lectrical enclosures are an everyday feature in today’s world. However, while the changes we have seen in these may only
seem subtle from when they first came to market, a great deal of innovation goes into these products, which serve almost every industry. Enclosures were initially manufactured for
each specific project, with fabrication companies making them in all shapes and sizes to suit the application. But, in the 1960s came the first step in evolution: ‘series produced’ enclosures. This meant the panel builder or user could simply select an enclosure that best suited his needs as opposed to waiting weeks/days for one that was built specifically for their project.
The first enclosures comprised of many of the parts that are still around today but, over the years, we have seen fundamental changes that are now the foundation of today’s designs. Traditional enclosures did not have the
design features we see today. We are now much more aware that the enclosure is there to protect equipment that is, in many cases, critical to infrastructure and can be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. In fact the mindset of the user today has most definitely changed in that they now recognise that a ‘box is not a box’. Changes in technology has driven many
innovations, including cable entry. Cables now tend to be smaller in diameter, but if
we are looking at fibre or copper they are also more fragile. This means cable glanding needs to address how small wires can be while also ensuring the bend radius doesn’t damage the fibres. Technology is also changing, and components
are now being packaged in smaller and smaller sizes. This means we have to be innovative in how we install these components. For example, there was a time when items
such as variable speed drives were significant in size and were traditionally mounted in floor standing enclosures. We are now seeing them more and more in larger wall mounted cabinets. This therefore means that the enclosure needs to be capable of taking the weight of these parts and that cable entry into the cabinet is good, because with a wall mounted cabinet you do not have the same access into the panel as you would with a floor standing one. The hinges of the enclosure also need to be
capable of taking the weight of any cooling units needed. In many cases, in conjunction with the increase in equipment being installed inside the enclosure, the cooling units have to mirror this effect and increase their performance to suit. This, in turn, means the physical size and weight will grow, putting more strain on the enclosure and its hardware.
The biggest change is in the provision of IT.
Servers have changed significantly. As they have become smaller, more components can be fitted in a rack – and this throws up new challenges. Cable management now becomes an important part due to the increase in connections in the same rack. A higher density of equipment means more heat being generated, which has meant the technological advancements of IT Climate Control have had to move with the demand of the internet age and beyond. In the past, utilising air cooling could suit most
needs, but the rise of ‘high density’ computing means liquid is the future – whether that is via ‘pods’ of racks being flooded with chilled air via liquid cooled equipment connected to external chillers, or even small standalone installations where the rack, cooling and equipment are blocked off from the world and create their own ‘mini datacentre’ to ensure IT servers and so on are kept in a protective environment. As future equipment evolves, so will the Climate Control to support it. With many top end
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