Air Movement Group (AMG) in Dudley had a common problem in their main computer room. The cabinet that had been originally installed to house their network equipment and cabling had grown into a requirement for two cabinets. Unfortunately the second cabinet could not be installed adjacent to the original one.
The second cabinet was therefore installed off line to the original. As more cabling was installed into the new cabinet the patch cords became unmanageable and very untidy. In the ‘before’ picture the original cabinet is the one set back in the alcove. As can be seen in the photograph the patch cords actually loop in and out of the cabinets via the front doors. This problem was about to be compounded.
Electron were given the contract to install additional horizontal cabling to the existing structured cabling, along with a voice backbone. This meant installing another communications cabinet adjacent the second cabinet. This would have produced an almighty mess and patching would have also become an even bigger headache.
Unfortunately the original cabinet could not be brought forward to line up, as the cables that fed in to the base at the rear of the cabinet were not long enough. The area was redesigned using Chatsworth open racks, allowing the horizontal cables to be fed in at the top, creating more length. The two existing cabinets where cleared from the room in one weekend and the installation of the new racking was started. The racks are bolted to the floor at the base and held at the top by wall supports, creating a very solid framework.
Once the racking was complete the network equipment could be re-installed and Electron could get on with the initial contract to install new voice backbone patch panels and new horizontal patch panels.
Most customers are impressed with the size of the patch cord management, both horizontal and vertical, in the Chatsworth racks. The ‘after’ picture shows the four vertical patch cord management channels, which are 100mm x 100mm in size and never seem to fill. The picture also shows the horizontal patch cord management bars which have loops which are 100mm x 50mm in size.
“I have installed a number of these Chatsworth rack solutions for my customers to date, and the response from the IT manager is always good. The accessibility of an open rack combined with the quality of the Chatsworth design brings back flexibility and space to an expanding communications room” states Mark Wood of Electron.
Three weeks after the site was complete by Electron the client installed their new telephone system using the structured cabling. “Because of the excellent patching channels in the Chatsworth Rack, connecting the phone system was done very easily. I dread to think how I would have coped using the old cabinet arrangement” stated Olgun Chetin, Air Movement’s Telecommunications Manager.
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