NORCO RL-26 Heavy-Duty Slide Ball Bearing Rail

Pros: The rail and mounting hardware quality is superb. The rails are constructed of heavy-duty steel for carrying heavy servers. Come well lubed with heavy-duty steel locks

Cons: Because the rails are so wide, they will not work with a standard 430mm chassis width. Make sure you chassis are less, much less. I have 3x 4U chassis with this standard width, and a standard 19in server cabinet and these were simply too wide to fit into my rack attached to my chassis

Overall Review: Installation is fairly simple, but the instructions are horrible! Don’t buy these is your server chassis is 430mm or more in width Personally I would not even bother purchasing these rails and risk having to return them if your server width of any more than 425mm perhaps even less.

Pros: Cheapest railset out there, especially with great value on norco cases. Functionally acceptable once installed.

Cons: Finish quality (sharp edges, initial install , see below)

Overall Review: I have a number of Norco 1U cases and rails installed in a rack in a commercial data center. Overall I am happy w/ Norco's products- they offer the best bang for the buck for smaller companies with limited IT budgets. These rails were a real challenge. First off, they had numerous "burrs" on the metal that hadn't been sanded out... resulting in two very deep cuts on my hands from handling them. Hence the BLOOD! Once I stopped the bleeding and put on heavy gloves I was ok. I also had troubles getting the rails to extend all the way to their design length. No manual or help on the web site, and norco support (which is usually ok) didn't respond to my email. Finally i tried banging on the rails w/ a hammer to get them to extend, and suddenly I had full length rails... so a little SWEAT was required. No real TEARS to speak of... even though there are design issues with Norco 1U cases (the tops won't go on when you have rails on them), they are generally good and incredibly cheap relative to the competition.

Pros: Read "Other thoughts" section first New RL-26: None.... Old RL-26: Slide smooth as butter. Sturdy. Can be installed without getting grease on your hand. Good value. Fit inside XrackPro2 with RPC-4220 & RPC-470. Would buy again... if they made them.

Cons: New RL-26: They are inferior to their predecessor. False advertisement (Manufacturers fault). The new rails are NOT BALL BEARING. The rails do not slide smooth. Covered in grease. Both outside and inside. Impossible to install without getting grease on your hand. Last but not least, they are overpriced. You can get far better rails for your money. Old RL-26: They no longer make them....

Overall Review: Norco changed the design of the RL-26 sometime around May of 2010. They did not tell any of their resellers (like newegg). This would be fine if the new product was not inferior to the old. Instead the new rails are no longer "ball bearing" and do not slide smooth like the old rails. It took newegg 2 MONTHS to resolve this problem. They have refunded me in full (and then some) and they have updated the pictures for the RL-26. They still need to change the text which states "Ball Bearing Sliding Rail" as the rails are no longer ball bearing. Norco was kind enough to accept a trade in of the new RL-26 for the old RL-26, however, they have not stated they plan on reverting back to their old design. They have not alerted their resellers of the change or updated their website. I am displeased with Norco and to a lesser extent Newegg. They have both apologized and refunded me, but I feel both parties have not taken all the steps needed to correct the problem. TL;DR DO NOT BUY

Pros: They work fine on Norco and on some other brands of rack server chassis. Lots of mounting options; should fit about any 4-post rack out there. Believe me, they will hold some heavy servers.

Cons: As with any sort of thing along these lines, the instructions aren't exactly crystal-clear. If it's your first time, be prepared to experiment or ask for help from someone familiar with rack rails.

Overall Review: Mechanically and for versatility I give them a 5, but the bad instructions lose them an egg.

Pros: Attached to rack without issue

Cons: Second time pulling out the server ever after it sitting racked for a few months and the entire right rail failed spilling ball bearings. Save your money do not buy!

Overall Review: Save your money do not buy!

Pros: Perfect fit for my RPC-4224 and StarTech 4 post rack

Cons: Its a little greasy, might need to be careful when you installing it so you don't get it everywhere

Overall Review: Fits my 1 year old RPC-4224 perfectly, other reviews are saying it doesn't, but I'm having no issues.

Pros: The ball bearing model is heavy duty but for the money there are better rails out there.

Cons: There aren't any slots in the part of the rail that mounts to the server case; you may have to drill holes to make it work... not me sending back.

Pros: Made of metal

Cons: These are the listed rails for the Norco DS-12D but the screw holes don't line up.

Overall Review: Reply from Norco: Please drill 1 or 2 screw holes on the rail bracket. Sorry for your inconvenience. We're going to release new version rails soon. It will work better with DS-12D.