Racks

The rack model represents a physical two- or four-post equipment rack in which devices can be installed. Each rack must be assigned to a site, and may optionally be assigned to a location within that site. Racks can also be organized by user-defined functional roles or by rack groups. The name and facility ID of each rack within a location must be unique.

Rack height is measured in rack units (U); racks are commonly between 42U and 48U tall, but NetBox allows you to define racks of arbitrary height. A toggle is provided to indicate whether rack units are in ascending (from the ground up) or descending order.

Each rack is assigned a name and (optionally) a separate facility ID. This is helpful when leasing space in a data center your organization does not own: The facility will often assign a seemingly arbitrary ID to a rack (for example, "M204.313") whereas internally you refer to is simply as "R113." A unique serial number and asset tag may also be associated with each rack.

Fields

Site

The site to which the rack is assigned.

Location

The location within a site where the rack has been installed (optional).

Rack Group

The group used to organize racks by physical placement (optional).

Name

The rack's name or identifier. Must be unique to the rack's location, if assigned.

Rack Type

The physical type of this rack. The rack type defines physical attributes such as height and weight.

Status

Operational status.

Role

The functional role fulfilled by the rack.

Facility ID

An alternative identifier assigned to the rack e.g. by the facility operator. This is helpful for tracking datacenter rack designations in a colocation facility.

Serial Number

The unique physical serial number assigned to this rack.

Asset Tag

A unique, locally-administered label used to identify hardware resources.

Cooling Capability

Describes how the rack is able to cool the equipment installed in it, which indicates what kind of equipment it can accommodate:

• Air-only: The rack is cooled by airflow only; no coolant is delivered to it. Only air-cooled equipment can be installed.
• Hybrid: Coolant can be delivered to the rack (e.g. via a cooling feed), but it can also house air-cooled equipment. Suitable for mixed or hybrid deployments.
• Liquid-only: The rack is intended exclusively for liquid-cooled equipment (such as direct-to-chip or immersion systems) and does not provide adequate air cooling on its own.

This attribute documents the rack's intended use so that incompatible equipment—such as high-density liquid-cooled hardware in an air-only rack—can be identified. When the rack is assigned a rack type, this value is inherited from the rack type.

Cooling Capacity

The rack's cooling capacity, expressed in kilowatts (kW). When the rack is assigned a rack type, this value is inherited from the rack type.

Physical Attributes

Several physical attributes may be defined on each rack, including its width, height, outer dimensions, mounting depth, and weight. These should generally be defined on the rack type assigned to the rack rather than on the rack itself.