Server rooms are generally a mess. Depending upon how your company maintains it, you are likely to see a bunch of wires strewn across the floor or find them neatly stacked in singular lines. Either way, the one common feature that you will find in virtually all large-scale server rooms are the server racks. These are tall cabinets in which different server terminals are housed. Needless to say, these are not ordinary racks. Server racks are designed with ventilation in mind.
Since there’s a lot of computer equipment that is working round the clock, ventilation is most important. It is also one of the major reasons why server rooms usually have air coolers and conditioners running round the clock. However, for network engineers, managing all of these computer terminals together can be difficult. Each server rack can house up to 10 different computer terminals. Will a network engineer have to connect a keyboard, mouse and monitor to each server rack before accessing them? Thankfully, the answer is no.
Why Should You Buy a Drawer for Your Server Rack?
Instead, the network engineer will use a keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) switch in order to create a connection between the different monitors. This allows the engineer to use all the terminals in one go. However, server racks aren’t exactly spacious enough to accommodate different keyboards for each terminal. That is why most companies purchase a rackmount keyboard drawer for each server cabinet.
These are not ordinary drawers. Each keyboard drawer has a lid that opens up, allowing you to access the monitor and the keyboard. They also have special clippings that keep the keyboard in a stable position. Furthermore, these drawers have a special rolling mechanism on each side, allowing them to be mounted on the rack. Hence, the network engineer can easily slide out the drawer when he/she wishes to access the computer terminals. The rackmount keyboard drawer also has an opening on the back which is needed to allow keyboard wires to flow through the back. This prevents clutter within the server rack, allowing each wire to be seamlessly connected to the KVM switch.
Buying a LCD Drawer
You won’t have to visit a furniture store in order to buy a rack mounted keyboard drawer. Instead, they are usually manufactured by companies that manufacture network and server equipment. Many companies that manufacture server racks also provide LCD drawers. These drawers are different from conventional drawers. The lid is usually made out of aluminum and has a closed frame that holds the monitor in place. As a result, it is important to be wary of the screen size when buying. You don’t want to be stuck with an 18-inch LCD drawer when the monitor in use is 20-inch.
