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?"

Re:Hmm...

[shumacher]

I agree. I'd also add to this that you can get little packages of the standoffs from Radio Shack for a song. I'd get some plexi and close the sides, and then add a good set of fans to keep air moving inside. The only thing that really concerns me about putting motherboards in a rack like are cards. There's nothing but the motherboard's edge connector keeping them in place. I'd suggest trying to get motherboards that have as much of the hardware you need built in. Maybe one of the 810 chipsets...
Good luck

... or any thrift stores that take furniture

[hazehead]

I found a chest high rack, on wheels, with an integrated power strip for $20 at a Catholic thrift store. It has a hand-scrawled sign that read: Closet? $20.

Wiped it down, put some Thinkgeek stickers over a few scratches and SHAZAM!, instant data center.

I got lucky, but you might help your chances by leaving a business card with the front counter. Maybe a quick description of what your looking for on the back...

Very happy with 1u boxen from PenguinComputing

[./]

I've got 2x 1U boxes from http://www.PenguinComputing.com [penguincomputing.com] at home and couldn't be happier. One of them has the PCI bridge installed which hosts an Aironet 802.11b card. It ipmasq's my internal network quite well out to the world.

the prices on penguincomputing stuff are coming down, I think the base level config is ~$1200. That should be close to a celeron 600 128 MB ram 10g HD 1 ethernet card.

Customer service was awesome and they threw in a bunch of extras (tux stuffed doll, pins, more I think).

I just did this.. here's how I did it

[||Deech||]

Ok, I just had to put together a couple file servers for the office and wanted to do rack mount as cheaply as possible... I managed to end up with:
4u Rackmount w/5 5.25 and 1 3.5
hot swap raid 5
120gb available space
256mg ram
Duron 650

Here's the breakdown:
(realize that I ordered double of everthing, so your prices may vary slightly on a single server)
Ordered from: bzboys.com
2 Duron 650 $46.87/ea
2 256mb Micron PC133 $109.32/ea
Total: $354.91

Ordered from: kdcomputers.com
2 GlobalWin FOP32-1 $18.00/ea
1 Artic Silver Thermal Adhesive $14.00
Total: $63.55

Ordered from: linuxstore.com
2 3Ware Escalade ATA Raid Controller 6400 $239.00/ea
2 IWill KK66 Duron MainBoard $119.00/ea
Total: $716.00 + shipping

Ordered from: bixnet.com
8 Removable HDD Kits ATA66/100 (19.95)
Total: $174.49

Ordered from: servercase.com
2 Rackmount Case 4U w/4 5.25 bays $128.00/ea
2 350wPS AMD approved w/2 fans $45/ea
2 6cmFan $5/ea
Total: $406.00

Ordered from: nexthardwareshop.com
8 IBM 5400rpm 40.0 gb HDD
Total: 899.52
(drives adverted at $101/ea, but they rape on shipping, still ended up cheaper then anywhere else at around $111/ea total)

Grand Total: 2614.47 or around $1300 each.
Not to shabby at all. The escalade controllers fully support Linux and also support full hot swap, hence the addition of the removable HDD carriers.. instant hot swap array! :)

You could really cut your cost by going with less then $400 worth of drives, or smaller ones.
But then again, at around $11 per gig, still not bad at all.

Disclaimer: I don't have anything to do with any of the companies listed, but they seemed to do a good job, I got all of my orders in a week. Of special mention is KD Computers. I ordered on a Wed. at 2pm, they shipped that night and I had my stuff by Fri. morning. YMMV. HTH.

Re:Hmm...

[cr0sh]

Around here, I would personally get my standoffs from either Fry's or from Apache Reclamation (my favorite hangout - get grungy!), but for most people it will be the Shack.

As far as the cards are concerned, I had thought about that later. What you would want to try to do is either cut down the case (ie, physically cut it down, or take it apart) to just give the bottom and the card mount, or build your own mounts. Another possibility might be mounting a bar at the height of the card screwdown, and then mounting the motherboards on the shelf, so that you can anchor them to both.

Going the full chipset route is probably the best, if most or all the machines are servers (or, dare I say it - nodes in a Beowulf cluster), as it means you can put them closer together...

