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The "article" is lame, partly because it's a rehashed press release, but mostly because there's no link to the actual product. (Or so buried that I couldn't find it in the midst of all the ads and sponsored links.)

Anyway, the actual product is here: http://gtweb.net/j3150.html

Then read the press release. The information is still valid . . .
http://gtweb.net/j3150.html

I snagged my rack here:
http://www.gtweb.net/rackacc.html

It was cheap (~$350) compared to the big name branded racks and it's pretty darn sturdy.

I snagged some 1U SuperMicro chassis way back when and went to it.

My Rack

Well, at the time, I think WiredZone was selling 1U SuperMicro chassis/mobo combos for about $400. In January they climbed a bit. The rest I bought wherever I could, mostly NewEgg for the CPU, mem, etc.

I went really low tech for LAMP. 1U SuperMicro 5011EB, 2 Western Dig 20GB drives, a 1Ghz P3, and 512 MB Ram.

For that matter, here's an excellent affordable 22U rack. They also have some decent 1U machines as well.

...link.

You can buy 1U rackmount chassis at General Technics. I'd suggest just buying the chassis from them, and going elsewhere for motherboard, RAM, disk, etc. They appear to be a little pricey on those. Even at $250 for the case (w/ 200W PS) you should easily be able to put together your base system. It takes standard ATX mobo's, just make sure you get low profile RAM and CPU fan(s).

Also, most 1U systems are limited to a single PCI card, but Intel has a 4-port PCI ethernet adapter that would work well for expansion. Don't have a link handy, but you should be able to google it easily enough.

The key to using audio rackmount enclosures is building rackmount servers that will fit the limited depth of such cases. Check out General Technics' MicroATX 2U enclosures. By the way, the SKB 8U Roto Rack case I have was purchased via eBay for $99+$24S&H.

-- Sinistar

The key to using audio rackmount enclosures is building rackmount servers that will fit the limited depth of such cases. Check out General Technics' MicroATX 2U enclosures. By the way, the SKB 8U Roto Rack case I have was purchased via eBay for $99+$24S&H.

-- Sinistar

Cheap considering what you get. I've bought from them before (1U rack mount). Very nice people too. http://www.gtweb.net/rack_frame.html

The riser card you describe is the only way to get a PCI card in a 1U case, and they are available. But I have yet to see a 1U case that accept more than 1 PCI card. General Technics has several 1U cases available, check it out.

Finally, someone who wants to put a PC in their living room, without it actually looking like a PC in their living room. Someone with taste has posted to Slashdot at last.

First, the Qbex isn't what you want. From that shot, it looks like a standard black NLX formfactor box. Which means it's got room for a slim CD/DVD, room for a couple HDs, room for a slim floppy, onboard everything, and usually one or two PCI slots in the back. That's it. No upgradeable AGP, and because of the formfactor, it still looks like a PC. Bleagh.

The Gateway Destination set-top unit is one of these, too.

Unfortunately, that's as close as you can come to a decent PC in a decent case, with much upgradeability at all. Rackmount cases are 19" wide, which is wider than some shelves or TVs, and usually also onboard everything, but they don't look back as set-top boxes, and 1U units can have a single PCI slot, and 2U units can have 2, maybe three?

Then there's "real" set-top boxes. Units like this offer a very non-threatening non-PC look, while still supporting a single PCI slot. Click on the "HTPC" link at the top of the page to see where Qbex probably gets their chassis from. :)

There's also a nice iDVD offering from GCT-Allwell with an integrated DVD player and PCI MPEG2 decoder... unfortunately it's not upgradeable at all, since the MPEG2 decoder takes up the only available PCI slot.

So in otherwords, you're pretty much stuck. I'd just LOVE to be proven wrong on this, but I think the only real choice you have is to have a chassis custom-built for you. Then get it FCC approved, and sell it online, and have a tidy little side business. ;)

--Vito

1U Rackmount Chassis can be found here.

The cases are a little pricey, but in the end only add about $200 to the cost of the server. The only thing to watch out for is you need low-profile RAM and CPU fan, otherwise they're built from standard components.

I did recently an lookup about rack chassis
in Web and here are the results:

http://www.gtweb.net/rackmount.html
http://www.sliger.com/
http://www.famous-computer.com/
http://www.inco.de/
http://www.pcwmicro.com/Rackmt/compare.h tm
http://www.rackmount.com/
http://www.aberdeeninc.com/abcatg/r ackmount.htm
http://www.technoland.com/chassis.htm
http://www.ittools.com/Products/ap ollo_cases.htm
http://users.cwnet.com/fotra/CHASSIS/
http://www.vatyx.com/rackmount/rackmo unt.html
http://www.uslogic.com/igc/igcrackraid. html
http://www.dcsis.com/rack.htm

I don't know prices - go find yourself. Some of
those are pretty expensive, but there is cheap
ones also.

I prefer my local dealer's (in Finland) chassis, since those are pretty good and nearby me.
Pages are only in Finnish, sorry about that.

http://www.damicon.fi/rakki/index.html

And sorry about possible Slashdot-effect-meltdown to every site in this list ;-))))

I've done some searching and it's not easy finding good cheap rackmount cases. I've bought good cases from http://www.sliger.com/ but I don't think they sell direct any more. I've recently ordered a 1U rackmount case from http://gtweb.net/ and I'm eagerly waiting for the delivery! They were the cheapest I was able to find.