I have a fairly quick question. At work today, I was reviewing how switches are installed in a rack for a specific company and I noticed that they have the large Cisco switches installed vertically, the exact reason for that was unknown.
There were basically two panels holding it together so it could be installed that way.
I was just wondering, from your practical experience, have you ever seen a switch (not a small switch or an AP but a large business one) installed vertically and if so, why? Is there any use case for it? It seems harder and more hindering to install it that way rather than doing it horizontally
Hmm, that’s a headscratcher. Although it’s not unheard of, I haven’t encountered this in my installations. I have heard of such situations where it was necessary to install them that way because the standard 19 inch rack did not fit in the space they were using, so they installed the whole rack sideways (it was a small 8U rack).
Other situations may be helpful in reducing cable lengths of patch cords, as all of the ports of the switch are an equal distance from the side, so you don’t need as many cable guides.
Ultimately, this should be done only if necessary, it is not standard, and it is not officially recommended by Cisco. Some say airflow is better, while others say you can get a higher density of devices in the same space. Devices are designed to function horizontally, so moving parts like cooling fans may introduce vibration or strange behaviors if installed vertically.
Other than space requirements, I don’t think there is any real benefit from such an installation, as it can become cumbersome to install and maintain. In your specific situation, was there an issue with space? What’s the reason for such an installation, has anyone told you? I’d be interested to hear…