For the original Ask /. poster, doing that would be idea in his case (test network)...

Worldcom [worldcom.com] - Generation Duh!

Build your own rack

[vrmlguy]

Here [hyperreal.org] are plans for making a 19" rack from plywood.

Parts Express [partsexpress.com] has the rails that you need. Search by keyword for "rack rail".

One should pause before making well-armed paranoids feel foolish, no matter how foolish they seem.

I would recommend

[su-geek]

if you have an rivet gun that does the bolts you can make the mounting posts for the board in just a normal tool chest type drawer system. But I think it might be best to buy a smaller musical type 19' rack and get 2 space rack for each motherboard and either get a small rackmount motherboard power supply (just look on yahoo for manufactures) The same manufacturers have larger or even custom power supplies too. Good luck! Peace, Adam

Re:Rackmount servers

[Strog]

I agree with your case recomendations but would add 3U to the list for a compromise on size/expandability. Also 1U is 1.75". I realize you used 2" generally.

Try checking audio equipment stores for the rack. You can get a 12U rack that rolls under a lot of desks that is a little bigger than a lot of server cases. My brother-in-law and I are planning on using one of these for his 3d animation setup. We are going to use a 5U case for the graphic workstation and 7-1U dual 1Ghz boxes for the batch rendering. This whole setup will roll right under his desk. It isn't much bigger than the Chenbro Net [chenbro.com.tw] cube case he is currently using.

Get thee to the nearest surplus yard...

[human bean]

and find an old Omega brand 19 inch rack or equivalent. Lots of these critters can be had for just hauling away, or you might have to pay thirty or forty bucks for one.

These come in different sizes, and are hard to modify as far as height, so pass on any that are too big. Be sure to get the side panels.

Some of these (especially the OD Green ones) come with a (caution: heavy) power supply in the bottom, usually twenty-four or forty-eight volts, but regulators to move this down to PC voltages are not too expensive.

The sliding rails for these are available new, and the best thing I've seen is to put a standard two rack unit shelf on the rails, and then just lay the motherboard and componets out on top of it with appropriate spacers. Not terribly pretty, but much cheaper than rack-mount cases, especially if labor is not a factor.

Centralized power

[false_sense_of_sec]

The rack part is easy enough. The difficult part of the request for a home-built project is providing the power suppl[y|ies] that can provide the appropriate power to all of the motherboards and devices. Any electronics gurus out there who can toss in some links to some schematics on making centralized, clean, safe power available?

Rackmount servers

[hafree]

Unfortunately, rack-mountable equipment is always more expensive than the alternative. Rather than hacking together your own monstrosity in a file cabinet, you'd be much better off getting a short rack and installing rack-mounted servers on sliding rails. The cost is a little bit more, but the savings in space in your home office is often worth it. Individually, 3-4 servers might take up your entire desk top, some space on the floor, and even some shelves. Instead for around $1200-1700 a piece, you can buy some 1u (2" tall) servers and fit 10 of them in a 19" wide rack next to or even under your desk. 2u servers give you a little bit more expandability, and 4u gives you all the freedom of a full-sized case. Because they are rack-mounted, they basically stack one on top of another vertically so you don't have to take up half of your office with computers. Most rack-mount cases are tool-less, and by mounting them on sliding rails, you can get at each system as easily as opening a file cabinet drawer. I've purchased several servers from rackmount.com [rackmount.com] and have had very good luck with them. Hopefully I've been of some help - I answered your question, but I certainly didn't save you any money... :)

Hmm...

[cr0sh]

While you can get short racks fairly cheap (small cube like 19 inch racks), for around $50.00 - surplus, and it is possible to build your own rack system, here is a solution, that while not standard size, might be something interesting to try.

