Not exaclty Ubuntu... question about server racks

[Cadmus]

So I've got a project that will involve getting a 19" rack for a few pieces of rack-mount kit. But I'm a little bamboozled by sizes.

I've been browsing and I notice that cabinets seem to come in a few different heights, widths, and depths. Heights I get, but surely all equipment is the same width? So what advantage does a 800mm wide rack offer over a 600mm wide rack? Just a little more finger room at the sides? And depth, is the distance between the racks always the same, and a deeper rack simply accomodates longer servers?

Many thanks to anyone who can clear this up.

[crtlbreak]

The wider racks are not just finger room - they also allow for more cable room internally in the racks (something that is always a problem) - thecable runs up and down the insides of the rack between the servers ad the rack sides is obviously more in the wider racks.
Obviously a deeper rack accommodates longer servers such as Dell 2850's etc. The shorter 1800's are equally at home in a shallower (front to back) rack. It also once again depends on whether

you are going to have a cooled room environment (that ownt necessitate cabinet doors on front and rear?)
you are going to have Rack fans on top (extracting/pulling air)
the sizes of your intended servers
the amount of cabling (is it just an IT envirnment - or like mine is a broadcast environment where almost every machine has multiple audio inputs and outputs - this obviously needs more cabling!)

This list is not exhaustive as there are many more parameters - Ihave named the most important - hope I havet raised too many questions again?
regards

[Cadmus]

Thanks for the info!

I probably won't need so much room as I'm thinking of only getting something in the 12-27u size range, so there's a limit as to how much stuff I can fit in :).

But you are right about giving consideration to cooling and the like.

[insert obvious question about your servers going to 11]