuit, not on the UPS.
• A wall-mount cabinet carrying a UPS needs a solid wall and proper anchors. Check the weight with batteries before you drill into a gypsum board partition.
• At mine sites and warehouses, dust blocks fans and filters. Plan a cleaning schedule, not just a bigger rack.

Common mistakes we see on Lao sites

• Buying the rack after the equipment, then finding the server is longer than a 600 mm cabinet.
• No free U left, so the next switch sits on top of the rack.
• Every patch cord 2–3 m long, coiled in front of the switches and blocking the air.
• The UPS mounted at the top of a wall cabinet, which makes it top-heavy and hard to service.
• No labels on ports, cords or panels. See network rack and labeling.

When the planner is not enough

The tool sizes one rack from a list. A server room with several racks, a new building, or a site where the rack has to share a room with a generator transfer switch or electrical panels needs a survey: floor loading, cooling, earthing, cable routes and access. Our server room checklist lists what we look at, and the build itself is part of our server room buildout and structured cabling work.

Next step

Send us on WhatsApp a screenshot of your planner result, a photo of the room where the rack will go, and photos of the model labels on the server and UPS. We will confirm the rack size and depth and tell you whether the room needs extra cooling.