What are Rackmount Computers?

Rack mount computers are essentially computer servers. Computer servers are not the ones you play games on or send emails to your friends with.

Servers perform a small number of specialized operations, some as little as a single operation, but they have the ability to perform it millions of times over and over again, quickly and flawlessly. And when one server is no longer adequate to handle the volume of transactions that a business may require, other, bigger, more powerful servers are needed. When the new servers arrive, they are networked into the system and to save space, are mounted on racks.

When the business with the servers is a steel company, or an automobile manufacturer, industrial rack mount computers are the standard. Stored in rugged steel frames, stackable in standard 19-inch racks, industrial rack mount computers are used for database servers, web servers and networks. Furthermore they are also quite commonly used in laboratory and workshop environments.

Linux is a special operating system that is basically a version of Unix, which has become the foundation of the Internet. When ISP’s like AOL and others came into existence, the amount of servers they needed to accommodate millions of customers eager to surf the web was staggering. In order to make space for that amount of computers, a special rack mounted unit was created to hold the Linux servers. Dubbed the Linux Rack mount Computer system, it became the choice for all of the new Internet businesses all over the world. Soon after, manufacturers of the Linux Rack mount Computer racks where inundated with orders and quickly fell behind schedule.

It took a while for Intel to catch up with it’s rivals, but once they did, the Xeon Rack mount Computers quickly overtook everyone else in the field and became the gold standard among all of the rack mounted computers being installed.