Finally, there are all kinds of toys you can add to your rack. One of my favorites is the 1U console drawer with a 15-inch LCD monitor, laptop-style keyboard and eraser-head pointer, touchpad or trackball. Also consider keeping a small supply of extra cable guides and power guides on hand. When you're installing additional equipment down the road, not having these at the ready can delay the process or lead to kludged cable installations.
Associate Technology Editor Steven J. Schuchart Jr. covers storage and servers for Network Computing. Write to him at [email protected].
Before you buy, consider the following:
1) Will you need environmental protection against dust, humidity and heat?
2) For security, will you need solid or opaque doors with sensors, or will access locks suffice?
3) How will you manage power distribution? Will you need UPS compliance? What about cable management? Do your requirements include individual power sources for each rack?
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
