INTERCONNECTABLE DATA CENTER EQUIPMENT RACK

Abstract

A data center equipment rack includes an electronic equipment enclosure defined by RF-shielded walls. Openings in the RF-shielded walls are provided for being aligned with complimentary-sized and shaped openings in one or more like data center equipment racks and adapted for permitting a shielded electromagnetic connection between two or more racks. At least one access door in the enclosure is provided for facilitating access to the electronic equipment in the rack. Panels are provided for covering the respective openings in the RF-shielded walls when the openings are not being used to permit an electromagnetic interconnection between two or more racks.

Claims

1. An equipment rack, comprising: (a) an electronic equipment enclosure defined by RF-shielded walls; (b) a plurality of openings in the RF-shielded walls adapted for being aligned with complimentary openings in one or more like data center equipment racks and adapted for permitting a shielded electromagnetic connection between two or more racks; (c) at least one access door in the enclosure for facilitating access to the electronic equipment in the rack; and (d) covers for covering the respective openings in the RF-shielded walls when the openings are not being used to permit an electromagnetic interconnection between two or more racks.

2. The equipment rack according to claim 1, further comprising a shielded door hinge assembly extending along the edge of the access door for blocking RF from entering the enclosure through the access door.

3. The equipment rack according to claim 1, further comprising at least one intake/exhaust port.

4. The equipment rack according to claim 1, further comprising a waveguide air intake/exhaust port.

5. The equipment rack according to claim 1, further comprising an access door in the enclosure for allowing access to an interior of the enclosure, the door including a floating hinge for preventing pinching of gasket material sealing the door against the enclosure.

6. An equipment rack, comprising: (a) an electronic equipment enclosure defined by RF-shielded top wall, bottom wall, first and second side walls and front and rear walls; (b) a plurality of openings in at least one top and at least one side wall of the RF-shielded wall and adapted for being aligned with complimentary openings in one or more like data center equipment racks and adapted for permitting a shielded electromagnetic connection between two or more racks; (c) at least one access door in the enclosure for facilitating access to the electronic equipment in the rack; and (d) covers for covering the respective openings in the RF-shielded walls when the openings are not being used to permit an electromagnetic interconnection between two or more racks.

7. The equipment rack according to claim 6, further comprising an opening in each of the first and second side walls, the openings positioned respectively to allow mating alignment with each other for passage of connectors therethrough.

8. The equipment rack according to claim 6, further comprising mating attachment points in the enclosure and surrounding the openings to allow connection of adjacent racks at the openings.

9. The equipment rack according to claim 6, further comprising an air intake/exhaust port positioned in the top wall of the enclosure and an air intake/exhaust port positioned in the front wall of the enclosure.

10. An equipment rack system comprising a plurality of RF-shielded equipment racks, the racks comprising: (a) an electronic equipment enclosure defined by RF-shielded walls; (b) a plurality of openings in the RF-shielded walls adapted for being aligned with complimentary openings in one or more like data center equipment racks and adapted for permitting a shielded electromagnetic connection between two or more racks; (c) at least one access door in the enclosure for facilitating access to the electronic equipment in the rack; and (d) covers for covering the respective openings in the RF-shielded walls when the openings are not being used to permit an electromagnetic interconnection between two or more racks.

11. The equipment rack system according to claim 10, further comprising a shielded door hinge assembly extending along the edge of the access door for blocking RF from entering the enclosure through the access door.

12. The equipment rack system according to claim 10, further comprising at least one intake/exhaust port.

13. The equipment rack system according to claim 10, further comprising a waveguide air intake/exhaust port.

14. The equipment rack system according to claim 10, further comprising an access door in the enclosure for allowing access to an interior of the enclosure, the door including a floating hinge for preventing pinching of gasket material sealing the door against the enclosure.

15. An equipment rack system comprising a plurality of RE-shielded equipment racks, the racks comprising: (a) an electronic equipment enclosure defined by RF-shielded top wall, bottom wall, first and second side walls and front and rear walls; (b) a plurality of openings in at least one top and at least one side wall of the RF-shielded wall and adapted for being aligned with complimentary openings in one or more like data center equipment racks and adapted for permitting a shielded electromagnetic connection between two or more racks; (c) at least one access door in the enclosure for facilitating access to the electronic equipment in the rack; and (d) covers for covering the respective openings in the RF-shielded walls when the openings are not being used to permit an electromagnetic interconnection between two or more racks.

16. The equipment rack system according to claim 15, further comprising an opening in each of the first and second side walls, the openings positioned respectively to allow mating alignment with each other for passage of connectors therethrough.

17. The equipment rack system according to claim 15, further comprising mating attachment points in the enclosure and surrounding the openings to allow connection of adjacent racks at the openings.

18. The equipment rack system according to claim 15, further comprising an air intake/exhaust port positioned in the top wall of the enclosure and an air intake/exhaust port positioned in the front wall of the enclosure.

19. The equipment rack system according to claim 15, wherein at least one of the plurality of racks comprising the rack system is a different size than other of the plurality of racks.

