Communication Rack Design
Quick 2D rack layout sketcher. Pick 12, 24, 42, or 47U, drag U slots, label them with your part numbers, export PDF, CSV, and JSON.
Most rack designs start with an engineer who already knows what is going in the cabinet — a specific switch, a UPS, an inline amplifier, a patch panel, a PDU, a few blank fillers. The question is not what the equipment weighs or draws. The question is how it lays out, how much U is left, and what to hand the installer or the customer.
The noIM₃ Rack Layout Designer is built for exactly that workflow. Pick a rack height from the four canonical presets (12U, 24U, 42U, 47U), drag a U range in the elevation, type a part number or a label, hit enter, and drag the next one. Move, resize, duplicate, or delete any block. Cmd/Ctrl-Z undoes the last action. Add a free-text note to any block when the label alone is not enough (port assignments, "rear PSU on PDU A", "spare 1U for future").
Export a single-page A4 PDF layout, a CSV of the rack contents, and a JSON snapshot to save and resume later. The design and your saved layouts auto-persist in localStorage so closing the tab does not lose the work. The tool is deliberately narrow: no equipment catalogue, no weight or power roll-up, no thermal modelling — just a fast way to block out the cabinet and produce a clean handoff drawing.
12U (wall mount), 24U (half-height cabinet), 42U (full-height cabinet), and 47U (oversized cabinet). The elevation re-renders with U numbering from U1 at the bottom every time the rack height is changed, and any block that would now overflow is dropped so the rack always remains valid.
Drag a U range in the elevation to create a block. The name field auto-focuses so you can type the part number or label and hit enter immediately, then drag the next one. Move and resize handles let you adjust any block; overlap and out-of-bounds placements are rejected with a readable error.
Select any block to add a free-text note in the right rail — handy for port assignments ("ports 1-24 to MDF"), cabling reminders, or future-use reservations. Notes are carried into the CSV and PDF exports.
Cmd/Ctrl-Z undoes the last drag-create, move, resize, duplicate, delete, or height change. Delete or Backspace removes the selected block. Both are suppressed while typing in a text field so renames never destroy work.
Save the current rack as a named layout, load it back later, or save-as to fork a variant. The library is a list of complete rack layouts you have built — not an equipment catalogue. Designs and the library auto-persist in localStorage between sessions.
Single-page A4 PDF with a brand-bar header, the rack elevation, and a bill-of-materials table (U range, units, name, notes). CSV with the same columns for spreadsheets. JSON snapshot for save and load between machines or to share a draft.
No. This is a layout sketcher, not a structural or electrical calculator. If you need weight or power roll-up for floor loading or UPS sizing, use a dedicated calculator and capture the result in the build notes.
No — the tool assumes you already know the equipment going in the rack. Drag a U range, type the part number or label, and move on. The left rail "Saved Layouts" is for complete rack designs, not equipment items.
No. v1 is a single-rack front elevation. Rear of rack, cable management, and multi-rack rows are out of scope.
In localStorage on your machine. Nothing is sent to a server. Export JSON if you need to share a design or back it up.
Not in v1. Every block occupies its declared U height across the full rack width.
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