PowerEdge Chassis and Rack Designs

Tower vs. Rack-Mount Chassis

PowerEdge systems are available in a wide range of chassis sizes and designs. There are two basic categories of PowerEdge server chassis types: tower and rack-mount.

Tower Chassis

Tower or "stand-alone" servers may be installed in a free standing configuration without additional parts or modifications. Most PowerEdge tower servers may also be mounted in a server rack after being modified with an optional rack mounting kit. Rack mounting kits may be factory installed when a server is manufactured, or installed at a later time as rack mounting becomes necessary. This provides flexibility for growing IT departments.

Rack-Mount Chassis

Rack-mount chassis systems must be installed in a server rack. This allows the PowerEdge Rack servers to be optimized for maximum space efficiency in a dense rack environment. Rack components are categorized by height as defined in industry standard units, or U. One U is approximately 1.75 inches, and PowerEdge rack servers are currently available in chassis sizes of 1U, 2U, 4U and 7U.

Racking Systems

For housing rack components, Dell's free standing rack systems are available in 24U and 42U sizes. For an overview of Dell's free standing rack mounting systems, please read the information contained in the following brochure:

Dell 24U/42U Rack Overview (Adobe Acrobat .pdf format) (This link will open in a separate browser window; please close it and continue the course when finished.)

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the brochure. If it is not installed on your system, it may be obtained for free here:

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