Racking a lightweight 24-port PoE switch or a patch panel is easy enough, but trying to mount a 50lb core switch, a heavy enterprise router, or a massive UPS by yourself can be a nightmare and turns into a two-person job quickly.
Any weird DIY rigs, specific rack shelf models, or mounting tricks you use when you're stuck doing an install alone in a remote location?
Use these instead of regular cage nuts:
https://www.rackstuds.com/
Put 2 rack screws on the row below out far enough for you to rest the ear edges of the device you're mounting.
This is a terrible product name: "setup.exe"
I'm sure they thought it would come across as edgy or something, but the product is pretty good, if somewhat expensive.
https://patchbox.com/setup-exe-installation-tool/
But, this is a general area where Union tradespeople have it right: Safety has to be a top priority, and sometimes that means paying extra, and employers need to suck it up and deal with it.
If you choose to install a piece of hardware by yourself, and manage to hurt yourself in the process, and it has a sticker right on it that says "two man lift" the odds are about 97% in favor of your employer (or your employer's insurance carrier) rejecting your worker's compensation claim because you hurt yourself by not following the warning sticker.
If you need a second pair of hands, make it your manager's problem to get you a second pair of hands.
Yeah I'm definitely not using that to support a 2U UPS's rails.
I once balanced a NAS shelf on my head
If you’re racking a slew of equipment, you should be able to buy, rent, or find in your facility a rack lift. Total godsend. I’ve never been to a Colo that doesn’t have one, generally all you have to do is ask and they’ll let you use it.
This is the way! Also great for removing hardware.
That’s very cool.
Remove the power supplies if you can. Greatly reduces the weight
Rackstuds. They reverse the way rack nuts work.
You can easily rack full length switches solo with these.
That's a very clever product! I agree on the name being terrible... Never heard of SEO either i guess.
In Europe there are even requirements set by law. The implementation differs per country, but usually it's 20-25kg per person \under ideal circumstances\. This means low lifting height, close to the body, using two hands, good grip, no obstructions, and not too frequently. Holding up a heavy object in a patch cabinet with one hand while trying to get the cage nut in isn't exactly what i'd call ideal circumstances... (There are calculators for getting the exact limits, the netherlands uses NIOSH. In practice you can see the limit dropping below 15KG very quickly if any aspect isn't ideal).
We do have a very strong union presence here, so a lot of union rules end up in actual labor laws.
Our DC mandated hydraulic rack lifts for anything over 30 pounds