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The EIA-310-D Standard
For cabinets, racks, panels, and associated equipment
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Scope
This standard is intended to provide overall design
requirements for cabinets, panels, racks and subracks. When specifications
are developed from this standard, agreements for that unit shall be made
between the supplier and user
Sectional Descriptions
Section 1:
Is
the soft metric conversion of the superseded EIA-310-C to conform with the
US Public Law 100-418
Section 2:
Is an adaptation of IEC
917 recommendations for cabinets, racks and panels. It is compatible with
the IEC 25 millimeter practices
Type A
is the preferred Cabinet and Rack Standard with no restrictions placed on
overall width, height or depth. Key interfaces control the dimensions
Type B
is similar to Type A, with restrictions on overall width, height, and
depth. This type should be used when equipment is in an environment that
must comply with IEC 917: Modular Order
Type C
is similar to Type B except it permits extended doors, panels, tops and
other protrusions such as handles. Racks are open cabinets, which in
general conform to Type A cabinets
Section 3:
To be applied in all fields of electronics to conform to the IEC 25
millimeter practices. The purpose of this section is to ensure the
mechanical interchangeability of panels and subracks with cabinets and
racks
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Whats In
The trend was the deployment of a combination of different types of
rack-mounted equipment as companies went for multiple IT and networking
equipment. These require different open frame and rack enclosures. Customer
needs have undergone a change. They are not looking out for closets, but racks
that will be have provision for comprehensive cabling solutions for data cables
and powerboth inside and outside. These high density solutions that can be
deployed in blade servers; powering solution for power distribution and power,
and cooling solutions for AC and air distribution. Increased deployment of blade
servers by enterprises will increase the demand of racks with cooling solutions.
With the affordability issue addressed, SMBs will also go for servers in order
to improve efficiency and address the issue of space utilization.
Similar to structured cabling, enclosure manufacturers are
governed by certain standards, mainly according to the one set by the EIA
(Electronic Industries Alliance). All racks and enclosures equipment
manufactures have to adhere to the standard EIA-310-D (see box) which strictly
stipulates equipment width and height. Equipment depth has not yet been defined.
| Apart from providing intact
physical structure, racks became a critical product in integrating
cooling, power, round the clock information, and also post purchase
maintenance |
The Market
The market as per Dataquest estimates stood at Rs 400 crore. It is
very fragmented in nature and it is only recently that some of the established
names in power management are getting into the business. Emerson, a leading
player in the power space entered into the enclosure space in 2005 with the acquisition
of Knurr AG of Germany. The solutions from most players were targeted at SMBs
and large segments based on their needs. In addition to involving in direct
selling, Emerson identified system integrators who provided sales support.
Rittal, traditionally into the industrial enclosure space, also ventured into
the IT/BPO space seeing a big market here. To ensure business continuity and
meet the demand challenges, Rittal established modification centers and
warehouses at Faridabad, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. Rittal got large orders
from Reliance Infocomm and ABB. It also came up with its cooling liquid package.
APW-President almost exclusively caters to the IT/BPO space.
While APC largely plays into a niche portion of the enclosures segment catering
to cooling needs of data centers. APC diversified into total solution involving
providing rack and enclosure support for its products and services. Its Network
Critical Physical Infrastructure (NCPI) solutions are targeted at large
enterprises for data center management. APW President went for contract
manufacturing capabilities and also develop of kiosks.
A sudden surge in demand is something enclosure vendors are
trying to cope with by increasing their manufacturing capacity and improving
warehousing facilities.
Chethana Gadiyar
chethanag@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1 2
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