Geist SA1-03001 | SwitchAir, Passive 3U airflow Management Device

Network switches, load balancers and routers typically sit at the top and back portion of the rack. In a traditional hot aisle/cold aisle data center design, this placement makes it difficult for cold air to flow from the front of the rack to the air intakes of network switch equipment increasing chances of failure over time. If network equipment begins to overheat, blanking panels are commonly removed from the front of the rack in an effort to provide cool air to the device. This ultimately results in recirculation of hot air into the cold aisle potentially increasing the intake temperature of other devices in the rack.