Rack Mount Systems for the Home Experimenter?

Sadam Andler asks: "I am looking to replace my home's multiple PC test network with a small rack. Separate cases are too bulky and will block access to each system. What I have in mind is a filing a cabininet-sized box with 5 to 15 sliding shelves, one for each motherboard. Quiet cooling and power supply would be handled in a centralized manner. Each computer and its cabling should be easily accessible for the swapping or testing components. Is there a cheap solution for me?"

Comments

Cheap and effective solution: Carpentry.

[Christopher Thomas]

By far the cheapest solution will be to build an ordinary set of sliding shelves for the boxes. It works quite well; as long as you pay enough attention to ventilation, you could easily fit a dozen or more systems inside a small closet (or a rack the size of a small closet).

If you want to make things even more compact, gut the cases and screw the motherboards directly on to the shelves. Make sure you use screws small enough not to short against anything else on the motherboard, and make sure you put a sheet of cardboard or something else insulating under the motherboards (I've never trusted bare wood to be a perfect insulator; residual sap can really ruin your day, though I suppose a good paint job takes care of that). You're still not going to get a 1u machine, but it'll be easy to access the guts of each system.

If you *really* want a 1u form factor, look into getting some of those PCI riser cards that turn cards 90 degrees. That should get thet board height down to something reasonable, as long as you aren't using more than one or two cards per system (integrated chipsets are Your Friend if you're building a rack; you generally don't care about sound or a kickass graphics card for a server box).

Failing all else, remember that even the cost of a conventional rack is likely to be much less than the cost of the systems you're putting into it.