Cabinet shielding inherent in standard equipment racks not designed to provide high-performance shielding

• Published in: 2004 International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37559) Vol. 2; pp. 528 - 532 vol.2
• Main Authors: Knighten, J.L., McLay, R.D., Rostek, P.M., Fan, J.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway NJ IEEE 2004
• Subjects: Apertures; Applied sciences; Cables; Computer systems; Cost function; Electromagnetic compatibility; Electromagnetic interference; Electromagnetic shielding; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Frequency; Hardware; Information technology; Information theory; Information, signal and communications theory; Power engineering and energy; Telecommunications and information theory; Testing; Testing, measurement, noise and reliability; High performance; Electromagnetism; Enclosed apparatus; Testing equipment; Electromagnetic compatibility; Shielding; Computer system; Electromagnetic shielding; Radiated power; Information technology
• ISBN: 0780384431; 9780780384439
• DOI: 10.1109/ISEMC.2004.1349853

Information technology equipment is often housed in racks enclosed as cabinets that are either poorly designed as electromagnetic shields or have not been specifically designed to provide high-performance shielding. This study examines the shielding characteristics of a class of computer systems each housed in similar cabinet racks that were not designed to provide significant levels of shielding. At frequencies above a few hundred MHz, these cabinet racks can provide shielding sufficient to be important in compliance with regulatory EMC requirements on radiated emissions. At frequencies lower than a few hundred MHz, these cabinet racks do not reliably provide significant shielding. These conclusions are based on radiated emissions testing of equipment racks with and without doors and side panels.