With VersaTray®, we have launched an exceptionally modular, service-friendly 19-inch tray system for high-density data center cabling solutions on the market. Tray systems are actually nothing new in data centers and have been around for quite some time. So what is it that makes VersaTray® so different?
Dr. Benjamin Weigand: The most obvious feature is that we’re able to get away from bulky panel technology. With its shelf-like structure, VersaTray® provides optimum access to the rack interior. Including from the front of the rack. Thanks to the modular concept, it can be flexibly constructed and added to in steps of 1/3 of a height unit. When we designed this, we were thinking about both installation technicians and end customers. This focus on our customers can also be seen in the innovative module design.
Ease of operation is naturally another very important point. Can you tell us in more detail just what makes VersaTray® so easy-to-use?
Dr. Benjamin Weigand: VersaTray® can be built up, equipped and also extended tray-by-tray. The height units are not blocked by any panels that are difficult to reach through. This optimized access to the rack interior helps reduce the effort involved during installation, for example by reducing the number of access paths needed along the rows of racks in the data center. What is more, thanks to our innovative module technology, you no longer have to insert the modules into the supports from the front or behind. You can also insert them from above or, and this is a new feature on the market, at an angle. The innovative leaf spring system that is used here aligns the modules with their support elements or slots and also centers them.
At the end of the day, this means that VersaTray® makes it possible to save time and money during installation. So will VersaTray® perhaps replace conventional data center panel solutions in the shorter or longer term?
Dr. Benjamin Weigand: No, not all customers want tray systems. We are well aware of that and are therefore continuing to offer our SMAP-G2. SMAP-G2 has specific advantages with its low design depth of only 200 millimetres and its side cable inlets, for example. By contrast, VersaTray® impresses with its optimized access capabilities, which are not just beneficial during initial installation but also for so-called MACs, that is Moves, Adds and Changes. Taken together with its many different configuration possibilities and the pay-as-you-grow principle, this makes VersaTray® a fabulous system which, it is important to say, was also developed in direct collaboration with our customers.
More information about VersaTray® you can find here.
