Rackmount sercurity cases

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kawasaki747

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 6, 2001
Messages
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Hello all, I will try to make this simple and sensible.

My company is looking into doing some failover systems that require dial up backup. We have chosen to go with some external hardware modems that unfortunatly have a power switch in plain sight right on top of the unit. For security reasons, we absolutly cannot allow an employee to intentionally, or accidentally turn these units off. So....

My proposal to them is that we put the router and modem into a 4u rackmout case that is lockable. Managers would be the only ones with access to the keys, Thus eliminating most or maybe all mishaps.

The problem I am having is that sometimes hardware needs to be reset, and a standard 4U case would make it impossible to the managers to open and power cycle the modem/router.

I know I have seen 4U cases that are just hollow shells, they have nothing in them and only a lockable cover over the front. For the life of me I can't seem to find what I'm looking for, and searching isn't turning up much.

My goal is to put a router, hardware modem, and a very small ups in this cabinet.but make it easy for someone with access to reach in and powercycle these items.

Please help, as I've sourced everything else, but with 110 possible locations that these will be deployed to, I have to find something now.


Thanks for any help.

Nick
 
Most of those cases are for audio equipment. You could check Musician's Friend.
 
Thanks for the reply, but as a former Dj and electronics tech I had already checked them.

The options I can find are just face plates that you add to existing rackmounts. Unfortunatly These in these locations some places have racks, most dont.

I know I've seen some "lock boxes" that are nothing but four walls and a locking front cover, I just cant recall where I've seen these before.

Unfortunately I have to have a somewhat self contained unit. These are going into grocery stores that have mix and match systems. I have found all the equipment that needs to go into this, but I can't find a decent enclosure to house them in.

I'll keep looking, and thanks for the input.

Nick
 
What about a simple 4U case and a pair of rails? Just slide the case out, open the top and do what you need to do?
 
kawasaki747 said:
Hello all, I will try to make this simple and sensible.

My company is looking into doing some failover systems that require dial up backup. We have chosen to go with some external hardware modems that unfortunatly have a power switch in plain sight right on top of the unit. For security reasons, we absolutly cannot allow an employee to intentionally, or accidentally turn these units off. So....

My proposal to them is that we put the router and modem into a 4u rackmout case that is lockable. Managers would be the only ones with access to the keys, Thus eliminating most or maybe all mishaps.

The problem I am having is that sometimes hardware needs to be reset, and a standard 4U case would make it impossible to the managers to open and power cycle the modem/router.

I know I have seen 4U cases that are just hollow shells, they have nothing in them and only a lockable cover over the front. For the life of me I can't seem to find what I'm looking for, and searching isn't turning up much.

My goal is to put a router, hardware modem, and a very small ups in this cabinet.but make it easy for someone with access to reach in and powercycle these items.

Please help, as I've sourced everything else, but with 110 possible locations that these will be deployed to, I have to find something now.


Thanks for any help.

Nick
Click to expand...

What's stopping them from unplugging it? Are the plugs on the power chords locked as well?

If this is that important you will need to secure everything. If it's not then I would simply find a way of securing the switch. We have some servers where the power button sticks out (Compaq DL380's) a little bit. There were a couple of incidents where someone accidentally pressed the button. The solution was to buy some PVC pipe a little bit bigger than the button and glue it around the button. The PVC was white, but if it was grey you would have never known it was put on after the fact. (Note this wasn’t my solution)

It sounds like you are going to extremes for something that should be simple. If you TRUELY need to secure it, then you need to address the power plug, unless the "very small UPS" has a way of telling you that it is unplugged, and then that could be an issue.
 
it's not so much that it needs utter security so much as teenager proof. These unit's will be in the cash office of a major grocery chain. There is always at least one person in the room during the day. I'm looking at the $80 USR modems on neweg, and they have a power switch directly on the top. We just want our gear to be out of site, out of mind unless there is a problem with it.

As for the plug, thats not really an issue either. The UPSs I am looking at sound an audible alert when unplugged or on battery. Really more for power protection than for true uptime reasons. If the power is out in the building then all the registers will be down, thus eliminating the need for internet.

We are doing this because our customer has satellite internet that goes down all the time, and our intergration runs live during transactions.
 
Thanks moetop, those all fulfill my requirements. I'm just waiting now for the ole boss to consider my setup.

You always manage to post useful replies on here, many thanks for your help. For some reason I was just drawing a blank on what to search for, and found nothing but the covers you add after installing the rackmount unit. Usually google is my friend, but not for this whole project.

Nick
 
Also, I would check Middle Atlantic Products. They make racks, cabinets, panels, etc. I use a lot of their stuff on a daily basis with sound systems and I recommend it highly.

Jeff
 
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