Ask Slashdot: Building A Server Rack Into a New Home?

jawtheshark writes "I'm building a house, and obviously I want a modest network built-in. Nothing fancy, two RJ-45 per room, four in the living room, and that's basically it. I already got myself a rack mountable Cisco Small Business switch and I have a self-built 4U server (low-power, won't make much heat) which can be rack mounted (505mm deep). Now, the construction company suggests a wall mounted rack (6U: 340mm x 600mm x 480mm — 6U definitely won't be enough, but a 12U model exists). It's not expensive, but I have never worked on a rack where the backside is unreachable. (For work, I get to work in a data center with huge racks that are accessible from both sides). Now obviously, I don't need a data center-grade rack, but these wall-mounted racks scream 'switch-only' racks to me. What are your experiences? Is it possible to put servers in racks like these, or should I find a 'both-side-accessible' rack instead?"

42U - Go Big or Go Home

[y00nix]

Why mess around with wall-mount brackets? You'll be cramped for depth when you want to throw in a real PoE switch, or some other gear you're not thinking about now. They also have swing-out racks that you can open the front and back from (as there are hinges on one of the back sides), but you'll pay quite a bit for these. I believe they are somewhere in the realm of $300-350 when we buy them for clients. Personally - I like lots of space, because you never know when you'll want to end up building a home theatre or adding another server, and centralizing all the gear where it should be - the server room. I have 42U 4-post black open frame rack (from a common manufacturer), that I picked up off Craigslist for $150 (normally $400 new)...and put it in a closet I converted into a server room. Put down a new floor, and raised the floor a couple inches where the server rack goes (no underfloor cooling unfortunately). Two dedicated 20A 110V circuits, two 1500VA batteries w/ mgmt cards, two 15A PDUs. CAT6 patch panel in the rack, also have a 2x2 wallboard with 66 block for CAT3 termination. No 6509 yet ;)

Re:42U - Go Big or Go Home

[Phelan]

If he has the money to throw around then a rack made for branch offices and network closets with integrated cooling etc like a Liebert MCR would be perfect. Since its basically a plug and play configuration integrating cooling, PDUs etc.

Definitely need back access.

[smpoole7]

Just my opinion, but speaking from experience, you will want front and back access. EASY front and back access. I've tried the slide-out rails, but frankly, I'd rather just walk around back and eyeball the connections myself. It's surprisingly difficult to change something when you're working at an angle.

We built all of our racks into a wall, but we cheated: it's a wall between rooms. (The "Technical Information Center" and the "Technical Operations Center" -- TIC and TOC.) :) We just walk around back and tinker to our heart's content, while the people who walk by the Engineering area in our studios get to see pretty blinky lights and other stuff through the glass. You might consider mounting your server into the wall with its butt in a closet. That way, you not only hide the wires, you simply walk into the closet for good access.

You will tell yourself, "I hardly ever change anything." You'll try to convince yourself that a little side access should be a plenty. But again, speaking from experience, you'll regret.

Oh ... and don't forget that server needs to breathe. If it's farting out several cubic feet of air per minute into that closet or wall-mounted rack, you'd better plan on a fan to pull that hot air out of there. (Again, speaking from experience.)

Re:Cooling?

[MachDelta]

I always wondered if a home server could be water cooled with the cold water supply that ran into your hot water tank. You could even take an old water heater, strip the burner and insulation, and use that as your supply/exchanger tank, as the hot water line won't always be running. My dad did something similar with an old water heater tank to keep the basement cooler for wine storage.
One of these days I might have to try it.

Re:Avoid the wall-mount, and here's how I did it.

[Alan Evans]

Here here on avoiding the wall mount rack. I didn't run quite as many cables as this poster but I did run 2xCAT6, 2xCAT3 and 2xCOAX to each location.

In the basement I hung a piece of 2'x4' x 3/4" plywood on the wall with some cement screws and then got a surface mount CAT6 12 port punch block. A 8 way coax splitter with terminator caps. A signal amplifier and a small unmanaged gigabit switch. I haven't actually terminated the phone lines as I don't have "land line" phones anyway. I just ran the CAT3 since I was already in the walls. To hold up a "server" (purpose built PC) I bought (from a big box home improvement store) a set of "heavy duty" adjustable shelf brackets and 2x9" deep shelf.

My motivation for going all "PC" grade stuff was that I did not want the power consumption of enterprise/datacenter class equipment. My "server" has a 300W PSU in it which is enough to drive the CPU, Mobo, drives and a few other accessories but it should be operating at about 80% capacity which is where most PSUs run most efficient. As for the switch I just bought a little 8port d-link gigabit switch which uses a 5v 1.0A wall wart. My next endevor is to plug each device in to a Kill-A-Watt to how much power each actually uses.

"Server" specs:
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3
CPU: i5-2500k (No OC)
RAM: 16G DDR3
HDD: 4x (1x Samsung 7200.12, 3x Samsung 7200.11) (Had to RMA one of my 7200.11s and got a 7200.12 as replacement.)

Links (for references, not endorsements)
Cat6 12 port punch block: http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-N250-012-Mount-Feedthrough/dp/B000HZES42 [amazon.com]
8 Way Splitter: http://www.amazon.com/Philips-PH61046-8-WAY-Cable-Splitter/dp/B0009A3IXW [amazon.com]
Terminator Caps http://www.computercablestore.com/Coaxial_Termination_Cap_catID3984.aspx [computercablestore.com]

My 2c.
-Alan

Re:Cooling?

[Anonymous Coward]

Or just have in-floor radiant heating. Nothing beats a 20,000-40,000lb concrete heat sink ;)

PS. I've got one hooked up to about 20kW of thermal power (solar panels). About 2-3C temperature increase over 8h heating. So should work for some servers.

The Real Thing You Want is Low Power

[RudyHartmann]

Good grief. If you're going to run a home network, what the heck do you need a fire breathing data center for? I have done this at my house for my family. I have Cat5 cable running through the house. But no matter how hard I have tried to predict the future of technology, I have missed the boat too often. Forget all the big power hungry servers and resources. It's ridiculous to build a home system that requires active external cooling. The most I have needed was sharing files, printers, DHCP, firewall, webserver, domain controller and a few misc goodies. I have done this all on some tiny super low power Via based mini-ITX based motherboards. The darn things together use fewer watts than my workstation. Most of them run notebook 2.5 inch low power drives. An enclosed area can get pretty hot, but these don't. My one big main server for sharing video, music and other stuff does run some 7200 RPM 3.5" drives, but they go into hibernate when they haven't been used for a while, then do a wake a request is made. Those are 2TB SATA drives that are mirrored. I do want more storage though. I connect my computer, my kids computers and all the TV's. I use some of the TV's for monitors too. I connect the Sony PS3's and I also have a wireless network for my laptop. I have 2 printers. A standard B&W laser printer and a nice color inkjet . I only have 1 RJ45 per room. I use a hub or switch there if I need more. I can control all the security via the main server. I run my own domain too. Anyway, it let's me control what my kids can do or guests. My network is controlled by Linux too. I don't need a rack, or special cooling or any of that stuff. Beware of over engineering. It's all a few tiny cases sitting sideways on a closet shelf. I have ripped my favorite movies and stored them on my servers. I also ripped my entire CD collection of music. It never skips on music or video. I have 2 external USB interface drivew for a backups that I rotate. I always keep one of these at the office in case the house burns down. This is an on going project that has been a lot of fun. Keeping it all cool and the electricity bill is negligable.