Put equipment in a rack and TekStacks draws the elevation: what sits in each U, front and rear, the PDUs on the side rails, shelves and blanking panels, and each device's real faceplate when the device library has one.

Overview

The Racks page lists your racks with their location and room, type, height, and how much is in use. Click a rack to open its drawing.

A rack's page shows:

• The front and rear elevations side by side, top U first. Each device shows its faceplate from the device library when one is available, with its name and role beside the rack.
• Not in a rack yet: equipment at the rack's location that could go in it.
• Power: what the rack draws against the circuits that feed it (see Power).
• Photos of the real rack.
• How it works, with the rack's notes.

The buttons at the top are Walk through (see Rack walkthrough), PDF, Spreadsheet, Edit and Delete.

Requirements

• Role: to see racks, See VLANs, subnets and addresses (every built in role by default). To add racks and place equipment, Add, edit and delete VLANs, subnets and addresses (Admin, Manager and Technician by default).

Step 1: Add a rack

1. Open Network, then Racks, and click Add rack. Or open a room and click Add rack there (see Locations and rooms).
2. Fill in the form:
   • Name, such as Rack A or Closet 2.
   • Type: 2-post open frame, 4-post open frame or Enclosed cabinet.
   • Location and Room. Rooms are optional and are added on a location's page. Choosing a room sets the location to match.
   • Height in U (42 by default).
   • Usable, when the top of the rack is taken by a fan tray or shelf. Empty means all of it.
   • U 1 is at the: Bottom or Top, to match the numbers printed on your rails.
   • Depth in inches, and Notes, both optional.
3. Save. The rack's page opens.

Step 2: Put equipment in the rack

Equipment comes from your equipment list. Give it the rack's location first; then it appears under Not in a rack yet on the rack's page. That list shows servers, network gear and other rack mount types, and anything with a rack height recorded.

You can place equipment three ways:

• Drag it from Not in a rack yet onto either face of the drawing. An outline snaps to whole U as you drag and turns red where the drop would overlap something.
• Click Place beside it in the list.
• From the equipment's own page, in its Network section, click Place in rack.

The placement form asks for:

• Rack (from the equipment page only).
• Mounting: In the U positions, or a side rail (Left side rail, rear or Right side rail, rear) for vertical 0U equipment such as a PDU.
• Lowest U it fills and Height in U.
• Depth: Full depth or Half depth.
• Mounted on: Front rails or Rear rails. Rear is for equipment mounted on the back of the rack, such as a PDU or a switch.
• Role, such as Top of rack, Core or Access. The role shows on the drawing and is a filter on the equipment list (Rack role).

To move something already in the rack, drag it to a new U on either face, or click Move in rack on its page.

Step 3: Add shelves and panels

Shelves, blanking panels and cable managers take U but are not equipment.

1. On the rack's page, click Add shelf or panel.
2. Choose What it is: Shelf, Blanking panel, Cable manager or Other. Add a Label if you like.
3. Set where it goes, the same way as equipment, and save.

To put equipment that is not rack mount on a shelf, such as a modem or a small NAS, click the + on the shelf and choose the equipment. The list shows equipment at the rack's location that is in no rack.

Click a shelf or panel in the drawing to edit it, or to Remove from rack.

Take equipment out of a rack

• Drag it from the drawing onto Not in a rack yet, or
• On its page, click Move in rack and clear Rack, or
• Click its role badge or its side rail entry in the drawing and click Take out of rack.

The equipment stays at its location, no longer in the rack.

Photos

In the Photos section, click Add photo to upload a picture of the rack, or take one with your phone's camera. A photo of the front and rear shows what the drawing cannot: cabling, labels, what is on the floor. Location and camera details are removed when it is saved. Photos are kept in Files; removing one from the rack leaves it there.

Export a rack

• PDF opens a letter size drawing of both faces with a list of what is in the rack.
• Spreadsheet downloads a CSV of everything in the rack, top U first, including what sits on each shelf and on the side rails.

Notes

Note: Two half depth devices can share a U when they are on opposite faces of a 4-post or enclosed rack. Anything full depth, or with no depth recorded, fills the U front to back. On the opposite face the drawing shows it dimmed.

Note: A full depth device on a 2-post rack is allowed, with a warning to check it has rear support.

Note: Deleting a rack keeps the equipment in it. It is just no longer placed in a rack.

Note: If you manage clients, Add rack appears only while you work in one client, not in All clients.

Troubleshooting

Equipment I added does not show under Not in a rack yet. Its location must be the rack's location, and it must be a rack mount type (such as Server, Switch or PDU) or have a Rack height set on its form. Disposed equipment is never listed.

"Give this rack a location to see the equipment there that could go in it." Click Edit and choose the rack's Location.

"... is already in U..." Something else fills that U. If both are half depth on opposite faces, set each one's Depth to Half depth.

"Rack A has U 1 to 40 to use." The position is past the rack's usable height. Choose a lower U, or change Usable on the rack.

Dragging does nothing. Your role can see racks but not change them.

FAQ

Where do the faceplate pictures come from? From the device library entry the equipment was picked from. Equipment with no library picture shows its name.

Can I record a rack without rooms? Yes. Rooms are optional; leave Room empty.