Rackmounting at Home?

gnurd asks: "I am toying with the idea of buying a Rackable system for home use. However I'm sure I dont need a 72" cabinet, but i would like a small safe enclosure for a couple of systems. I have had a hard time finding a small (12U) cabinet for home use. anybody try setting up a small racked center at home? Your experience would be appreciated." Would any of the solutions from this past Ask Slashdot discussion help in this case? And has anyone successfully used racks intended for rackable musical instruments to hold servers instead?

Comments

Try electronics catalogs

[Masem]

I know that from doing some research into racks at work for other purposes, that electronic component companies (such as Newark offer numerous styles and sizes of racks; Obviously, you want something sturdy so you are going to have to spend a few bucks to get something good, but in terms of sizes, I've seen anywhere from a 16" high rack to 8-9 feet tall ones.

(Unfortunately, Newark's online catalog is poorly organized, the print version is much easier to follow, IMO).

Standards - Not

[Local Loop]

There are several non-standard things to be aware of when rack mounting computer equipment.

First off is where the holes are drilled in the equipment. You may think that you can buy a 12U rack and stick 3 4U computers in it. But if you try it with different models of case or computer, you will likely find that the computers don't line up with each other correctly, meaning you may need more than 12U.

I've rack mounted a LOT of computers, audio and video equipment and run into this constantly. The A/V equipment always fits right, but the computers are all over the place!

Second thing is the depth. Many computer cases are deep enough that they need to be supported in the back. You'll find that there are multiple standards for how far back the back rail is supposed to be. To circumvent this, I usually forget about installing back rails (unless I have a perfectly homogenous installation), and just install side supports, either wood or metal, and bolt the computers to those.

I highly recommend that you use slide rails. Try to get ball bearing rails rather than friction rails, becuase the friction rails frequently do not work well.

Also if you are building your own rack out of wood, consider using the fancy ball bearing drawer slides from the kitchen dept. at Home Depot. You won't need expensive rack rails, and they can slide all the way out to let you remove the entire machine for service. The only drawback is that you'll probably have to drill your own holes to match up with the holes in the computer's chassis.

When drilling those holes, watch out and don't get any metal shavings in the ball track!

Good luck

-Loopy

Re:I have a related question

[ToasterTester]

Because it isn't a big commodity product, so they can't spread the costs out by selling quanity. Also most racks are used in real data or telco centers and they have to meet seimic certification standards. That a lot of cost for testing and liability, but that is why all rack equipment is expensive. With all the dot-comedy crashes out there, the're lots of hardware auctions and deals to be had.

I have a related question

[Tom7]

Here's a question for you:

Why are racks so damn expensive?
They're just hunks of metal, and yet the ones I always see cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Even those seem unfinished (barbs and sharp bits everywhere); to get a *nice* rack you have to spend even more.

What's the deal? Is the market so small that they can charge this much, or is there some secret process in the manufacturing that makes it so expensive?