StarTech RK12WALHM Wall-Mount Cabinet Review

The rear hinge is the reason most people end up choosing this cabinet. The whole enclosure pivots away from the wall through 180°, so you can open up the back of the rack without unloading it. Patching a port, swapping a switch or tracing a cable stops being a job that starts with pulling the cabinet off the wall. Buyers on Amazon single this out: Amazon's summary of the reviews reports that customers value the rear access, and one customer calls the hinged opening at the back a game-changer.

Build quality holds up the same way. The frame is SPCC cold-rolled steel in a 4-post layout, built to the EIA/ECA-310-E standard. Amazon's summary describes the cabinet as high quality and sturdy, and those two themes carry the most mentions among buyers, both mostly positive. The large majority of ratings are four or five stars.

It arrives put together.

There is no flat-pack build. The cabinet ships fully assembled, which matters in a closet where you are working above shoulder height with limited room to lay panels out.

Every entrance locks

The front door, the rear door and both side panels lock, each with its own key. In a shared closet or a hallway wiring point, that keeps the gear behind a lock without a separate cage.

Doors and panels come off

The mesh front door is reversible and removable, and the side panels lift off. Both help during the install and when you need to reach a side of the rack.

The rails take either mounting style.

What comes in the box

You get a 1U shelf and 3 m of cable ties, plus the cage nuts and screws. The shelf alone saves buying a separate one for a mini-PC or a small device that does not rack.

Five years of coverage

The warranty runs 5 years, which is long for a steel enclosure.

Cooling without power

Air moves passively through the mesh front door and the mesh side panels, with vents at the top and bottom. If that is not enough for the load, the cabinet has room for up to four optional 4.7 in (120 mm) fans.

The mounting depth tops out at 16 in. This is a network-depth cabinet, not a server cabinet, and full-depth rack servers do not belong in it. What does fit: switches, patch panels, routers, firewalls, NVRs, small UPS units, shallow 1U gear and shelf-mounted mini-PCs.

No fans are included. Cooling is passive out of the box, and the four 4.72 in (120 mm) positions are there for fans you add yourself.

At 63.7 lb (28.9 kg) empty, the cabinet is a two-person lift above shoulder height.

The hinge only pays off if you plan for it. Leave enough slack in the cables to open the cabinet fully.

The outside of the cabinet is 21.7 in deep, but the usable mounting depth is 16 in. Anyone who assumes the outside number fits their gear will be disappointed.

Inspect the cabinet on arrival. Check the frame and the door alignment before you sign for it.

The 198 lb (90 kg) rating is the number to check against your gear, and it sits on top of the cabinet's own 63.7 lb (28.9 kg). The 16 in mounting depth is the number to check against your deepest piece of equipment. The 2.4 in to 16 in rail range is what lets shallow gear sit properly in the frame instead of floating at the front rail.

Measure your deepest piece of gear, add room for cabling at the rear, and compare the total to the 16 in maximum mounting depth.

What fits

• Switches and patch panels
• Routers and firewalls
• NVRs and small UPS units
• Shallow 1U gear
• Mini-PCs on the included shelf

What does not fit?

Full-depth rack servers do not fit. Their depth runs well past what this cabinet mounts.

Setting the rails

The rails adjust from 2.4 in to 16 in, so shallow equipment can be positioned where it belongs rather than hanging off the front rail. That range is also what makes a patch panel and a switch line up properly with each other.

Counting the space

12U is roughly twelve 1U devices, minus whatever the included 1U shelf takes up. The cabinet's own about 63.7 lb (28.9 kg) also counts toward what the wall carries.

The wall carries the cabinet plus the gear: about 63.7 lb (28.9 kg) of cabinet plus up to 198 lb (89.8 kg) of equipment.

The 180° hinge needs clear floor space in front of the cabinet and enough cable slack to open fully. Plan the position around the swing, not just the footprint.

Air moves passively through the mesh front door and the mesh side panels, with vents at the top and bottom. Up to four optional 4.7 in (120 mm) fans can be added if passive airflow is not enough for the load, and the fans are not included.

A switch stack and a patch panel in a closet usually run fine passively. A denser load or a warm closet is where the fan positions earn their place.

The same cabinet design comes in four other versions. The RK1820WALHM is 18U and 16 in deep, and the RK1520WALHM is 15U and 16 in deep. The RK1224WALHM is 12U and 20 in deep, and the RK1232WALHM is 12U and 24 in deep. Choose the 18U or 15U model if you need room for more devices than 12U holds.