Vertiv GL840CL-3042-2PF 2x21U Colocation Cabinet
The Vertiv GL840CL-3042-2PF is a dual-bay, 2x21U colocation cabinet designed for data center and colocation environments where multiple tenants or equipment sets need to share a single physical enclosure without sharing airflow or access. At 30 inches wide and 42 inches tall in black, the GL840CL-3042-2PF offers a structured, bay-segmented chassis with a meaningful range of door and depth configurations — making it a considered choice for colo operators who need flexibility across different customer deployments within the same rack footprint. (Often searched as GL840CL 3042 2PF.)
Overview
Colocation cabinets differ from standard open-frame or single-tenant racks in one critical way: they must physically divide and independently secure multiple equipment zones while still fitting within a standard floor tile footprint. The GL840CL-3042-2PF addresses this by splitting its 42U total capacity into two independent 21U bays, each capable of housing separate customer equipment with its own access controls and airflow management. This makes it directly relevant to colo facility operators, enterprise IT rooms running segmented infrastructure, and managed service providers housing equipment for multiple clients in a shared space.
For a broader look at Vertiv's Vertiv cabinet and enclosure line, including companion power and thermal management products, the full catalog covers everything from open-frame racks to high-density enclosed cabinets for hyperscale environments.
Key Features
- Dual 21U Bay Configuration (Two/Three/Clear): The GL840CL-3042-2PF splits its usable space into independently accessible bays — available in Two, Three, or Clear bay configurations. A Two-bay split gives you clean 21U segments ideal for two-tenant colo; a Three-bay split allows finer-grained segmentation for multi-tenant or zone-separated deployments; the Clear option removes the internal divider when you need the full cabinet height for a single high-density customer. Choosing the wrong bay count at order time locks in your segmentation, so confirm tenant headcount and U-space requirements before specifying.
- Multiple Depth Options — 36", 42", or 48": Three depth choices let you match the cabinet to the actual equipment you're housing. A 36-inch depth suits most 1U/2U servers and networking gear. The 42-inch option accommodates longer 2U/4U compute nodes and mid-depth storage arrays without excess dead space. The 48-inch depth is the right call for deep blade chassis, high-density storage enclosures, or any equipment where you'd otherwise be forcing cables against a rear door. Depth is a fixed-at-order specification — measure your deepest planned occupant before selecting.
- Mesh Front/Rear Doors: Mesh doors on both front and rear maximize passive and active airflow through the cabinet without restricting access for cable management. In hot-aisle/cold-aisle deployments, mesh doors are the standard choice: they let cold air in from the front and allow hot exhaust to exit the rear freely, reducing the risk of recirculation hot spots within the bay.
- Plexi Front Door Option: A transparent plexi front door lets operations staff visually check indicator LEDs, power states, and cable routing without opening the door — useful in multi-tenant environments where physical access is logged or badged, and a quick visual status check is preferable to triggering an access event.
- Solid Rear Door with 2 Integrated Fans: The solid rear door with two built-in fans is the right configuration when you need positive rear exhaust control — particularly in open-room deployments without a hot-aisle containment curtain. The fans actively pull exhaust air out of the cabinet rear, reducing the thermal load on adjacent enclosures. This configuration is especially relevant in mixed-density rows where some bays run higher wattage loads than others.
- 30" Wide Form Factor: At 30 inches wide, the GL840CL-3042-2PF fits standard EIA-310 rack equipment (19-inch mounting rails) while providing additional side clearance for cable management channels and PDU mounting on the interior sidewalls — a practical consideration in colo environments where cable density per rack is high.
Integration and Compatibility
The GL840CL-3042-2PF is designed to integrate into standard data center floor plans on 24-inch or 30-inch floor tile grids. The three depth options (36", 42", 48") are the primary compatibility variable: confirm your floor tile depth allocation and hot-aisle/cold-aisle containment configuration before finalizing depth. The bay configuration (Two/Three/Clear) determines internal segmentation and should align with your tenant count and access control scheme. Pair with Vertiv PDUs and cable management accessories for a complete enclosed bay deployment. For environments requiring network cabinets and rack enclosures at different form factors or heights, evaluate the full enclosure line alongside this model.
The solid rear door with integrated fans requires a power feed for the fan units — confirm your power distribution plan accounts for fan power at the rear of the cabinet. In containment-row deployments, the mesh door configuration is generally preferred over the solid fan door, since active containment handles rear exhaust without cabinet-level fans.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the total usable rack unit capacity of the GL840CL-3042-2PF?
A: The GL840CL-3042-2PF provides 2x21U of usable space, for a combined 42U total, split across two independently accessible bays within a single 42-inch-tall enclosure.
Q: What depth options are available for the GL840CL-3042-2PF?
A: The cabinet is available in 36-inch, 42-inch, and 48-inch depths. Depth is selected at time of order and should match your deepest planned occupant to avoid clearance issues with rear doors or cable management.
Q: What door configurations are available?
A: The GL840CL-3042-2PF is available with Mesh Front/Rear doors (best for open airflow), Plexi Front with various rear options (for visual status checks without opening), and a Solid Rear door with 2 integrated exhaust fans (for active rear exhaust in non-containment environments).
Q: What does the bay configuration option mean — Two, Three, or Clear?
A: The bay configuration controls the internal segmentation of the cabinet. Two-bay splits the 42U into two 21U zones; Three-bay provides three independently secured segments; Clear removes internal dividers for single-tenant full-height use.
Q: Is the GL840CL-3042-2PF suitable for hot-aisle/cold-aisle containment rows?
A: Yes, particularly with the mesh front/rear door configuration, which allows unrestricted airflow through the cabinet consistent with hot-aisle/cold-aisle design principles. The solid rear door with integrated fans is better suited to open-room deployments without active containment.
Q: What width is the GL840CL-3042-2PF?
A: The cabinet is 30 inches wide, accommodating standard 19-inch EIA-310 rack equipment with additional interior clearance for cable management and PDU mounting.
The GL840CL-3042-2PF is the cabinet I reach for when a colo operator needs to physically segment a rack between two tenants without building out separate floor space. The 2x21U bay split with selectable Two, Three, or Clear internal configuration is the defining feature here — it's not a detail to gloss over, because getting the bay count wrong at order time means a cabinet modification or a replacement unit, not a field fix.
Technical Highlights:
- Three Depth Options (36"/42"/48"): The 48-inch depth accommodates blade chassis and deep storage enclosures that routinely get jammed into undersized cabinets, causing cable stress and obstructed rear-door closure — a common field problem this spec directly resolves.
- Solid Rear Door with 2 Integrated Fans: In open-room rows without containment, these fans provide active rear exhaust — preventing hot air recirculation into adjacent bays, which is the primary thermal failure mode in mixed-density colocation rows.
- Plexi Front Door Option: Allows operations staff to visually confirm equipment status and LED indicators without triggering a logged door-open access event — meaningful in multi-tenant environments where access auditing is contractually required.
Deployment Considerations:
- The solid rear fan door requires a power feed for the fan units — account for this in your per-cabinet PDU capacity plan before specifying this door option.
- In hot-aisle/cold-aisle containment deployments, choose the mesh front/rear door configuration over the solid fan door; active containment handles rear exhaust and the fan door adds unnecessary power draw and a potential failure point.
The GL840CL-3042-2PF is the right call for data center and colocation enclosure deployments where a two-tenant bay split, configurable depth, and door-level airflow management are hard requirements — specifically in managed colo facilities running badged per-tenant access and mixed-density equipment rows.
