Rack mounting assistant

[MatthewL]

I was flicking through Instagram as you do and this popped up.

 

Anyone know that they are using to rest the switch on when mounting, I've not seen one before but it would be a life saver when working in cabinets.

 

I've looked on a few sites but unable to find anything that bares any resemblance.

[Chris_Cook]

It looks like one of these.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PATCHBOX-PBXEXE-Setup-exe/dp/B0784R2HKK

 

I've been tempted to make one in the past, but never bothered so far.

[smurfomatic]

Recently had some Openreach engineers on site installing equipment, they had one and said it was a great help when working with heavy switches in bigger cabinets.

 

Given the price and the frequency it would be used, can't really justify buying one.

[Roberto]

Would rather one of the below for a data centre, thinking about servers and UPSes as well as switches.

 

https://www.edpeurope.com/product-category/data-centre-peripherals/edp-server-lifters/

 

Does depend on how much use they get, but equally I wouldn’t risk mine or anyone else’s safety attempting server deadlifting these days. Figuring out the affordability of something like this or paying for installation services in a place that only requires occasional use is a health and safety question imo.

Edited March 3, 2024 by Roberto

[FN-GM]

Would rather one of the below for a data centre, thinking about servers and UPSes as well as switches.

 

https://www.edpeurope.com/product-category/data-centre-peripherals/edp-server-lifters/

 

Does depend on how much use they get, but equally I wouldn’t risk mine or anyone else’s safety attempting server deadlifting these days. Figuring out the affordability of something like this or paying for installation services in a place that only requires occasional use is a health and safety question imo.

 

We host equipment in a dedicated data centre and they provide these. I was racking equipment on Friday, servers are much lighter these days so didn't find myself needing to use it.

[Mr.Ben]

We have one for the team. They are really useful if you are racking in awkward places, especially when you are on a ladder and need 3 points of contact for safety.

[Chris_Cook]

An upside down 1u rack shelf might do a similar job for a lot less. But I never seem to have the space in the rack to use either. Its probably great in a new rack though.

 

Normally I just slide the switch in above whatever is already in there, then reach round with one hand. I can then get the bottom 2 screws in finger tight and that's enough to hold it in place while I do the top and tighten with a screw driver. Bigger switches might be an issue, but then I can normally take the side off the rack and get someone to help for a couple of minutes.

 

You can use kneecaps or your belly for a 3rd point of contact on a ladder - basically lean into it. HSE says this is fine for brief periods if there isn't a better method available.

 

Its important to have manual handling training for bigger switches and servers, as these are normally a team lift. There's nothing to say this can't be done by hand if there is no better method reasonably available.

 

What I wished I'd done racking up one of my older servers was marking up where server rails aren't the type for sliding out and working on the server in place. Dropping a server is never fun.

[MatthewL]

Yeah does seem to be one of the PatchBox ones, at the cost of them I will manage as is, if I was doing it day in day out I might but cannot justify the cost.

 

I work across multiple sites swapping kit out so would be more use there, no space in our server room for a scissor lift kit rarely gets swapped to.