LackRack v2

Boycie · 10 Mar 2013 at 18:03

Hi Guys,

Not sure whether to put this in the projects forum or here but figured as it only took an hour to put up it wasn't really much of a project so I present the LackRack v2.

Total cost was £17 not including screws and petrol. The unit will take 7u's and I've personally rated the rack up to 91 kilo's (I sat on it in the shop to test its weight bearing properties

) It consists of:

1 Ikea Lack Table £5
8 Ikea Bygel 55cm rails at £1.50

The rails are perfectly spaced to interlock with the server's inner rails so you can pull the server out and work on it while still in the rack (Once i've bolted it down) this was quite important while still in its present position as man handling servers in the loft is not the easiest. Currently it is supporting 45 kilo's of server.

Front:

4E6DB949-C302-4466-84B1-DD74118616D9-5342-00000839DBF69E95_zps21efc514.jpg

Side:

1C766162-02C8-4BD6-BA0A-075D9DA4AD70-5342-00000839E44D645E_zpsf7a56554.jpg

Populated in its temporary position:

C9DC1B08-98FB-4581-A467-548D2A89EFA3-5342-0000083B409DFEF7_zpsdef64ca6.jpg

Thanks for reading

B

Shad · 10 Mar 2013 at 19:01

Nice work

How deep is the 'rack'?

Boycie · 10 Mar 2013 at 19:51

Thanks. Its 55cm deep, there is a 90cm version using the Lack Coffee Table however you cannot buy the rails in 90cm length which was an issue for me.

B

Shad · 10 Mar 2013 at 19:59

I wonder if you could bolt on normal rails?

DRZ · 10 Mar 2013 at 20:26

Why do people *always* put switches into the wrong end of racks? Why make things more difficult for yourself?

ruffneck · 11 Mar 2013 at 09:46

DRZ said:
Why do people *always* put switches into the wrong end of racks? Why make things more difficult for yourself?

Because we like to see all the flashing lights!

JoeF1 · 11 Mar 2013 at 09:50

Are they just screwed in? thinking of something like this although im worried how many times i can screw/unscrew before the hole gets messed up.

Looks pretty cool.

Nikumba · 11 Mar 2013 at 11:47

DRZ said:
Why do people *always* put switches into the wrong end of racks? Why make things more difficult for yourself?

Depends where your patch panels are really.

Kimbie

DRZ · 11 Mar 2013 at 11:56

Nikumba said:
Depends where your patch panels are really.

Kimbie

Well if your server rack had a patch panel then it is probably because you're doing EOR switching - so a) there wouldn't be any switches in the rack and b) the patch panels will be where they should be - at the back

If you are doing TOR switching (like the OP) then you'd expect your switches to be at the back where all the cables are...

Comms racks are different of course, but you don't see servers in any comms rack run by someone sensible

RimBlock · 12 Mar 2013 at 06:14

Not all racks have easy access to the rear especially in a non-enterprise environment.

My patch panel and switch are at the front, as will be my Infiniband switch when it arrives. Putting it at the back makes my life a lot more difficult if I need to change anything.

I also like to impress visitors with my flashing lights

.

RB

teaboy5 · 15 Mar 2013 at 00:03

DRZ said:
Well if your server rack had a patch panel then it is probably because you're doing EOR switching - so a) there wouldn't be any switches in the rack and b) the patch panels will be where they should be - at the back

If you are doing TOR switching (like the OP) then you'd expect your switches to be at the back where all the cables are...

Comms racks are different of course, but you don't see servers in any comms rack run by someone sensible

Think you need to relax a little DRZ. It's a switch at home not a data center.

Boycie · 17 Mar 2013 at 18:13

At the moment it is in a temporary position, it certainly won't be staying in the loft during Summer. With regards to the switch, part of it is flashing lights

the other part is access, at the moment my office upstairs has no wired access to the router downstairs (To be replaced this week with a new custom built box but thats a new thread) which will eventually go in that rack, I just patch a cable from there to the office when i'm working and I can do it without getting the step ladders out, and it keeps the wife happy because i'm not crashing about in the loft.

Its more just a proof of concept/ home project than anything professional.

Thanks
B

Django x2 · 17 Mar 2013 at 23:08

RimBlock said:
Not all racks have easy access to the rear especially in a non-enterprise environment.

My patch panel and switch are at the front, as will be my Infiniband switch when it arrives. Putting it at the back makes my life a lot more difficult if I need to change anything.

I also like to impress visitors with my flashing lights .

RB

This, where most wall mounted rack cabinets in SME's are, well, wall mounted, I'd love to see DMZ access his patch panel at the rear, when it's shoved up against a wall

R.O.S.S.I · 18 Mar 2013 at 14:43

teaboy5 said:
Think you need to relax a little DRZ. It's a switch at home not a data center.

Hahah lol!

Mercutio · 11 Aug 2013 at 12:14

JoeF1 said:
Are they just screwed in? thinking of something like this although im worried how many times i can screw/unscrew before the hole gets messed up.

Looks pretty cool.

I'd imagine you could drill out and glue in some metal studs with thread (or go ultra cheap and just some regular nuts with a bit of space behind), buy a pack of thumb screws and have it a little more durable (maybe with a metal strip screwed to the back of the front legs to replace a bit of the structural strength removed from drilling). Would add about... £5/10 to the project

Caged · 12 Aug 2013 at 00:45

The legs are decent enough. Some M6 insert nuts would make it super pimp.