Vertiv GL790ES-2442-B-MS 42U 24x42 Black Server Rack Enclosure
Overview
The Vertiv GL790ES-2442-B-MS is a 42U rack cabinet built for IT rooms, network closets, and data center rows where a compact 24-inch-wide footprint matters. At 42 inches deep, it accommodates most standard 1U–4U servers, switches, and patch panels without demanding the full 48-inch depth of a larger enclosure — giving you back real floor space in tight equipment rooms. If you're speccing a network equipment deployment or a multi-rack Vertiv rack and power lineup, this cabinet is worth a close look before reaching for a wider unit.
The GL790ES-2442-B-MS ships in black and is available with mesh contour front/rear doors or a clear front door — door selection affects both airflow performance and visual access to indicator lights during a live maintenance window, so choose deliberately based on your cooling strategy and ops workflow.
Key Features
- 42U Rack Space: 42U of usable vertical rail provides enough room for a full-density switch stack, patch panel, and 1U servers in the same enclosure — no need to split a small deployment across two cabinets.
- 24-Inch Width: The 24-inch form factor fits in narrow corridors, wiring closets, and colocation cage rows where a standard 30-inch cabinet won't clear aisle or door widths. Confirm your doorway and tile cutout dimensions before delivery.
- 42-Inch Depth: 42 inches of usable depth handles most rack-mount equipment up to approximately 36 inches in chassis depth — adequate for 1U/2U servers, ToR switches, and UPS units without the extra floor footprint of a 48-inch cabinet.
- Mesh Contour Door Options: Mesh contour front and rear doors — including a split rear door variant — promote passive airflow through the enclosure, reducing reliance on supplemental in-row cooling in moderate-density deployments. The split rear door option allows cable access without fully opening the rear panel, a practical advantage in high-density patch environments.
- Clear Door Option: The clear door variant provides unobstructed visual inspection of port LEDs, drive status lights, and panel indicators without opening the cabinet — useful in glass-walled server rooms or colocation facilities where you need to read status at a glance.
- Black Finish: The black color matches standard data center rack aesthetics and is the default choice for most enterprise and colocation environments. A Winter White variant exists in the broader GL790ES family if your facility uses a light-color scheme for aisle identification.
Integration and Compatibility
The GL790ES-2442-B-MS is part of Vertiv's ES cabinet series, which spans 24U through 52U heights and 24-inch through 32-inch widths — making it straightforward to standardize on a single rail and accessory ecosystem across a multi-cabinet row. If your deployment scales beyond what the 24x42 footprint supports, the broader server rack enclosures category includes deeper and wider variants in the same Vertiv family line.
Standard 19-inch rack rails are expected for this enclosure class; verify mounting rail compatibility with your specific equipment before ordering. Vertiv's power distribution units and cable management accessories are designed to integrate with this enclosure series, which simplifies accessory procurement if you're building out a complete rack solution. For structured cabling planning that includes patch panels and cable management, the 42U height and 42-inch depth provide sufficient space for horizontal and vertical managers without crowding equipment.
Note: The GL790ES-2442-B-MS (often searched as GL790ES 2442 B MS) is specifically the 42U, 24-inch-wide, 42-inch-deep, black configuration. Review the full ES cabinet matrix if your project requires a different height, width, or depth — Vertiv publishes the complete variant table on their product page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What are the exact dimensions of the GL790ES-2442-B-MS?
A: The GL790ES-2442-B-MS is a 42U cabinet with a 24-inch width and 42-inch depth, finished in black. Confirm floor tile and doorway clearance before delivery, as interior usable dimensions will be somewhat less than the outer chassis.
Q: What door configurations are available on the GL790ES-2442-B-MS?
A: The ES cabinet series supports mesh contour front/rear doors, mesh contour front with split mesh rear, and a clear door option. Door type affects both airflow and visual access — select based on your cooling strategy and maintenance workflow.
Q: Is the GL790ES-2442-B-MS available in colors other than black?
A: Yes. The broader GL790ES family includes a Winter White finish. The GL790ES-2442-B-MS specifically is the black variant; if you need Winter White, confirm the correct part number with your order.
Q: What is the rack unit capacity of the GL790ES-2442-B-MS?
A: The GL790ES-2442-B-MS provides 42U of vertical rack space, which is sufficient for a full-density mix of 1U switches, patch panels, and servers in a single enclosure.
Q: Can the GL790ES-2442-B-MS accommodate standard 19-inch rack equipment?
A: The GL790ES series is designed for standard 19-inch rack-mount equipment. Verify specific rail and mounting hardware compatibility with your equipment before installation, as rail kit options may vary.
The GL790ES-2442-B-MS sits in a sweet spot I see underused: the 24-inch-wide, 42U configuration that fits where a standard 30-inch cabinet physically can't go — narrow colocation cages, wiring closets with a 28-inch door, or secondary equipment rooms that were never designed for full-depth racks. The 42-inch depth is the practical call here; going to 48 inches buys you nothing on most 1U and 2U gear and costs you meaningful floor space in a tight room.
Technical Highlights:
- 42U Height: Enough vertical space to run a complete access layer — ToR switch, patch panel, firewall, and a pair of 1U servers — without splitting the stack across two enclosures and the cable management headache that follows.
- Mesh Contour Doors: Mesh front and rear (including the split rear variant) allow passive front-to-back airflow without supplemental in-row cooling in low-to-moderate density deployments. Split rear is specifically worth specifying if your cabling team works in live environments — they can manage rear cable runs without clearing the full rear door.
- 24-Inch Width: Saves roughly 6 inches per cabinet versus a 30-inch unit — that's a full cabinet width recovered across a 5-cabinet row, which in a 10x10 colocation cage is meaningful aisle space.
Deployment Considerations:
- The 24-inch width means some wider side-mount accessories (certain cable managers, toolless rail kits) spec'd for 30-inch cabinets won't fit — verify accessory part numbers against the 24-inch ES chassis before ordering.
- The 42-inch depth accommodates most rack equipment, but deep UPS units (some APC and Vertiv Liebert models run 35–38 inches) will be tight or won't fit at all — measure your deepest chassis before committing to this depth.
This cabinet is the right call for a branch office IDF or a colocation secondary cage where you need a complete, self-contained equipment stack in a footprint that doesn't crowd the room — not a primary data center main distribution frame where you'd want the extra width and depth headroom of a larger enclosure.
