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Old 05-29-2007, 09:51 PM
cernst cernst is offline
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Default Cheap blanking panel solution

I've found a pretty good method for cheaply blanking out a rack. Interspersed though the data center I have a few racks that are completely empty, waiting to be occupied until others are full. I'm a firm believer in blanking panels, but blanking out a whole rack can get a little pricey.

Our old cabinets (really old) had no venting in the front and were "stylish" with smoked Plexiglas doors. I did some calling to some local plastic solution businesses in the area and found some 20" x 73" x 1/8" black plexiglas for 28 bucks each. Even if you just had half a rack to block, that'd still be 14 bucks to do that. I did have to drill out my own holes for bolts, but once you have one done, you have a template for future panels. They look really nice too.
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Old 05-31-2007, 09:59 PM
SuperRacks SuperRacks is offline
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I think Plexiglas is flammable? Does the insuranceco like that?
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Old 06-02-2007, 04:53 PM
Zitibake Zitibake is offline
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I have some older server cabinets with solid panels in the doors (non-perforated); it looks like plexiglass to me. But you're right, best practice would be to use non-flammable materials.

In some cabinets that have many feet of empty space, I have thought of using Tyvek, since it's plenum rated. Anyone know of where to get something like Dupont Homewrap, but without the labelling? It would be cool to have a roll 19 inches wide, to cut "blanking curtains" from. How to attach is another thing (grommets for the screws?).
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Old 06-17-2007, 03:49 AM
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Keith Keith is offline
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------ Warning: Long posting below! -------
First off, Great job cernst. It is always good to see resourcefulness in the datacenter!


Ok, it appears there might be a little confusion between the definition of plenum rated and flammable. Plexi glass, plastic, and tyvek may not be "flammable" per say but they are combustible (meaning a physical characteristic change takes place when exposed to high heat.) Plenum rating does not apply in a cabinet; unless maybe it is enclosed and has a direct exhaust hood for return air. It is only required inside of a plenum (a space used in the delivery of environmental air supply.)

Tyvek has combustion/melting point of 275 degrees Fahrenheit. Plexiglass's combustion/melting point range is surprisingly a little higher at 265-285 degrees Fahrenheit. Regardless of toxicity, if your datacenter is 275 degrees, you will likely not want to be in there. Furthermore, if your datacenter is getting to combustion temperatures, you have more important things to worry about than if your blanking panel is burnt up or melted. Now don't get me wrong, I am all for non-flammable materials in the datacenter...not only do I work in datacenters, I also am a firefighter...Anything that makes me not have to fight a fire is OK with me!

Sun Microsystems has been releasing blanking panels for their cabinets in plastic form for quite a while now. I cannot recall any stories regarding fires being caused by these panels melting. The only way I can see to getting a truly non-flammable panel would be to look in to something lined with nomex and/or kevlar; or use metal.

One other word of caution is that Tyvek, in a low humidity environment, carries a high potential of building a static charge.

Now that I got the above thoughts out of my system, I will make a recommendation.... In my opinion, the cheapest and most rugged way to get a blanking panel is to go to a local metal fabricator and have them make the panels for you out of sheet metal. It should only take a couple hours to get a bunch of these done. Do it in high quantities in various sizes to custom suit your needs and you will be set. This will be as simple as using a guillotine to cut the sections to the appropriate widths and lengths and drilling holes for mounting. I you want additional air protection between the panels, you can have them cut the panels a tiny bit short and insert a rubber strip between the different panels.

After that is said and done, you can paint the panels with a matte finish spray paint, you can even use high temperature spray paint (the stuff they use on BBQ grills.)

I hope my rambling and opinions helped a little bit. I hope I did not type too much either. It feels like I have been typing forever!

Good luck!

Last edited by Keith; 06-17-2007 at 03:51 AM. Reason: Because :)
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Old 06-18-2007, 11:03 PM
cernst cernst is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hmsee1 View Post
i am using Kydex panels, cut to the correct width in 26" lengths. what is nice about this material is that i can simply score and snap it to the correct height, attach with industrial strength velco to the rack. for a 26" length, it runs less than 7 bucks.
Do you have any additional documentation for what exactly you use? Looking at Kydex's web page, there is little tangible information to look at.


as far as fire safety. I do know that once plexiglas starts to burn, it is supposed to burn hot and throws out a lot of toxins and particles that could damage data on hard drives should any servers in the room be running. However, like Zitibake said, I just pulled out 20+ racks that had plexiglas doors. All my fiber patch paneling has plexiglas doors. I've looked at MSDS papers of some variants of plexiglas, I've seen temps as high as 800F when it will start to combust.

I also did notice that there was some static charge when I pulled the protective covering off each side...but that did dissipate and is fine now. Might not be a bad idea to peel the protective paper off and let it sit in a staging area for a while.
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Old 09-19-2007, 03:58 PM
FrankB FrankB is offline
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Hi Laurie,

Is the new 19" wide Plenaform available currently? I did not see it listed on the website.

Thanks,
-Frank
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