Can you mount a network switch upside down?

We just took delivery of a new Avaya 2500 48-port switch, that has 24 PoE ports. The problem is that all the PoE ports are on the left-hand size of the switch, and our PoE device cables can only reach the right-hand side of the switch (we're upgrading from an old switch to a new one, and the old one had them on the right-hand side. This is the problem with doing neat cabling).

Can I just mount the switch upside down? This would move the left-hand ports to the right-hand side and problem solved.

My largest concern is that airflow or cooling might not work, but I can't see any visible breathing holes in the bottom or top of the switch which leads me to believe it will be OK, but better safe than sorry.

Solution 1:

˙sɯǝlqoɹd ʎuɐ pɐɥ ɹǝʌǝu ǝʌ,I puɐ uʍop ǝpısdn pǝʇunoɯ ǝɹɐ sǝɥɔʇıʍs ʞɹoʍʇǝu ʎɯ ɟo ll∀

(Seriously: you should have no problem mounting a switch upside-down - just make sure you don't create any ventilation issues)

Solution 2:

YES

There is no problem mounting a device like this any way at all -- on its side, upside down, whatever you want.

I have 20+ years of network admin experience, fwiw, and have built and managed many racks of gear.

Solution 3:

Yes and I've even had some mounted vertically BUT if the switch (or other device) has a fan such vertical mounting will in most cases cause the fan to fail much earlier because the bearings are not loaded as they were designed to be.

Solution 4:

All of things considered equal it shouldn't matter.

I do have one word of caution for you though. We are in the middle of upgrading all of our switches to new Avaya switches across our campus. We installed two new switches in a cabinet in one of our buildings directly over the existing switches and immediately had heat problems with the new switches. The switches would trip the thermal protection after only about 30 minutes and shut off. We made some modifications to the closet they were in to cool it down and that did the trick for the most part, but the fans still sounded like they were going to take off. We left them like this for a couple days to make sure they would survive and they did.

The switch over came and we moved the cables from the old switches to the new switches and shut off the old switches. Within 10 minutes the fans quieted down so much that we thought the switch shut off. It turns out the old switches exhausted on the left side and the new switches had the intake on the left side. So the new switches were taking the hot air from the old switches and were not able to cool themselves effectively. Not saying this will happen if you mount them upside down, but it is something to watch out for.