# Homemade Server Racks



## theblah

Seems pretty simple to built... Its just angle iron bolted together. You could probably build it for cheaper than $150 cuz the material shouldnt cost that much.
Your local homedepot/metal supermarket/lowes would probably even cut the metal for you for a small fee.


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## killabytes

Well there is a lot of angle iron used. Plus I want casters and wood for a top and bottom shelf. So I aimed around $150.

I'm a little concerned about my larger racks not having rear support, so I may make some sort of rear support too.


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## mbreitba

http://rs.innovationfirst.com/equipm...nclosures.html

I got one of these - I love it. Rolls easy, you can put handles on it, it's enclosed on the sides, great build quality. I'd recommend something like that.


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## Mootsfox

For that price, get on craigslist and buy an actual rack.


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## dave87

Do you guys in the US have Ikea stores?

If so, the Lack Rack:

http://wiki.eth-0.nl/index.php/LackRack


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## Mootsfox

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dave87* 
Do you guys in the US have Ikea stores?

If so, the Lack Rack:

http://wiki.eth-0.nl/index.php/LackRack

Not bad for $8 USD!

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=lack


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## killabytes

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dave87* 
Do you guys in the US have Ikea stores?

If so, the Lack Rack:

http://wiki.eth-0.nl/index.php/LackRack


I'm not in the USA.









Also craiglist in my neck of the woods is non-existant. My city has 60,000 People. No racks for cheap here.


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## hick

Im gona build one from 2x4s for $25 until I see a deal on craigslist :]

Edit - I went to the home depot and menards (like the depot and lowes) and angle iron is $20 now. I priced it out to about $180 including a couple straight pieces for the side. I heard that the stuff racks are made out of are used by musicians also for their eq and is cheap but can't find any.


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## Mootsfox

Quote:


Originally Posted by *hick* 
Im gona build one from 2x4s for $25 until I see a deal on craigslist :]

Edit - I went to the home depot and menards (like the depot and lowes) and angle iron is $20 now. I priced it out to about $180 including a couple straight pieces for the side. I heard that the stuff racks are made out of are used by musicians also for their eq and is cheap but can't find any.

Guitar Center and the like have racks (usually 19"), but are usually 4-22U, I've never seen a full size rack used for (portable) audio.


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## the_beast

Audio racks are (usually) too short fpr full size servers etc also. A 'normal' rackmount server is 550mm long, and some larger cases are 650mm long - needing an 800mm rack. Audio racks are often only half of this depth.


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## hick

But you buy the musician rails then build the rack to fit your needs.

just rails


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## mikehunt

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dave87* 
Do you guys in the US have Ikea stores?

If so, the Lack Rack:

http://wiki.eth-0.nl/index.php/LackRack

I wish I had known about the lackrack before I started getting parts for my home file server. I probably would have ended up going with an actual rack mount server case instead of an antec 300. might have gone with a rack mount switch too just for the heck of it


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## BriEE

Wow you guys are using actual racks for your servers? I'm just using small tower cases as my servers. $30 a case is not bad, not sure if this is a good way of doing such things.


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## BLinux

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BriEE* 
Wow you guys are using actual racks for your servers? I'm just using small tower cases as my servers. $30 a case is not bad, not sure if this is a good way of doing such things.

sure, why not?


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## BriEE

Oh so you can put towers in there too lol. I guess I can buy one of these later. Do you put the racks in an air-conditioned room or something? Or basement?


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## ComGuards

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BriEE* 
Oh so you can put towers in there too lol. I guess I can buy one of these later. Do you put the racks in an air-conditioned room or something? Or basement?

Anywhere where it's cool, or someplace where you can extract the hot air from whatever you're running, assuming a fully-populated rack.









I always think about running it in the basement cold room, then I think about the potential for flooding... so I can never quite make up my mind. But then again, I don't have to think about it just yet, since I live in a condo apartment at the moment...


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## the_beast

They aren't _strictly_ towers - most of the mid to high end servers are dual purpose, and will either stand up like a tower or lie down like a rackmount, so they can be used either in a small office or in a datacentre.

But _you_ can put what _you_ want in your rack - at the end of the day nobody is going to tell you how to arrange your cupboards, and your rack is no different. If you want to buy a shelf and put a tower or 2 on it then go ahead.


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## BriEE

Of course that's correct, I can make a wine rack into a server rack if i wanted to









It's just a cool factor having to tell people you have a server rack in your home that houses your NAS' myth boxes and whatever else you have.

When we move into our new home, I wonder how hard is it to run a small air conditioning unit with the duct work to the outside, providing it's in a room with no window. Also wonder how hard the little unit would work since it needs to cool down 3-5 towers.


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## Mootsfox

Quote:


Originally Posted by *BriEE* 
Oh so you can put towers in there too lol. I guess I can buy one of these later. Do you put the racks in an air-conditioned room or something? Or basement?

Basement sir.


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