How To Specify a Chassis; Design Steps
The links provide many of the steps that need to be followed to spec out an equipment chassis so that it adheres to the standards required to meet the requirements of the design. Each page link has a description of the task, and some number of equipment manufacturers links. In some cases a particular component may not be required to complete the chassis design.
Be sure to consider equipment maintenance when designing chassis. When possible include detachable top panels and doors for ease of access.
Note many of these topics are interrelated, so be sure to check related details. Data is not duplicated between pages so related topics may contain data that is pertinent to more than one set of guidelines. Normally links to manufacturers leave this particular section of pages.
An Equipment chassis design should start with either a maximum chassis size, a particular card form factor or a form factor which meets the required bus through-put rate.
Military Grade Rackmount equipment is designed specifically for high vibration / high shock environments such as transit case installation, vehicular mounting and aircraft mounting.
1. Define a chassis style:
.... 1.1 Chassis Form Factors.
..... 1.11 Chassis Height / Width.
.... 1.2 COTS Board Sizes.
.... 1.3 Chassis Specifications.
.... 1.4 Chassis Vendors . [Manufacturers Issues and Vendors]
.... 1.5 Rackmount Computers.
...... 1.51 PC Case Manufacturers. [PC Case Vendors]
2. Spec Compliance Chassis Specifications.
3. RoHS Compliance RoHS Standards
4. Board Manufacturers. [Board Vendors]
5. Air Flow Chassis Thermal Design.
.... 5.1 Fan Selection. AC or DC fans.
.... 5.2 Fan Manufacturers. [Fan Vendors]
..... 5.21 Fan Accessory Manufacturers [Grills, Guard Vendors]
.... 5.3 Fan Tray Manufacturers. [Fan Tray Vendors]
.... 5.4 Slot By-pass cards.
.... 5.5 Power Supply Manufacturers.
...... 5.51 Power Supply Standards.
...... 5.52 Power Supply Manufacturers. [Power Supply Vendors]
6. EMI Issues. RFI issues.
.... 6.1 Chassis Grounding.
.... 6.2 Chassis Ground Lugs.
.... 6.3 Connector EMI Issues.
...... 6.31 Connector Dust Caps.
.... 6.4 Fuse Holders.
...... 6.41 Fuse Manufacturers. [Fuse Vendors]
...... 6.42 Fuse Derating.
.... 6.5 AC Power Modules.
...... 6.51 RFI Power Filtering.
7. Equipment Rack Standards.
.... 7.1 Equipment Rack Sizes.
.... 7.2 Equipment Rack Rails.
.... 7.3 Equipment Rack Grounding.
.... 7.4 Equipment Rack Installation.
.... 7.5 Equipment Rack Manufacturers. [Rack Vendors]
.... 7.6 Rack Gear.
...... 7.61 Chassis Support Shelf.
...... 7.62 Slide Rail Manufacturers
...... 7.63 Blower Manufacturers [Fan Blower Vendors]
...... 7.64 Caster Manufacturers
...... 7.65 Panel Meter Manufacturers
........ 7.66 Elapsed Time Indicator.
........ 7.67 Environmental Alarm Units.
...... 7.68 Rack Leveling Products
...... 7.69 Anti-Vibration Products
...... 7.7 Patch Panels
8. Additional items to consider
.... 8.1 Front Panel Manufacturers
.... 8.2 Filler Panel Manufacturers
.... 8.3 Handle Manufacturers
.... 8.4 Card Guide Manufacturers
.... 8.5 Keying Cards per Slot.
.... 8.6 Connector Selection.
...... 8.61 Connector EMI Issues.
.... 8.7 Wire Selection.
...... 8.71 Wire Insulation Color Codes.
...... 8.72 Wire Manufacturers. [Copper Wire Vendors]
.... 8.8 Cable Assemblies.
...... 8.81 Cable Data Rate.
...... 8.82 Cable Assembly Manufacturers. [Cable Vendors]
...... 8.83 Cable Harness [Cable Harness Tie Down].
...... 8.84 Cable Carriers [Cable Retracters].
.... 8.9 Cable Clamp, Grommet manufacturers.
.... 8.10 Cable Ferrites Manufacturers. [Cable Ferrite Core Vendors]
.... 8.11 Captive Screws.
.... 8.12 Metal Finish. [Chassis Exterior Metal Finishes]
.... 8.13 Caution Labels. [Required Warning Labels]
9. Electronic Equipment Definitions:
.... 9.1 Chassis Terms 'A' to 'C'.
.... 9.2 Chassis Terms 'F' to 'Z'.
10. Additional chassis design notes
.... 10.1 What to Avoid. Pitfalls and cost issues.
.... 10.2 Equipment Cost.
