Cooling
Rack-door cooling explained
Guide · reviewed 2026-07-04
Rack-door cooling replaces a passive rear door with a cooling unit that removes heat as air leaves the cabinet, so hot exhaust is neutralised at the source. It is used for high-density and HPC racks whose heat load exceeds what perforated doors and room cooling can handle.
How it works
A rack-door cooling unit mounts where the rear door would be. As server exhaust passes through it, a chilled coil or refrigerant loop absorbs the heat, so the air entering the room is close to room temperature. This keeps hot aisles cooler and lets you run higher power per cabinet.
When to use it
- High-density racks (high kW per cabinet) beyond air-cooling limits
- GPU / HPC deployments with concentrated heat
- Rooms without capacity for more raised-floor or CRAC cooling
- Retrofits where per-rack cooling is easier than room upgrades
Wenvex cabinets are designed to integrate rack-door cooling units, specified against the cabinet's depth and door options and fitted before delivery.