Rack rails on network equipment

Sun Sep 26 20:06:38 UTC 2021

I can install an entire 384lb 21U core router in 30 minutes.

Most of that time is removing every module to lighten the chassis, then re-installing every module. 

We can build an entire POP in a day with a crew of 3, so I’m not sure there’s worthwhile savings to be had here.   Also consider that network engineers babysitting it later cost more than the installers (usually) who don’t have to be terribly sophisticated at say BGP.

Those rapid-rails are indeed nice for servers and make quick work of putting ~30+ 1U pizza boxes in a rack quickly.  We use them on 2U servers we like a lot.   

And these days everyone is just buying merchant silicon and throwing a UI around it, so there’s less of a reason to pick any particular vendor, however there still is differentiation that can dramatically increase the TCO.

I don’t think they’re needed for switches, and for onesie-twosie, they’ll probably slow things down compared with basic (good, bad ones exist) rack rails.

I write all of this from the perspective of a network engineer, businesswoman, and telecom carrier - not necessarily that of a hyperscale cloud compute provider, although we are becoming one of those too it seems, so this perspective may shift for that unique use-case.

-LB

> On Sep 24, 2021, at 11:27 AM, Mauricio Rodriguez via NANOG <nanog at nanog.org> wrote:
> 
> Andrey, hi.
> 
> The speed rails are nice, and are effective in optimizing the time it takes to rack equipment.  It's pretty much par for the course on servers today (thank goodness!), and not so much on network equipment.  I suppose the reasons being what others have mentioned - longevity of service life, frequency at which network gear is installed, etc.  As well, a typical server to switch ratio, depending on number of switch ports and fault-tolerance configurations, could be something like 38:1 in dense 1U server install.  So taking a few more minutes on the switch installation isn't so impactful - taking a few more minutes on each server installation can really become a problem.
> 
> A 30-minute time to install a regular 1U ToR switch seems a bit excessive.  Maybe the very first time a tech installs any specific model switch with a unique rail configuration.  After that one, it should be around 10 minutes for most situations.  I am assuming some level of teamwork where there is an installer at the front of the cabinet and another at the rear, and they work in tandem to install cage nuts, install front/rear rails (depending on switch), position the equipment, and affix to the cabinet.  I can see the 30 minutes if you have one person, it's a larger/heavier device (like the EX4500) and the installer is forced to do some kind of crazy balancing act with the switch (not recommended), or has to use a server lift to install it.
> 
> Those speed rails as well are a bit of a challenge to install if it's not a team effort. So, I'm wondering if in addition to using speed rails, you may have changed from a one-tech installation process to a two-tech team installation process?
> 
> Best Regards,
> Mauricio Rodriguez
> Founder / Owner
> Fletnet Network Engineering (www.fletnet.com <http://www.fletnet.com/>)
> Follow us on LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/company/fletnetnetworks>
> 
> Mauricio.Rodriguez at fletnet.com <mailto:Mauricio.Rodriguez at fletnet.com>
> Office: +1 786-309-1082
> Direct: +1 786-309-5493
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, Sep 24, 2021 at 12:41 PM Andrey Khomyakov <khomyakov.andrey at gmail.com <mailto:khomyakov.andrey at gmail.com>> wrote:
> Hi folks,
> Happy Friday!
> 
> Would you, please, share your thoughts on the following matter?
> 
> Back some 5 years ago we pulled the trigger and started phasing out Cisco and Juniper switching products out of our data centers (reasons for that are not quite relevant to the topic). We selected Dell switches in part due to Dell using "quick rails'' (sometimes known as speed rails or toolless rails).  This is where both the switch side rail and the rack side rail just snap in, thus not requiring a screwdriver and hands of the size no bigger than a hamster paw to hold those stupid proprietary screws (lookin at your, cisco) to attach those rails.
> We went from taking 16hrs to build a row of compute (from just network equipment racking pov) to maybe 1hr... (we estimated that on average it took us 30 min to rack a switch from cut open the box with Juniper switches to 5 min with Dell switches)
> Interesting tidbit is that we actually used to manufacture custom rails for our Juniper EX4500 switches so the switch can be actually inserted from the back of the rack (you know, where most of your server ports are...) and not be blocked by the zero-U PDUs and all the cabling in the rack. Stock rails didn't work at all for us unless we used wider racks, which then, in turn, reduced floor capacity.
> 
> As far as I know, Dell is the only switch vendor doing toolless rails so it's a bit of a hardware lock-in from that point of view. 
> 
> So ultimately my question to you all is how much do you care about the speed of racking and unracking equipment and do you tell your suppliers that you care? How much does the time it takes to install or replace a switch impact you?
> 
> I was having a conversation with a vendor and was pushing hard on the fact that their switches will end up being actually costlier for me long term just because my switch replacement time quadruples at least, thus requiring me to staff more remote hands. Am I overthinking this and artificially limiting myself by excluding vendors who don't ship with toolless rails (which is all of them now except Dell)?
> 
> Thanks for your time in advance!
> --Andrey
> 
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