20. The equipment rack system according to claim 15, wherein the racks include an access door on the front wall and the rear wall.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

[0037] The present invention is best understood when the following detailed description of the invention is read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0038] FIG. 1 is a front isometric view of a data center equipment rack according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

[0039] FIG. 2 is a rear isometric view of the data center equipment rack shown in FIG. 1;

[0040] FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the data center equipment rack shown in FIG. 1;

[0041] FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the data center equipment rack shown in FIG. 1;

[0042] FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the data center equipment rack shown in FIG. 1;

[0043] FIG. 6 is a cross-section of the data center equipment rack shown in FIG. 1, taken along line A-A of FIG. 4;

[0044] FIG. 7 is a cross-section of the data center equipment rack shown in FIG. 1, taken along line B-B of FIG. 4;

[0045] FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the door detail “D” of FIG. 6;

[0046] FIG. 9 is a front elevation showing a “racked and stacked” array of the data center equipment racks according to the invention;

[0047] FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the array of data center equipment racks shown in FIG. 9;

[0048] FIG. 11 is a cross-section of the data center equipment racks shown in FIG. 9, taken along line C-C of FIG. 10; and

[0049] FIG. 12 illustrates a example installation of a line of rack systems at a data center.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT AND BEST MODE

[0050] The development of the rack system as described in this application is directed towards the purpose of providing an electromagnetically secure environment within which any item, including IT equipment, communications equipment, control equipment, protective relay equipment, or any other electronic or non-electronic item may be placed. As described below, the described racks and rack system are interconnectable—above, below, beside, or through a protected umbilical structure.

[0051] Various views of a rack 10 according to an embodiment of the invention are shown in FIGS. 1-7. The racks 10 can be interconnected to form a rack system 70 as shown in FIGS. 9-12, which is exemplary of a unlimited variety of interconnections dictated by the equipment being protected.

[0052] As shown collectively in FIGS. 1-7, the exemplary rack 10 is generally rectangular and includes a top wall 12, a bottom wall 14, side walls 16, 18, a front wall 20 and a back wall 22. The top wall 12 includes a removable cover 24, and the side walls 26 and 18. As best shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the rack 10 includes removable covers 26 and 28, respectively. The removable covers 24, 26 and 28 match up to adjacent racks 10 and racks 10 above or below each rack 10 to define a rack system 70 as shown in FIGS. 9-11 without regard to the size of the racks 10. For illustrative purposes, the racks 10 are 10U racks.

[0053] With the covers 24, 26 and 28 removed, interconnection ports 24A, 26A and 28A are exposed for use. The size and location of the interconnection ports 24A, 26A and 28A can be of any size and location, as long as the ports 24A, 26A and 28A match up to ports in adjacent racks 10.

[0054] Penetrations may be integrated onto the interconnection ports 24A, 26A and 28A as required to connect and maintain the electromagnetic shielding environment inside the rack 10. Penetrations can be integrated into the cover 24, 26 and/or 28 of an otherwise unused interconnection port 24A, 26A and/or 28A. This is important to accommodate specific applications inside the rack 10. Sizes and types of penetrations can vary. The penetrations can include an umbilical attachment to cooling/power for “TIER IV+” data center protection.

[0055] Referring collectively to FIGS. 1 and 2, air intake/exhaust port 40 in the front wall 20, air intake/exhaust port 42 in the top wall 12, air intake/exhaust port 43 in the bottom wall 14 and air intake/exhaust port 44 in the rear wall 22 are standard “waveguide below cutoff” intakes that pass air but not electromagnetic energy. This is a standard approach and not an innovation per se.

[0056] However, it is innovative that there can be air intake/exhaust ports 40, 42, 44 that can take electromagnetically isolated power/mechanical (hvac) systems and provide for the power/cooling on a pedestal or an adjacent rack 10, and can utilize existing WBC air intake/exhausts or interconnection ports. The air intake/exhausts 40, 42, 44 can be any size and in any location to accommodate specific needs of the user. As evident by its description, the air intake/exhausts 40, 42, 44 may either take cooling air into the rack 10 or exhaust warm air from the rack 10 depending on the direction of fan rotation. See by way of example, fan 46 of air intake/exhaust 44.

[0057] Two racks 10 can be mated with covers 24, 26 and/or 28 of another rack 10 in alignment. Rack 10 includes an access door that results in a more efficient operation along with increased performance over its operational lifetime. A spring-loaded floating hinge 42 provides the capability to reduce stress and strain on the EMI gasket 44, fingerstock or other electromagnetic seals that are present on the door 40 used to exclude electromagnetic energy.

[0058] The door 40 may include mechanical or electronic locks, verification means to include/exclude access to the racks 10. The door 40 is robust so that it cannot be easily penetrated by any unauthorized person. The door 40 seats up against the door gasket 44 or other electromagnetic barrier directly without the typical “pinching” that is part of a typical hinged door. This allows the electronic barrier to be more maintainable, last longer and maintain a higher electromagnetic shielding performance characteristic than a typical electromagnetically shielded door/hatch.

