When it comes to your larger IT setups free-standing cabinets are used for housing servers, switches, and networking. They protect equipment from dust and accidental contact while supporting proper airflow and cooling. What Is a Network Cabinet? A network cabinet is a shallower enclosure mainly used for networking hardware like switches, patch panels, routers, and small. A server rack, or technical enclosure, is an engineered structure designed to organize, power, cool, and protect mission-critical hardware. They are used to group and organize cables, keep air flowing, and protect the device. However, they have significant differences.