When you’re installing an in-house data center to protect your business’ servers, it’s important to find the right area in your facility that makes installing a data center enclosure the most effective for your needs. At FabraCraft, we offer two different options for mounting brackets to an existing ceiling, one system with fusible links and one without. If you’re not sure which is best for your application, let this be a guide for you.

What’s the Difference Between the Bracket Systems?

Pegged aluminum brackets with fusible links have a 3.5” high aluminum face and use fusible links to combine a ceiling mounted angle extrusion to a drop-away bracket. This system is used for fire safety reasons, as the fusible links will melt at 135 degrees, allowing the bottom bracket with a lanyard drop cable to separate and drop 18 inches. When the bracket drops, it allows a fire suppression system access to the enclosure.

Another option is a bracket without fusible links that has a 2.5” face and is used when alternative fire suppression plans are in place, such as halon gas. These brackets do not separate from the ceiling and the enclosure remains intact as the alternate fire suppression works.

The two systems are designed to offer an easy to installation solution for mounting data center enclosure curtains, panels and doors in to create an aisle containment enclosure. Choosing the right bracket not only depends on your fire safety needs, but also what type of ceiling your facility has (drop ceilings, I-beams, joists—wood or metal, or dry wall ceilings) as well as your containment requirements. FabraCraft data center bracket options are used in both hot aisle containment and cold aisle containment.

Custom Options and Professional Guidance

When you purchase a FabraCraft bracket system, you not only receive a simple solution for a variety of layouts, but also the option to create custom solutions for structural obstructions that may be present in your facility. Each enclosure design comes with preassembled custom corner sections, as well as preassembled 2-foot and 4-foot sections, so that installation is easy and quick. Each data center layout installation requires either a) mounting brackets to an existing drop ceiling T-grid with caddy clips, or b) suspending the brackets with threaded rod from existing structural members through an existing ceiling.

If you still need help deciding what type of bracket system is the best choice for your specific facility and location, feel free to contact us at FabraCraft any time—we’re happy to offer our clients the assistance they need to find the right bracket system for their data center enclosures.