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Howto Build your own Rack Cabinet
OC Mojo News Desk submitted their story about how to build your own rack. Useful for anyone who has a pile of audio gear, or stereo equipment, or perhaps a few rackable PCs that they think should be using space more efficiently.
Use desktop boxes, and stack them on top of each other without any sort of enclosing rack.
Seriously, the major advantage of rackmount systems (vs. "pile of boxes") is that you can pull a server out from the bottom to fix/replace it without the rest toppling over -- and I don't think that most people replace hardware in their home network all that often.
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Yup. Great big racks always catch my eye. Don't think I can build my own, though...
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After all the dot-bombs, there are plenty of professional racks available dirt cheap at the auction sites or through liquidators. In fact, one of the places that I used to work at has 15 7-foot racks available for basically nothing (read: less than $100), right now they are only taking up space.
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My father runs a small business, and had to rack a few systems. He just bolted together some Dexion angle-iron and put on plywood shelves.
Dexion ( http://www.dexion.com ) makes all kinds of shelving-related stuff. Their angle-iron looks like giant pieces from an erector set; sturdy L-cross-section steel beams with holes drilled in them. Bolt them together, and you can build just about anything you want. It's fairly cheap, and works very well for racking PCs or just about anything else.
Various shelving offerings are listed on Dexion's shelving page, at http://www.dexion.co.uk/shelving/intro.html .
Don't worry. No goatse links. Just a collection of "Racks of the World"
rack rack rack rack rack rack rack rack
Build that rack, but add Fixed wheels to the bottom and create a case that the rack fits into with about 1/4 inch clearance around it. That way you can slide the unit out and work on it. (I added a turntable bearing on the bottom to allow rotating the unit 90 degrees for even easier access.) If you dont need cabinet grade racks I suggest going to your local industrial equipment reseller (people that buy old used industrial systems and the re-sell them) and get most any size rack in a better price range... Like less than $100.00 to free.
I personally have never paid for a rack in my life. I've had 12 so far, the first 3 were free, the last 9 I was paid to take away.
If you really want a rack, most anyone that isn't impatient or is willing to clean up and repaint it can get them for free.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I've got a 20-space Raxxess elite rack, and it looks and works great. The Raxxess economy rack series is probably closer to what you would get if you built it yourself. Zzounds (a leading online music store) has the best prices I've seen on Raxxess gear. Their website is down right now for some reason, but the cache of their rack section shows that the Raxxess 20-space economy rack is $84.95 (+$5.00 shipping).
A professional 20-space rack for $84.95 sounds better to me that a "do it yourself" 18-space rack for "as little as $50," particularly when you consider the cost of your time and labor.