David_Haddad

Yep

fryeguy

Quote:

and keep using visio for schematics and rack drawings.

How important do you guys find it to have rack elevations that look like the real thing? I have been drawing racks for over a decade mostly with simple line drawings and only in the last few years relying on RackTools. With the new RackTools which is more like CAD, many shapes are somewhat generic again.

What do you think is the most important use for rack elevations?
- building racks
- wowing clients
- making sure the rack will fit in a location
- making sure the equipment will fit in the rack
- determining ventilation reqs.
- estimating interconnects and wire paths
- estimating the correct rack parts
- what else?

my vote is for correct estimation of parts, location requirements, and building racks.

grichards

Originally Posted by fryeguy

What do you think is the most important use for rack elevations?

Here's my opinion on priority

1 - making sure the equipment will fit in the rack
2 - building racks (clearly communicating rack builds to techs)
3 - estimating the correct rack parts
4 - determining ventilation reqs.
5 - wowing clients
6 - making sure the rack will fit in a location
7 - estimating interconnects and wire paths

only item 5 really necessitates "pretty" elevation drawings. we also build our elevation autoCad blocks in 3d to give an additional check for rack depth. Keep in mind, i come from an engineers perspective. If i were consultant/sales i would probably say:

1 - wowing clients
2 - wowing clients
3 - wowing clients
4 - wowing clients
5 - making sure the equipment will fit in the half the rack space that it needs.. after all, racks are expensive

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David_Haddad

Originally Posted by fryeguy

How important do you guys find it to have rack elevations that look like the real thing?

I find it huge, I can't imagine doing it any other way. I'm referring not just to racks but to the equipment in the racks, which is why we use NetZoom for that. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words and for that reason an accurate rack drawing is huge. I believe it is better for every reason:
1. Catching details you might not otherwise catch because you see it visually.

2. Related to # 1 we also do front and rear rack layouts and the shapes even show every jack on every component. Seeing the rear of the components in the racks makes it much easier to plan.

3. Communicating the details to all involved - especially installers.

4. Wow factor is of course nice too.