In the depicted embodiment, the faceplate 100 is designed to align and mate with the front 20 of the switch 10. Thus, the faceplate 100 includes four IOM openings 110 to accommodate the four IOMs 56 and a set of ventilation openings 120 disposed above the three rightmost IOMs 56 (rightmost when FIG. 2 is viewed in landscape). That is, the faceplate 100 includes ventilation openings 120 that span latitudinally (e.g., width-wise), across an area of the faceplate 100 that aligns with the ventilation area 24. To ensure structural integrity, the depicted faceplate 100 includes nine ventilation openings 120 that span the ventilation areas and the ventilation openings 120 are separated by thin support columns; however, in other embodiments, the faceplate 100 may include any number of ventilation openings 120 (i.e., one or more).

Often, faceplates for modular computing devices are metal faceplates and the metal faceplates are machined in areas that align with ventilation areas, for example to create a honeycomb or hexagonal pattern of perforations in the metal faceplate. These patterns may be used in order to inhibit EMI from escaping the computing device (i.e., to attenuate EMI); however unfortunately, these patterns are expensive to create and, moreover, it is difficult to provide a large open air ratio with machined openings without jeopardizing the structural integrity of the faceplate. For example, often machined ventilation openings can have a maximum open air ratio of only 60% or 65%, insofar as the term “open air ratio” is used herein to describe the percentage of the ventilation area that is open when viewed along an airflow direction (i.e., orthogonally to a vertical plane (the length-height plane in the Figures)).