I need to move the equipment in our messy server room into equipment racks but first I have to create a design document to show how the equipment will fit and to make sure we purchase the appropriate racks and accessories. Are there any reasonably priced rack-design software packages available for this?
A number of equipment-rack vendors provide software for specifying rack designs, and there are a variety of freely available and commercial packages. If your equipment-rack vendor does not have a design tool available you can still create your design documents with one of the other tools and work from there to identify the parts and accessories you need from your chosen vendor. If you have Visio you can use that. Ishapes.com offers NetZoom6, which is a rack design add-on for Visio that simplifies the process by providing templates and tools for acquiring equipment updates from vendors online. MiddleAtlantic is an equipment-rack manufacturer that provides a free rack-design tool for download called RackTools that does not require Visio, although it works and feels very similar. Winsted offers the Winsted Equipment Layout Software, WELS, free through an online e-mail request form. InterfaceBus.com has a good overview of the overall equipment-chassis design process that you might find helpful while thinking through your power and cooling requirements, and HiddenWires has a good article on the basics of building up equipment racks. Check with your equipment suppliers to find out whether they provide presales consulting for rack design as well.