[0059] The rack 10 includes air waveguides, provisions for filters and other items. Because the racks 10 are interconnectable, each individual rack 10 does not need to have a filter, rather it can be connected to power in another rack 10 through the interconnection ports 24A, 26A and/or 28A.

[0060] Similarly, air flow, data cables, or any other required connection can be routed between racks 10 as needed.

[0061] The racks 10 may be combined into multi-rack assemblies to form a rack system 70 shown in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11. As described above, the arrangement of individual racks 10 may be dictated by a wide variety of requirements and racks may be different sizes and dimensions as long as the covers are matched and aligned when mated together. In FIG. 9 a rack 10 as described above is shown assembled with five (5) racks 60 of a larger size to form the rack system 70. Dimensions support standard racks but this does not need to be the case. Racks can be taller, wider and deeper as required for the application. By way of example, a 10U rack 10 may have dimensions as follows: 24.75 in. (62.9 cm.) wide, 23.75 in. (60 cm.) high and 47.8 in. (121.5 cm.) deep. These dimensions support standard racks but this does not need to be the case. Racks can be taller wider and deeper as required for the application.

[0062] An electromagnetically protected generator and/or electromagnetically protected hvac unit will be connected to a rack assembly through an electromagnetically protected umbilical. The rack system 70 can support a “power bus” architecture, whereby a single bus supplies power to a full row of racks 10, without each rack 10 having its own power supply. A common “rectifier cabinet” can provide power to all of the racks 10 in a row, and still maintain electromagnetic protections.

[0063] The racks 10 can have as many interconnection ports as required. Also, the interconnection ports facilitate the integration of special penetrations, as needed, by allowing for electromagnetically sealed penetrations for waveguides, air, liquid, fiber optic ports, or penetrations for any other purpose to be integrated into any available rack interconnection port.

[0064] The depictions shown in this application are one possible version of many possible rack designs. The racks can be taller, wider, or be sized to support any standard or non-standard rack unit mounting of equipment. The interconnections shown are just one way to assure interconnection between racks. These can include versions with more, fewer, larger or smaller interconnection ports using any shape interconnection port cover.

[0065] The interconnection ports exclude electromagnetic energy from entering the inside of the rack system, and the means of accomplishing this can be the use of any suitable form of gasketing, fingerstock, conductive pastes, or any other method that can support electromagnetic shielding and facilitate the removal of the interconnection port cover to support any configuration or change in configuration of racks over the life-cycle of the systems protected by the rack system. As best shown in FIG. 7, with the cover 26 removed, the interconnection port 26A is exposed, and has an array of holes 27 that also mate with matching aligned holes in the interconnection port of another rack 10. With the covers 26 removed, the aligned holes can receive screws, bolts or any other suitable connection with, as noted above, suitable gasketing, fingerstock, conductive pastes or other electromagnetic shielding. Actual connection of components may be by any suitable plug, cable, wire and jumper cable without regard to whether it is male/male, male/female, female/female or a unitary connector. Such examples are shown at reference numbers 72 of FIG. 11.

[0066] The rack system 70 supports integrated cooling through a cooling pedestal 74 that sits beneath, above or beside the rack system to facilitate the cooling of systems operating within the rack system. See FIG. 11. The cooling pedestal 74 is interconnected through an electromagnetically sealed umbilical to electromagnetically protected cooling modules (not shown) that can be located inside, outside or any other convenient location to provide dedicated cooling capacity to the rack system 70. The rack system 70 can also use cooling as provided by any typical data center environment.

[0067] The electromagnetically protected umbilical can also support the supply of power to the rack system and can be connected to an electromagnetically sealed generator dedicated to the support of the rack system and any associated mechanical systems, such as the cooling pedestal/mechanical module.

[0068] The rack system 70 will support “built in test” through the use of electromagnetic emitters inside the protected environment of the rack system 70. These emitters can be used to assess the electromagnetic shielding environment and detect if there are any shielding leaks, or to perform periodic “verification testing” of the shielded environment. The built-in test will not impact any operational aspect of the equipment operating inside the rack system.

[0069] Another embodiment will include the use of an integrated filter as part of the rack assembly and will provide isolation from RF energy that may be present at harmful levels outside the new rack assembly. The rack system 70 can be mobile—the system may or may not have integrated wheels for mobility, and may or may not have handles allowing for the system to be transported.

[0070] The rack system will have RF ports built in to allow for the automatic testing of the rack system for Shielding Effectiveness per the MIL-STD. The rack system will have “Shielded Enclosure Leak Detection System” ports to allow for the injection of RF energy into loops or studs.

[0071] As shown in FIG. 12, an example installation of a line of rack systems 70 with EMP protected supplemental power/HVAC cooling facility 74 connected by an EMP protected power/cooling umbilical 76 is shown in a data center 90, together with standard, non-EMP protected racks 78 in the same data center 90.

[0072] A data center equipment rack and rack system according to the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments and examples. Various details of the invention may be changed without departing from the scope of the invention. Furthermore, the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention and best mode for practicing the invention are provided for the purpose of illustration only and not for the purpose of limitation, the invention being defined by the claims.