“The gear in my rack tends to get a bit hotter than I’m comfortable with. Do you have any suggestions?”

First, it’s normal for some equipment to run hot…even hot to the touch. That said, anything you can do to keep it cooler can potentially increase the life of the equipment or in some cases make it run more smoothly.

Some of this can be helped by gear placement, the rest can be assisted with simple rack accessories. The first place to start is by making sure that your most used gear, or the gear that tends to get hottest, is well vented. Try leaving a space in your rack between these pieces. For cosmetic concerns, place a blank panel or a vented panel in your rack. This will keep your rack looking nice while allowing your gear to get necessary ventilation. Also, try mixing your “hot” pieces in with your “cooler” pieces. In other words, don’t keep all your hot pieces next to each other; this will allow the heat to dissipate faster. If you still have heat related problems, try installing rack mounted fans at the rear of your rack to allow for improved air movement. There are dozens of rack related solutions to heat buildup. A quick search in the Sweetwater store under some choice words such as “fan” or “vent” can give you some great, yet inexpensive ideas.