Rack mounting the 25xx
Jorge
First pain, the holes for the screws on the chassis are just
that, simple holes. Second pain, the screws provided have a
very small head for "forcing" them into the chassis. Third
pain, there is a single one hole for attaching the brackets
to the rack, which make it very difficult to fix the chassis
horizantlly leveled. Yeah, I like the flexibility of a single
set of brackets for every position, but I'd prefer something
different.
Barton F. Bruce / CCA
> It's me, or the rack mount kit for the 25xx is really that bad ?
>
> First pain, the holes for the screws on the chassis are just
> that, simple holes.
Not quite. see below
> Second pain, the screws provided have a
> very small head for "forcing" them into the chassis. Third
> pain, there is a single one hole for attaching the brackets
> to the rack, which make it very difficult to fix the chassis
> horizantlly leveled. Yeah, I like the flexibility of a single
> set of brackets for every position, but I'd prefer something
> different.
They had to keep the price down. I see that in the catalog they charge
a mere $100 for the bracket set. Just think what they could have charged
if:
1) the router with brackets fit all NORMAL racks
including the millions of old black DEC H-960s
still in service.
2) there was room to add slides
3) one could open the chassis without removing the
rack ears
4) one could stack them one RU each with their nubby
feet still intact and still get adequate ventilation
5) the supplied screws had an unthreaded round nosed
pilot at the end (the way all the quality WECO CO
grade rack screws used to) keeping the screw aligned
as the threading starts.
6) they had supplied pairs of 10-32 and 12-24 and other popular
rack screws with speed nuts for untapped punched rails.
7) the had supplied a GOOD ground screw with washers for that
ground hole in the back that probably .00001% of customers
have not noticed let alone used.
So be thankful for what you got. And they HAVE thought of you. The old 3 point
hole punchings were ok but you HAD to forcefully have the screw align the
3 points into threads. Now they have a ROUND hole notched or upset
in one side for thread penetration - sort of prethreaded, and probably
stronger, too.
As a practical matter, get quality throw-away phillips bits like the
ones the drywall guys use. Get whatever size fits those screws with NO
wobble so the screw is forced to go straight in. Every 1000 routers
or whenever the tip gets buggered, pop in a new one. If you don't have a
pneumatic torque limiting tool, there are hand drivers that take these
same bits.
The titanium nitride coated ones with micro antislip 'teeth' cost
maybe $9.95 for a slip-pak of 25 (Vermont America at Home Depot, no less).
Silicon lubes are a no-no near some electronics, but NyLube the elevator
guy leaves on the top of the cabs is a WAX based product and does NOT
collect dust or get grubby. A coated finger can 1) make those pesky screws
sink easier, and 2) fix all the rub points on a 25xx case so the cover
WILL come apart easily the next time. No idea if EMI/RFI shielding
is affected or not. Keep it off SIMM and connector contacts, but the tinyiest
amount on the v.35 connector screws will make them vastly easier to
engage.
If you really want to start a war, ask why there is no whole punched
for ASYNC ports 9-16 in a 2509, and no 8->16 port upgrade kit in the
price book.
Terry Kennedy, Operations Mgr.
> For extra laughs, try mounting one in a 23" telco frame... The only way to
> get it halfway stable is to use the middle set of holes on the router, and
> it looks quite silly.
Well, *real* telco frames are just a simple set of uprights and everything
else in there is center-mount as well, so it isn't too bad. If you've got a
telco-dimensioned rack, I suggest using a shelf and setting the 25xx on it.
That's what we do, and it gives us added support for the transceivers we use
on the AUI port (Allied Telesis) by sticking a rubber foot on the transceiver.
You can also put a pair of CSU's on top.
Terry Kennedy Operations Manager, Academic Computing
te...@spcvxa.spc.edu St. Peter's College, Jersey City, NJ USA
+1 201 915 9381 (voice) +1 201 435-3662 (FAX)
Clayton O'Neill
: Well, *real* telco frames are just a simple set of uprights and everything
: else in there is center-mount as well, so it isn't too bad. If you've got a
: telco-dimensioned rack, I suggest using a shelf and setting the 25xx on it.
: That's what we do, and it gives us added support for the transceivers we use
: on the AUI port (Allied Telesis) by sticking a rubber foot on the transceiver.
: You can also put a pair of CSU's on top.
Or alternatively, just use the 25xx as a shelf. We've got the standard
rack mount kit, and we've got 2 eight port hubs and 2 CSU/DSU's on top of it
with no problems.
BTW, we have no problems with the Allied Telesis tranceivers supporting
themselves just pluged into the back with no support.
Jorge
>Not quite. see below
No, I'm not asking for the rack-kit to make coffe for me. But, I
recently mounted a 3Com TP Hub, which costs about a _tenth_ the
price of a 2511 ... the _included_ rack-mount kit is a world of
difference in comparison to the 25xx one. And if you think about
it, the TP Hub is much smaller, lighter, with less connections;
which means that it has less need for a solid mounting.
Lastly, if you check the price list, you would see that mount kits
for the 2000, 4000 and 7000 series, they all cost _exactly_ the same.
Obviouslly the could make a much better kit for the 2000 (as they
do for the larger models) without increasing the price.
Jorge