Red Squirrel
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2009
- Messages
- 9,215
I want a server rack so I can start getting all rackmountable stuff for my equipment, and just overall be more tidy. I am not willing to spend 1-2 grand for a 42U rack however. It seems WAY over the top, and I have a hard time believing it's even worth that. They just add tons of markup knowing businesses will pay anything.
Has anyone ever built their own rack? What about getting a metal fab shop to construct the skeleton (basically the 4 posts with the square holes) Technically it's the 4 posts that are the most important. The rest could basically be any material such as plywood, or particle board. It's the posts that have to be able to bear the weight. Think angle iron could work? It already has holes. May not match with the "U" standard, but should be close enough to not have too much wasted space. In a way it may even be better as you can stack 1U boxes close but they wont touch, but at least you don't waste a whole U of space just to keep them apart.
I've also thought of buying a 4 post rack, I'm willing to spend 500 bucks (what seems to be the going price) for a decent one, but that's the max I want to pay.
Before anyone suggests Craigslist, I live in a small town in Canada, there's no Craigslist here. Nobody here gets rid of racks, if anything they are adding more racks. Out of 3 years working in IT I have seen many racks deployed in various places, but none decommissioned, even in environments going virtual. If physical servers come out, bigger SANs go in. They need the rack space.
Another thing, if I do order a rack from the internet, how would something that big be shipped? Is it in a flat box and "assembly required" or is it all one piece? I can't imagine hauling that in my basement if it comes in one piece.
Has anyone ever built their own rack? What about getting a metal fab shop to construct the skeleton (basically the 4 posts with the square holes) Technically it's the 4 posts that are the most important. The rest could basically be any material such as plywood, or particle board. It's the posts that have to be able to bear the weight. Think angle iron could work? It already has holes. May not match with the "U" standard, but should be close enough to not have too much wasted space. In a way it may even be better as you can stack 1U boxes close but they wont touch, but at least you don't waste a whole U of space just to keep them apart.
I've also thought of buying a 4 post rack, I'm willing to spend 500 bucks (what seems to be the going price) for a decent one, but that's the max I want to pay.
Before anyone suggests Craigslist, I live in a small town in Canada, there's no Craigslist here. Nobody here gets rid of racks, if anything they are adding more racks. Out of 3 years working in IT I have seen many racks deployed in various places, but none decommissioned, even in environments going virtual. If physical servers come out, bigger SANs go in. They need the rack space.
Another thing, if I do order a rack from the internet, how would something that big be shipped? Is it in a flat box and "assembly required" or is it all one piece? I can't imagine hauling that in my basement if it comes in one piece.