Take a trip down to Walmart (or K-Mart, sometimes Target). In the hardware section, look for steel shelving. Walmart sells these shelves (by the seashore?) that are made out of the flimsiest damn steel you can imagine. Pick the right day, and you might be able to pick some up for $12.00 a box. The shelves are about 42" high, 30" wide, and 12" deep, generally with 4 shelves. Supposedly, each shelf can hold around 200 lbs. Now, putting them together is a bitch, because they are very flimsy, until you get them tightened up. Once tight, though, they are damn strong. I bought six of them earlier in the year, used 1.5 to build an almost "double-high" shelf, set them side by side (3 tall shelves), anchored them to the wall (and to each other), and filled them with books - excellent bookshelves!

The same could be done to hold computers (or even just bare motherboards, using risers/standoffs to keep the boards from shorting out on the shelves), just more shelves per shelf (since the shelves are spaced far apart in a regular configuration). You will generally end up with leftover parts, which might be useful elsewhere. Sometimes, they package the boxes wrong, and give you extra parts (normally, you get extra parts - though I would imagine it would be possible to end up with fewer parts in a box as well). These shelves are el-cheapo, the boxes may be mangled, the parts may be drilled wrong or bashed/bent - but you get what you pay for, and all you have to do in most cases is break out the power tools and do some bashing to get it all to fit.

Add some back and side panels, and a large piece of plexiglass to the front for a "custom" look - cut holes in the top and stick some 120VAC muffin fans in for ventilation (you might have to drill holes in the intervening shelves for proper airflow, or replace them with something else).

Hell, I have talked enough on this that I might try it myself. I honestly think you could build just about anything with these shelves - they are excellent!

Worldcom [worldcom.com] - Generation Duh!

My experiences

[LiNT_]

I've been through this whole situation myself. I started off by wanting to do exactly what you did. I even looked into making my own cases via sheet metal or plexiglass. In the end I went with standard rackmount cases. I didn't like the look of individual shelves with motherboards and cables hanging all over the place. I didn't like towers sitting on shelves in a rackmount cabinet. It didn't give me that "cool" feeling I was looking for. Your results may vary. You might be happy with that. I wasn't and in the end it cost me because I had to trash everything I had done up until that point and start from scratch

Here's a couple ideas that I thought were pretty neat.

• Nexel Shelving. It's pretty cheap and works great as a computer shelf. You can grab a 48" x 84" x 24" rack for around $200. Stick some mid towers on the bottom shelf. Use the middle shelf for monitors. Third shelf up for more towers and the top shelf for storage. Since the rack is made of wire it's easy to zip tie down all the cables.
• Office Cabinet. You know the cabinets I'm talking about, you see them in every office enviroment. The ugly putty looking things. You can find these real cheap at office liquidation sales. Stick the towers on the shelves. Cut a hole in the back for one of the windows fans you find at Home Depot. Cut some ventilation in the shelves. Instant rack. The nice thing about this system is you can close it and lock it. Cabling is somewhat difficult though.
• Rackmount
• This is the way to go in my opinion. It's definately expensive but this is exactly what you want to do. That was the whole point of rackmount! If your not in any hurry, ebay is a great place to find rackmount equipment. Older cabinets can be found for around $100 and easily painted and fixed up. Cases generally go around $150-$250 for the decent ones. The smaller cases bieng more expensive. I can put together a solid 1U case for under $800.
• SBC. This kinda goes along with the rackmount option. This can be even more expensive sometimes. Find a big 8U case that supports a 20 slot passive backplane. Get a 4 segment, 20 slot passive backplane. Now add four SBC's and you got four full computers in one box. BoomRack [boomrack.com] makes a nice 8U case although retail is around $1200. SBC's can be found a lot of times pretty cheap on ebay.

My last words of warning:

If you do buy rackmount I would avoid the Top Power cases. I've found them to be horribly engineered.

Boomrack makes really nice cases although thier a tad more expensive than most others.

Rackmount Pro [rackmountpro.com] has some good prices and great service but watch out for the Top Power cases they sell.

Stay away from ebay sellers that sell from Atlantec. While I can't prove it I'm relatively positive that they have a bunch of shill accounts that they use to bid up thier auctions. They always start off low and then in the last day they'll be bid up to retail price by someone with zero to two feedback. Normally I woudn't think anything of this but it happens EVERYTIME! Thier items never sell for more than a couple dollars less then what they sell for in thier web store.

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.