Racks¶
The rack model represents a physical two- or four-post equipment rack in which devices can be installed. Each rack must be assigned to a site, and may optionally be assigned to a location, rack group, and/or tenant. Racks can also be organized by user-defined functional roles.
Rack height is measured in rack units (U); racks are commonly between 42U and 48U tall, but Nautobot allows you to define racks of arbitrary height. A toggle is provided to indicate whether rack units are in ascending (from the ground up) or descending order.
Each rack is assigned a name and (optionally) a separate facility ID. This is helpful when leasing space in a data center your organization does not own: The facility will often assign a seemingly arbitrary ID to a rack (for example, "M204.313") whereas internally you refer to is simply as "R113." A unique serial number and asset tag may also be associated with each rack.
A rack must be designated as one of the following types:
- 2-post frame
- 4-post frame
- 4-post cabinet
- Wall-mounted frame
- Wall-mounted cabinet
Similarly, each rack must be assigned an operational status. The following statuses are available by default:
- Reserved
- Available
- Planned
- Active
- Deprecated
Each rack has two faces (front and rear) on which devices can be mounted. Rail-to-rail width may be 10, 19, 21, or 23 inches. The outer width and depth of a rack or cabinet can also be annotated in millimeters or inches.