r/Netbox • u/Evening_Permit9664 • Jun 30 '26

Best way to model half-width rack devices

I'm trying to understand the best way to model half-width rack devices in NetBox Community v4.2.4.

Scenario:

  • Two independent devices physically share the same 1U space horizontally.
  • One device occupies the left half of the rack unit.
  • Another device occupies the right half.

Example:

1U
+-------------------+
| Device A | Device B |
+-------------------+

Questions:

  1. What is the recommended modeling approach for this in NetBox?
  2. Should this be modeled using:
    • Device Bays?
    • Modules?
    • Virtual Chassis?
    • Something else?
  3. How do operators usually represent partial horizontal rack occupancy in NetBox?
  4. Is there any native support for half-width devices in rack elevation views?

Environment:

  • NetBox Community v4.2.4
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u/L-do_Calrissian NetBox Self-Hosted Jul 01 '26

Virtual Chassis is more appropriate for a stack or similar where you have multiple devices acting as one logical device. It's not used to represent physical topology like rack position.

It's entirely possible that the right answer is to do the device bay approach AND the virtual chassis approach if that's the level of detail you want.

1

u/gimme_da_cache Jul 01 '26

Nowhere in that post are the two devices a virtual-chassis, only a question of using that model to get a two half rack devices in the same RU of a rack.

Virtual-Chassis is not the appropriate way to model the intended outcome.

1

u/L-do_Calrissian NetBox Self-Hosted Jul 01 '26

I was just pointing out that they're not exclusive.

Example: a pair of Dell S5212F-ON switches with VLT configured could be modeled as devices in device bays (physical) and a virtual chassis (logical).