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Threats to cabinet-level officials aren't overblown... a nuclear bomb hidden in a suitcase detonated in Washington could leave a headless government.

No, not overblown in the slightest.

That's right, it isn't. The gentleman on the left is pointing to the warhead of an atomic demolition munition.

Specifications of W54

All four variants share the same basic core: a nuclear system which is 10.75 inches diameter (270 mm), about 15.7 inches long (400 mm), and weighs around or slightly over 50 pounds (23 kg).

Ativa® Mobil-IT Ultimate Workmate, 14"H x 14.25"W x 14.25"D, Black

It looks like the only thing that might save us is that there isn't luggage that is 1.5" longer than the Ativa® Mobil-IT Ultimate Workmate. Apparently it is physically impossible to build luggage as large as 11"x16" since the above is the "Ultimate".

Oh oh, bad news! Although we might not be at risk from suitcase nukes until they can breach the 1.5" barrier in suitcase length that protects us, it appears that tuba case nukes look like a sure thing. So, maybe we aren't safe after all?

Ah! The truth comes out!

Just pick yourself up a TRS-80 Model 100, and be done. It only uses about one Watt of power.

Or maybe an RS-232-equipped teletype; I have a TI Silent 700 here that uses thermal paper. It works fine after rescuing it from the hot equipment cabinet where it lived, powered up, for almost exactly twenty years. (Don't ask - you can't afford mine.)

More seriously: Perhaps looking to pro audio for the answer might be productive. You want physical durability, a fair bit of storage, and tolerance for hot environments, and dust. (I live in Ohio, where the humidity is rather high all summer, and I don't consider that to be a real concern since my stuff all seems to survive just fine.)

Nearly zero digging finds me this Ebay offering. I have no idea who really makes this case, but I've been seeing that particular design around for at least 15 years.

The important parts: Rack mount, lots of drive bays, ATX, dust filters, and (here's the clincher) hold-downs for the PCI cards.

Build the rest of the system as you see fit with whatever tradeoffs you want, and avoid copper CPU heatsinks due to the weight (and therefore stress) of them.

And then slide it all into a shock-mounted roadcase. Both Starcase and Anvil are capable of producing a shock-resistant, ATA-rated road case which will fit neatly with the aforementioned ATX case. Also, there is SKB. They don't do anywhere near as much custom work, and their stuff isn't (in my opinion) quite as durable as the others, but they're generally a lot cheaper and lighter, and they list several 4U shock-mounted racks as standard items here.

Does any of this come close to the mark?

They often move music/mixing equipment in special cases those can take a beating. This will require some relatively simple modding to be done such as add openings for fans and such. You might still need two people to carry it but should fit into a truck easily or what not. Not to mention that you can just put a lock on it as well to avoid unauthorized access to the hardware. Little googling and the first page gave me the cases I was talking about: http://www.skbcases.com/

It sounds like Google uses the SKB insurance policy. Smart move. :)

Yeah... What the parent said.

My suggestion (and I've seen a relative who does DV do this) is to get an SKB rackmount case with wheels ( you know the ones you see the roadees use at concerts) and put your rackmounts in there. That way you can wheel it around if need be and it won't get too banged up when you travel with it.

Laptops won't really do well for ecoding on the fly.

I now use a 6 foot Damac rack and 5 Anova 4U rackmount cases in my home.

The Damac is just a four post rack. You don't have to get all the doors and sides that it can be ordered with. Wheels are a must to move it out from the wall to make cabling changes.

The Anova rackmount computer cases have removable/washable filters. They are very easy to open and work with once unracked.

Running multiple machines is pretty noisy, but you get used to it. It also keeps your home 10 degrees warmer all year long.

You may also run into power problems in a house with substandard electrical power.

SKB Cases can be used for a more portable racking solution.

Well... the question was for carry-bags not hard-sided plastic cases. Pelican does make decent plastic cases - as does SKB. But, if you want some real protection for sensitive equipment, I recommend you check out some custom made A.T.A. cases. They're not cheap or light-weight, but the level of protection is much better.

As a touring stagehand, I spend the better part of my life moving sensitive equipment around the world in trucks and containers. Most computer (and other electronic) equipment travels in ATA style cases, which are aluminium-framed, wooden faced cases. These give a nice strength-to-weight ratio, especially when compared to all-steel or all-wood cases. As mentioned, Anvil and SKB are two of the larger (and more expensive) companies in this field, but for a project like this you will get about the same quality product for a much better price from a smaller company. Other companies producing custom cases are Big Deal Custom Cases, and Upstate Case Company, and a list of custom cases companies is listed on this page.

If cooling might be a problem there is a model with "shock protection" where the rack is mounted on special springs which are supposed to protect your rack gear for roadies who drop your stuff, but they double in purpose and add extra space and allow air to flow around the gear, keeping it cooler. Look in catalogs like Musician's Friend (although I'm told they're a tad expensive...) for such items as well.

Try picking up used effects rack roadcases from musicians and PA hire companies. They might be a bit scratched, and not noiseproof like a glass case, but hey it makes it easier when you move house :-)

Check out SKB for new ones.

I prefer the handmade wooden ones you find around the music shops. The better ones even come with internal and/or external shock absorbers! Great for portability.

Musician's Friend sells small SBK portable rackmount guitar effects cabs. I'm not totally sure if they are the same size but could prolly be modified.
I actually have an SBK guitar case for my strat. For about 5 years of playing local shows it took a pretty good beating. So I'm guessing that the rackmount cases are of the same quality. I saw a guy drop a 4U shockmount cases at a bar in Cleveland and though nothing of it. Just picked it up and put it in the bus. I'm not to sure if I'd do that to my puter.

I've purchased from each, with good results. Though, for a small, portable rack, nothing beats the price of SKB's offerings.

As far as tricks go, it's fairly simple: used racks from a pawn shop; used racks from the local guitar store; used racks from Ebay (in that order).

A slicker (but more expensive) way to do this would be with a 2 or 3 space rackmount computer case and a skb rack case..

skb racks are for musical gear but they hold rack mount computers just fine and they even custom make stuff.