8 42U racks tracked right now, from $201.28. A 42U budget holds 42 rack units of height - what actually fits depends on every device's own vendor-stated RU size, computed below rather than assumed.
Prices updated · live figures update every 4-5 hours
| Rack | RU | Type | Style | Depth | Static load | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NavePoint | 42U | 4-post | open-frame | 483mm | unverified | $201.28 | Buy |
| NavePoint | 42U | 2-post | open-frame | 584mm | unverified | $225.99 | Buy |
| StarTech | 42U | 2-post | open-frame | 483mm | unverified | $252.99 | Buy |
| NavePoint | 42U | 2-post | open-frame | 483mm | unverified | $285.99 | Buy |
| StarTech | 42U | 4-post | open-frame | 483mm | unverified | $357.99 | Buy |
| NavePoint | 42U | 4-post | open-frame | 483mm | unverified | $425.99 | Buy |
| Tripp Lite | 42U | enclosed | enclosed | 483mm | unverified | $1649.92 | Buy |
| StarTech | 42U | 4-post | enclosed | 914mm | unverified | $1905.99 | Buy |
A common rack chassis size is 1U or 2U (the site-wide convention for server chassis height), and a PDU is either 0U (mounts vertically, uses no horizontal rail space) or 1U (uses one). Two disk shelves in our JBOD cluster carry a vendor-sourced rack-unit figure: NetApp DS4246 at 4U and NetApp DS2246 at 2U. One example: two 2U servers (4U) plus a DS4246 (4U) plus a 1U PDU comes to 9U of a 42U budget, leaving 33U spare.
We do not have a vendor-stated rack-unit figure for switches or for most UPS units in our catalogue (UPS listings state tower-vs-rackmount form but not a specific RU height) - budget extra space for those rather than assuming they add zero.
Rack, PDU and UPS only - no rail kit, because rail compatibility is server-generation-specific and this page cannot assume which server you're racking. See /rack/mounting for exact rail fits. This total is a sum of live prices, not of power ratings - it does not tell you whether the UPS and PDU together cover what you plan to plug into them. 3 items across 3 listings. In-stock listings only. Anything out of stock when this page loaded is named below rather than silently dropped.
| Item | Qty | Each | Line | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RackNavePoint 42U rack | x1 | $201.28 | $201.28 | Buy |
| PDUEaton basic PDU | x1 | $101.41 | $101.41 | Buy |
| UPSEaton SMART1500LCD | x1 | $294.99 | $294.99 | Buy |
| Basket total | $597.68 | |||
These are our current tracked prices. Amazon sets the seller and the final price at checkout - verify before you buy. Opening any item starts an Amazon session, and anything you add there is part of the same order - you do not need to come back here between items.
42U sits where it does in our catalogue because that's where at least three verified listings across our tracked brands cluster - it is a genuinely common size, not an arbitrary cutoff we chose. Both open-frame and enclosed options exist at this size in what we track; check the live table above for the current split.
The same open-frame-vs-enclosed and 2-post-vs-4-post decisions covered on the rack hub apply at this size exactly as they do at any other - size does not change which structural class is right for your equipment, only how much of it you can fit.
The rack hub covers the open-frame, depth-trap and hole-type decisions in full · Rails, shelves and cage nuts for exact server-generation rail fits · Rack PDUs for the power side · Disk shelves for the two sourced RU figures used above · UPS for a server rack.
42 at most by height alone, but that ignores everything else that needs space - a PDU (0U mounts vertically and costs nothing; 1U takes a rack unit), a UPS if it's rack-mount, and any disk shelf, which can be several RU tall. Budget for those before assuming the full 42U is available for servers.
Depends on the shelf - our disk shelf cluster tracks two models with a vendor-stated rack unit figure: NetApp's DS4246 at 4U and DS2246 at 2U. Three other tracked models have no sourced RU figure and render as unverified rather than a guessed height. Check the specific shelf's own page before assuming it fits.
No - a 0U PDU mounts vertically along the side of the rack, outside the horizontal rail space that RU height measures. A 1U PDU mounts horizontally and does consume one rack unit. Our PDU table states which form factor each unit is where the listing specifies one.
See the basket below - it prices the cheapest rack at this size plus a basic PDU plus a rackmount UPS, all live, all nameplate-labelled where relevant. We do not add a rail kit to this total because rail compatibility is server-generation-specific (see /rack/mounting and the rail pages) and a generic size page cannot assume which server you're racking.
Check the live table above - both exist at most sizes we track, and the split varies by size. Open frame is generally cheaper and better ventilated; enclosed adds security and dust containment. See the rack hub for the full comparison.
Only where the maker states a figure - we sourced a static load rating for exactly one tracked model (see the rack hub's sourcing note). Most listings in this size do not state a load rating in the title, and we do not estimate one from a similar model.
Specification claims on this page were checked against the pages below on 4 August 2026. Where a widely-repeated figure did not survive that check, we report what the source says now and say so in the text rather than repeating the familiar number.