Colocation Server Racks and Cabinets

A colocation, co-location or colo data centre provides its clients with a secure and managed environment in which the client can run their server operations. A colocation data centre can provide physical or virtual servers, server cabinets and data halls specifically configured and assigned to a specific client or customer under contract.

A typical server rack is designed to house a range of equipment within the rack which has secured front and back doors. A colocation server cabinet has 2, 3 or 4 bays each of which is secured with a lock and key, or access controlled (card or biometric) to provide a highly secure enclosure into which to place different clients equipment. A colocation server cabinet is ideal in shared server rooms or data centre spaces with multiple client servers, storage and IT network devices.

The interal height of a server cabinet is measured in U where 1U = 44.45mm. The overall height provided in the specifications is the total height of the outer cabinet including the castors. Care should be taken to note this height when planning and installation to make sure that the server cabinet can be manoeuvred into space from the delivery wagon with consideration given to doorway and lift widths, depths and heights.