Office space is tight these days, especially if you work from home. If you’re looking for ways to get the most of your working space, consider vertical wall-mount rack enclosures. Also known as vertical wall enclosures or vertical racks, these cabinets not only get your components up off the floor, freeing up room space, but their low profile allows you to utilize wall space that might not accommodate horizontal wall enclosures.

Below we describe how vertical racks function and how you might best utilize them. We conclude with some of the key benefits of NavePoint’s complete line of vertical wall enclosures, all of which are sized to hold 19-inch-wide components.

What Is a Vertical Rack?

Unlike a conventional front-loading horizontal wall-mount rack, a vertical rack is top-loading – it turns your components 90 degrees so that they face the ceiling. In such an orientation they do not stick out from a wall some 2 or 3 feet like horizontal racks do. A 2U vertical wall enclosure extends only about 5 inches and an 8U needs less than 12. And yet they are tall enough (up to 36 inches in NavePoint’s line of verticals) to hold your deepest components.

Uses for Vertical Racks

For the most part, vertical racks can do whatever small- to medium-capacity horizontal racks can do. But vertical wall enclosures are especially useful in the following locations:

• IT closets and small data rooms have very limited floor space but might have room for low-profile vertical cabinets that hold your components close to a wall.
• Retail establishments with a need for point-of-sale systems, security cameras, and networking equipment may find vertical racks advantageous in optimizing space behind the scenes.
• Hallways that are too narrow for horizontal racks might be able accommodate vertical wall enclosures without impeding foot traffic.
• Security rooms housing surveillance equipment and access-control systems can benefit from vertical racks. The vertical arrangement allows for the efficient organization of DVRs, NVRs, and related security hardware.
• Laboratories are often crowded with research and testing equipment, leaving scant room for horizontal equipment racks. Vertical wall enclosures can make use of the limited wall space in these rooms.
• Meeting rooms that use audiovisual equipment might have wall space for an inconspicuous vertical rack to hold the equipment.

Features of NavePoint’s Vertical Racks

NavePoint offers more than two dozen models of vertical wall enclosures. Their most useful features are as follows:

• Rugged Construction − Our vertical racks offer all the protection and security of our horizontal ones, including 16-gauge cold-rolled steel panels, electro-static powder-coated finish, weight capacities of 132 to 150 pounds, anti-theft locks, and compliance with ROHS, CE, HIPAA, PCI, and NEMA (Type 1).
• More Depth − Horizontal racks with a lot of front-to-back depth have the drawback of commanding space in a room. Vertical racks, in contrast, can house deeper components without being obtrusive. NavePoint offers vertical wall enclosures with rack-rail depth (which in the table below is called “height”) of up to 36 inches.
• Accessibility − Though in a vertical rack your gear faces upward and is tucked away against the wall, it is very accessible. Swing open the enclosure door and you can immediately access the front and rear of your components to get to the cable ins and outs. This is easier than reaching the rear of most horizontal enclosures.
• Aesthetics − Vertical wall-mount enclosures have a sleek and compact design, which can contribute to an aesthetically pleasing and professional-looking installation. They help keep the equipment organized and visually appealing, which is especially important where the rack is visible or in customer-facing areas.
• Other Pro Features – These include vented panels to help keep components cool, adjustable rail depths of 12.7 to 36 inches, easy installation with pre-assembled cabinets and included mounting hardware, and laser knockouts on the top and bottom for cable routing.

NavePoint’s vertical wall enclosures are in stock and available with FREE standard same-day shipping. Questions? Need recommendations? Contact our U.S.-based team of experts at 1-866-312-5401 or email us at sales@navepoint.com.

NavePoint’s Complete Line of Vertical Wall Enclosures

*Rack-rail height on a vertical cabinet is the same as rack-rail depth on a horizontal cabinet.

**Exterior depth is how far the cabinet sticks out from the wall.