Cheap server rack?

TechMinerUK · 20 Sep 2016 at 14:22

Hello everyone, I've recently been looking at getting some rackmount equipment for my home network but I have yet to find a cheap enclosed rack. Does anyone know where I would be able to get a decent enclosed server rack for less than £100 or am I being unrealistic ?

Any help is greatly appreciated as always

nutcase · 20 Sep 2016 at 14:30

Used on ebay. Half height ones pop up from time to time for good prices.

TechMinerUK · 20 Sep 2016 at 14:42

nutcase_1uk said:
Used on ebay. Half height ones pop up from time to time for good prices.

I'll keep my eye open, thanks for the suggestion

SC0TTRS · 20 Sep 2016 at 14:52

What size rack / cabinet are you after?

TechMinerUK · 20 Sep 2016 at 14:54

SC0TTRS said:
What size rack / cabinet are you after?

Not a large one to be honest, just small height to take a couple of servers and some network gear. Anything below 15U as I could probably get away with 9U or less. As for depth just standard server size really to give me a reasonable selection for servers or rackmount cases

ov_sjo · 20 Sep 2016 at 15:01

£5 rack = https://wiki.eth0.nl/index.php/LackRack

TechMinerUK · 20 Sep 2016 at 15:03

ov_sjo said:
£5 rack = https://wiki.eth0.nl/index.php/LackRack

Haha, that's brilliant. I might try that just for the networking gear as I wouldn't want a server resting in it haha

SC0TTRS · 20 Sep 2016 at 15:04

TechMinerUK said:
Not a large one to be honest, just small height to take a couple of servers and some network gear. Anything below 15U as I could probably get away with 9U or less. As for depth just standard server size really to give me a reasonable selection for servers or rackmount cases

Ok, i'll meet you in the middle with a 12u

500mm deep within your budget :cool:

http://www.comms-express.com/products/12u-datacel-500mm-deep-data-cabinet-rack/?Black

TechMinerUK · 20 Sep 2016 at 15:09

SC0TTRS said:
Ok, i'll meet you in the middle with a 12u 500mm deep within your budget

http://www.comms-express.com/products/12u-datacel-500mm-deep-data-cabinet-rack/?Black

Will 500mm be long enough as a lot of the servers I maintain at work are around 700mm?

SC0TTRS · 20 Sep 2016 at 15:22

TechMinerUK said:
Will 500mm be long enough as a lot of the servers I maintain at work are around 700mm?

Ah, 700mm deep racks would be difficult with a £100 budget dude!

As Nutcase mentioned, second-hand route might be the answer.

TechMinerUK · 20 Sep 2016 at 15:34

SC0TTRS said:
Ah, 700mm deep racks would be difficult with a £100 budget dude!
As Nutcase mentioned, second-hand route might be the answer.

Righto, might have to limit myself to 600mm as I can find some creatively cheap ones on the internet. Damn they are very expensive haha

nutcase · 20 Sep 2016 at 20:10

One thing to bear in mind is servers might be ~700mm but you need about 1000mm for airflow and cables etc.

ov_sjo · 20 Sep 2016 at 20:13

2nd hand racks struggle to fetch 50 quid on ebay..

TechMinerUK · 20 Sep 2016 at 21:05

nutcase_1uk said:
One thing to bear in mind is servers might be ~700mm but you need about 1000mm for airflow and cables etc.

Damn, I forgot about cables

ov_sjo said:
2nd hand racks struggle to fetch 50 quid on ebay..

They seem to be about £150 including postage as there's none near me

TechMinerUK · 21 Sep 2016 at 21:26

Quick question, if I wanted to rackmount a HP 1810 switch and a Dell R210 server what sized rack would I need as some are different widths (54 and 60cm). Which would be better?

ov_sjo · 22 Sep 2016 at 07:31

TechMinerUK said:
Quick question, if I wanted to rackmount a HP 1810 switch and a Dell R210 server what sized rack would I need as some are different widths (54 and 60cm). Which would be better?

Doesn't really matter, the mounting posts are always in the same place, it just gives you space round the sides to run cables and power management but frankly you're unlikely to need that.

Do you already have the R210? 1U servers are typically very long which means you need a huge rack for it. You'd save space by just bolting the bloody thing flat against the wall!

Hyburnate · 22 Sep 2016 at 07:44

Racks available to the consumer are very expensive... You will need to go second hand.

vidda · 22 Sep 2016 at 08:17

ov_sjo said:
Do you already have the R210? 1U servers are typically very long which means you need a huge rack for it. You'd save space by just bolting the bloody thing flat against the wall!

The r210 is only half depth, but still you are right, it might be easier to just get a vertical wall bracket and hang it :cool:

TechMinerUK · 22 Sep 2016 at 08:24

ov_sjo said:
Doesn't really matter, the mounting posts are always in the same place, it just gives you space round the sides to run cables and power management but frankly you're unlikely to need that.
Do you already have the R210? 1U servers are typically very long which means you need a huge rack for it. You'd save space by just bolting the bloody thing flat against the wall!

Nope, just using it as a benchmark as it looks like half depth is all I can fit in the area I have anyway (For the full rack stuff I'll need to annex some of the garage

)

Hyburnate said:
Racks available to the consumer are very expensive... You will need to go second hand.

Yep, unless I'm only looking for a network cabinet

vidda said:
The r210 is only half depth, but still you are right, it might be easier to just get a vertical wall bracket and hang it

Must admit the vertical brackets look quite good. Shame they don't do ones for multiple servers