Common Concerns About FirePOWER 8000 Series Appliance Rail Kit

Introduction

This document describes common concerns in regards to the third-party rail kit for rack mounted setups that is shipped along with the Cisco FirePOWER 8000 Series Appliance.

Rail Kit Package

This section describes the rail kit package appearance and the included contents.

Outer Box Label

This image provides an example of the label that is located on the rail kit package:

Included Accessories

These items are included in the rail kit package:

• One rail kit set
• One bag of screws
• One set of installation instructions

The image shows the items that are included within the rail kit package. Two rails are provided. Inner and outer views of the two rails are shown in this picture:

Common Concerns

This section addresses two of the most common concerns in regards to the use of the rail kit.

Rails are Marked Incorrectly

The rail kit includes two rails; each has an outer rail and an inner channel. The outer rail is marked with a white "L" sticker and the inner channels are stamped with an "LH". Due to these physical rail markings, the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) has received calls for clarification about whether the incorrect rails have been sent with the FirePOWER appliance. However, while both sets of rails appear to be two sets of left rails, they are the appropriate rails.

The rails are side-agnostic, so each rail can be used for either the left or the right side. The markings on the rails cause confusion, since there are no R or RH rail markings. This image shows the markings on the rails:

In order to use the provided rails on the right side, simply rotate (or flip) one set of rails to work for the right side and follow the rail kit instructions that come with each kit.

Note: The rail kits are not produced by Cisco; a third-party supplier sells these to other vendors. The Cisco Supply Chain has plans to improve the rail kit markings.

Rails are too Long

The supplied rails support a depth range between approximately 29 inches to 34.5 inches. If you think that the rails are too long for your rack, read the rail kit instructions carefully.

When the inner channel slides all of the way into the rail, the green tab on the channel should touch the green tab on the rail. In normal operation, you must flip a trigger on the inside of the rail, or the inner channel does not slide the final 13 inches into the rail. Occasionally, it might require extra pressure in order to push the inner channel into the outer rail for the last inch.

Warning: Ensure that the ball retainer is in the fully open position before you install the chassis, or catastrophic damage can occur. While you push the chassis back into the cabinet, you must press the trigger down in order to release the slide from the locked position.

The rail kit installation instructions that are provided with the original package explain how to press the trigger down in order to release the slides from the locked position.