DaMatrix features

Build your first rack in DaMatrix

Start a project, pick the rack type and height, drop in real equipment and fill in the details, all on the free plan.

A 12U 2-post rack in DaMatrix with a 48 port switch in the top slot

This guide takes you from an empty screen to a named rack with real equipment in it. Everything here is free: one rack, front and rear, saved as your project.

Start a new project

Open DaMatrix and choose File, then New Project. DaMatrix walks you through the rack in two quick steps: the rack type, then its height.

The DaMatrix File menu with New Project highlighted — File, then New Project.

Or start from a template

In a hurry? File, then Starter Templates opens a ready-made rack you can edit: Home Music Studio 14U, Homelab 32U, Pro Audio Live Sound 24U, Residential Integrator 18U or Small Office IT 12U. Opening a template is always free; saving it counts as your project.

The Starter Templates menu listing five rack templates — The starter templates.

Pick the rack type

Choose what the gear will actually live in. Equipment racks have numbered rails: enclosed cabinets, 4-post open frames, 2-post telco racks, wall-mount cabinets and open frames, portable road racks and desktop racks. Furniture (cabinets, media consoles, hutches) uses the same slot sizes without U numbers, which is handy for living rooms and studios.

Below the types, set the width (19 inch, 23 inch or custom), depth, mounting and mobility. Options marked Fixed are set by the rack type you picked.

The rack type step showing equipment racks, furniture, and width, depth, mounting and mobility options — 2-Post Rack selected, 19 inch, standard depth, floor mount.

Choose the height

Pick the size that matches the first phase of the job, from 6U up to 42U. Sizes tagged Typical are the common ones for the rack type you chose. Don’t overthink it: you can grow or shrink the rack later with the plus and minus buttons.

The rack height step with sizes from 6U to 42U — Typical sizes are highlighted for each rack type.

Name your rack

Your rack opens in a tab at the top of the canvas. Click the name and type something you will recognize on site, like Closet Rack, then press Enter.

A rack tab renamed to Closet Rack — Click the tab name to rename it.

Need more than one rack? (Pro)

The plus button next to your tabs adds another rack to the same project, for example a head-end rack and a closet rack. Multiple racks are part of DaMatrix Pro.

The plus button next to the rack tabs — Add a rack to the project.

Add equipment

Open RACK MOUNT in the left sidebar and browse by category, for example Networking, then Switches. Drag a device onto the rack and drop it on the slot you want. It snaps to the rails and takes up its real height, like the switch at the top of this guide.

The RACK MOUNT sidebar open to Networking, Switches, with 1U 48 port and 24 port switches — Browse rack devices by category.

Name and describe each device

Click a device in the rack to open its details. Give it a name that matches your labels, check the category, and pick its network role (Auto, WAN, PoE, Distribution, Router or Firewall) so connections and reports read correctly. Manufacturer, model and dimensions come from the library and can be edited.

Click Save to keep your changes, then Close.

The rack device inspector with name, category, network role, manufacturer and model — The device inspector for a distribution switch.

The Save and Close buttons at the bottom of the device inspector — Save, then Close.

Add field devices

Not everything lives in the rack. FIELD DEVICES in the sidebar holds the gear out in the building: WiFi access points, cameras, door stations and more. Drag one onto the canvas next to the rack.

Double-click a field device to fill in its details: a name, its IP address, what it is for, its cost, installer cost and customer price, which rack it shows on, and its signal role for the connection tracker. Click Apply when you are done.

The FIELD DEVICES sidebar open to Camera Security with a security camera and a video door station — Field devices by category.

The field device panel with name, IP address, purpose, costs, display on rack and signal role — Details for a front door camera.

The rack toolbar

The bar under the canvas controls the rack you are looking at:

Minus and plus: shrink or grow the rack by 1U.
Rack size: shows the current height, for example 12U Rack.
Rack type: click it to change the type, for example from 2-Post Rack to Enclosed Cabinet.
Disk: save the project. Free saves one project at a time; Pro saves as many as you like.
T+: add a text label to the canvas.
Cube: open the 3D view of your rack (free with a DaMatrix watermark, no watermark with Pro).
Invoice: quoting and invoicing (Pro).
Upload arrow: publish to VearsePro to share a link your client can open in any browser (Pro).

The rack toolbar with resize, rack size, rack type, save, add text, 3D view, quoting and publish buttons — The rack toolbar.

What to do next

Can’t find a piece of gear? Add it to your own library, or let Synapse find it for you.

Find your own brands & devices Browse device libraries