About Archive Data Solutions
Archive Data Solutions (ADS) provides data storage products and specialty data center services to data centers across North America, specializing in cost-reduction and efficiency improvement solutions for insurance and financial markets.
The Challenge
In the midst of relocating a portion of its data center operations to a colocation facility, ADS's customer, a major US transportation company, aimed to ensure the selection of the most suitable enclosure solution. While already using Rittal IT enclosures for its existing onsite data center, the customer opted for a comprehensive evaluation between competitors to ensure the highest level of quality, compatibility, and efficiency in the new environment. In order to confidently select the right enclosure for its requirements, the company asked ADS to participate in a “bake off” – a head-to-head evaluation of major competitor IT infrastructure product features and benefits.
The Evaluation
Three well-known competitors in the enclosure industry were chosen to compare with Rittal’s IT enclosure. As is typical of this kind of evaluation, a sales rep from each company was present to offer insights and answer customers questions.
The Rittal Solution
After carefully assessing all four enclosures, the customer chose Rittal for its new colocation deployment. Some of the features that impressed the transportation company included the following:
Meeting Dimension Specs: The customer was looking to increase their IT space while taking advantage of the taller ceilings in the colocation facility. Their initial request for the competition was a 52U x 28” x 48” deep enclosure. After further review, the customer elected to stay with the 32” width they were using in their other data centers to future proof the ever-changing IT technology.
Power strip placement: The power strips are easily accessible and allow for more usable space within the enclosure. They also make it simple to add and remove equipment as the cords are directed away from equipment and routed to the sides of the enclosure, maximizing air egress.
Floating rails: Vertical rails are secured to frame members or lateral support channels and can be adjusted independently, front to back, and left to right; most enclosures only allow rail movement front to rear. Because of Rittal’s design, PDUs and other accessories can be easily mounted in the Zero U space. Mounting rails are fully depth-adjustable and able to maintain load capacity regardless of where they are positioned.
Flexibility: Unlike most manufacturers, Rittal produces enclosures that can be bayed together to have a single divider panel between the two cabinets, which is easily removed on day two without having to separate the enclosures.
Additionally:
- Enclosures are available with casters and/or leveling feet, or neither
- Rittal offers many placement options for power strips and power cord management, allowing greater flexibility to meet user preferences
- Rittal has many innovative cable management tools to support low voltage cables
Security: Security was important to this customer because of the location in a colocation facility. Rittal’s doors safeguard equipment with the use of four hinges and four locking points per door for optimum protection.
The Results
Since the evaluation, ADS’ customer has standardized on Rittal, meaning there is great potential for additional enclosure orders in the future, both for their existing data center and for colocation deployments. Additionally, having recommended Rittal, ADS has become an even more important partner to its customer. In the head-to-head evaluation, ADS demonstrated the power of their knowledge and insights to solve challenges with well-engineered solutions.
Lisa Champaign, Sales Executive for ADS, explained, “I appreciate Rittal’s unparalleled engineering – the features and details are impressive and practical, and their value is undeniable. The support from the sales team is also very helpful as we go into situations like this, and after the sale.”
The evaluation and ADS’ recommendation also opened the door for ADS to expand on the products it offers this customer, creating stronger relationships for all parties involved.
Contact Rittal for Dedicated Colocation Solutions
If you are seeking dedicated IT infrastructure for your colocation business and need solutions delivered quickly, then contact Rittal today. We provide in-stock, pre-engineered enclosures designed specifically to match the US colocation market. With a variety of quality accessories for cooling, security, and more, Rittal is a credible partner that will deliver optimized solutions in a competitive timeframe.