Rack mounting a Proliant 7000

[Dean Malandris]

I'm using a Proliant 7000 and am trying to get it into a standard 19" rack. Problem is, although I have 8 sets of spare Compaq rails lying about the place, none of them are suitable. No problems with the other machines like the 5500 etc. but the 7000 is 10mm narrower in the body where the rails mount on, compared to the other machines I have in the same rack (such as the 5500), so it doesn't fit.

I located a pair of rails for shelves, thinking that their extra thickness would do the trick, but they are way too wide, so I'm back to square one again.

Are the rails for the 7000 special in some way (I guess they'd have to be to make up for the 10mm discrepancy in the width) or am I missing something?

Attached is a photo where I've lined up the rail feet with the front of the rack - on the left side (not shown) I've lined up the mounting holes exactly. On the right (in this photo) you can see where it falls short.

[Allan Bowman]

Dean,

Welcome to the forums!

I have never worked with the 7000, but based on past experience, just about every server has a unique set of mounting rails. I've even seen differences from one generation of a partiucular server to the next (I believe DL360 G2, G3, and G4 all have different mounting kits).

You should be able to make the rails work with some standoff brackets. If you don't have anything that will work out of the box (from other equipment), you can easily make them. You would need four brackets (best to center the server rather than just being offset on one side). Each bracket would be about 1 1/2 inches square with four holes - 2 holes for mounting to the cabinet rails and 2 holes for mounting to the server rails. Sometimes I have been able to use reducer barckets that come with most telecom equipment (they are used to mount 19 inch equipment in a 23 inch cabinet) - I usually just need to drill 2 new holes if everything doesn't line up. You can also buy reducer plates from most cabinet manufacturers.

Hope this helps!

Allan in Atlanta

[Dean Malandris]

Can't take the reducer plate route as the spacing is only out by 12mm - that doesn't give you enough room to play with. Moving each screw centre for the server rail inwards by just 6mm means you'd need to drill through the vertical rack support rail (and watch in amusement at its subsequent catastrophic collapse) so no go on that one.

This got into the "too hard basket" so I've decided to make the server fit the rack rather than the rack fit the server. The body width where the rails mount onto the server is 422mm on machines such as the 5500. The 7000 is 410mm, 12mm too narrow. Bet Compaq did this when they designed the chassis knowing that in years to come, someone like myself would grab one, try to fit it into a rack with a 1200, 5500, etc. and so they just HAD to go out of their way to piss me off. I've had the machine sitting on the floor for almost a year, looking for a set of rails.

So....

I went out and bought a length of solid aluminium bar, 6mm x 25mm. Cut two lengths off of 570mm, and using the server rails as templates, drilled through them so that the holes aligned. Knocked out the captive nuts from the server body, and fitted the rails plus the new spacer bars with longer screws secured by internal machine nuts. Presto! The 7000 is now 422mm wide at the rails and it looks like a factory job.

Works a treat.

Ruddy Compaq... mutter grumble....