Re: Adhesive Rack Unit Indicators?
Mel Beckman via NANOG <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.org.operators.nanog |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
The trustee $100 Brady M210 label maker can print labels for racks using the “patch panel“ label type. It can do both horizontal and vertical numbering: for RU you choose vertical, pick a font, set the interval of 1.75 inches and then the starting number and the ending number and it will print it’s little brain out giving you a strip as long as your heart desires. Well, maybe there is a limit, but I’ve never reached it. They have a huge variety of label types and materials, too, so you may have to experiment for what you want for visibility. I tend to like the white on black lettering, just because it stands out in a rack cabinet where the light isn’t the best. But you can buy tape from a selection of 10 contrasting colors. These are inkless: the colors are built into the tape, and it thermally etches away the background color to get to the inner text color. This is a very durable material, and Brady offers an outdoor durability vinyl material. Can also print wire sleeves for electrical wiring, which is incredibly useful and labeling wires that don’t have big terminations on them. Cartridges are $20-$30 each, and like Gillette, that’s where they make their money. Each has 21 feet of label material, from variable width as narrow as a half inch and up to 3/4 of an inch.They also have Bluetooth label makers where all the controls are in your phone via an app. But for simplicity, you can’t beat the ready-to-go M210. You can often find this unit heavily discounted in hardware stores, such as Home Depot. -mel > On Mar 27, 2026, at 5:04 PM, Andrew Latham via NANOG <[email protected]> wrote: > > Startech RKUNITAPE might be what you are thinking of > >> On Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 5:54 PM Dan Mahoney via NANOG >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Hey there folks, >> >> In the past, I've seen rack posts come with their rack positions labeled, from the factory, 0-40 or whatever, for recording what "U" a piece of equipment is on, starting with 1 at the bottom and numbering every 1.75 inches as you rise (i.e. every 3 holes). >> >> I've also seen the low-tech version of this (aka "A Sharpie") used extensively. >> >> But I could *swear* I saw some company that just made an adhesive strip that you could put into your cabinet that made this simpler, and perma-labeled your rack, but either I'm hallucinating, it's no longer made, or I've gotten worse with google (or the AI summary and reduced results are failing me). >> >> Does anyone have recollection of such a beast? >> >> -Dan >> _______________________________________________ >> NANOG mailing list >> https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/VCMVXSB6KZYRD7YGECBXADUA2KY6RGCP/ > > > > -- > - Andrew "lathama" Latham - > _______________________________________________ > NANOG mailing list > https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/WIEXTFPU3DARIORNQTC2L52MFXFTZJVL/ _______________________________________________ NANOG mailing list https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/[email protected]/message/TJOPF5V4C6XOXSIU3OXXP6VWOIRHWOLW/