Choosing a small rack cabinet for a home office

[idea]

Hey guys, I've decided I want to build a rack cabinet to house my equipment. Has anyone done this before? No more tower cases and cables all over the room. I need at least 12U and full-depth to handle long server cases. Noise is probably going to be an issue but I'm ignoring it for now, hoping I could research quieter fans and sound deadening materials later on

I found an amazing deal on eBay. New 12U 19" Rackmount Server Cabinet w/Casters - 35" deep. Brand new for $279.99 shipped to your door. Nothing fancy or anything but it will do the job. I can't find any reviews on it other than this one. The manufacturer of the cabinet is the eBay seller himself, going by the name "rackmountgears".

I would love one of those specialty racks that are designed for a small office. They are nice looking and are designed for noise reduction and maybe even come with a PDU. They tend to be VERY expensive new, but you can find a good deal on craigslist once in a while. Some examples of these are APC NetShelter CX or XRackPro2 Noise Reduction Enclosure

I'd probably mount everything in the front, or maybe relocate the 1U switches to the rear

1U network switch
1U SAN switch
4U NAS server (maybe I can squeeze this into 2U)
4U ESXi server (maybe I can squeeze this into 2U)
2U UPS
--
12U TOTAL

 

[RKBET]

Hey guys, I've decided I want to build a rack cabinet to house my equipment. Has anyone done this before? No more tower cases and cables all over the room. I need at least 12U and full-depth to handle long server cases. Noise is probably going to be an issue but I'm ignoring it for now, hoping I could research quieter fans and sound deadening materials later on

I found an amazing deal on eBay. New 12U 19" Rackmount Server Cabinet w/Casters - 35" deep. Brand new for $279.99 shipped to your door. Nothing fancy or anything but it will do the job. I can't find any reviews on it other than this one. The manufacturer of the cabinet is the eBay seller himself, going by the name "rackmountgears".

I would love one of those specialty racks that are designed for a small office. They are nice looking and are designed for noise reduction and maybe even come with a PDU. They tend to be VERY expensive new, but you can find a good deal on craigslist once in a while. Some examples of these are APC NetShelter CX or XRackPro2 Noise Reduction Enclosure

I'd probably mount everything in the front, or maybe relocate the 1U switches to the rear

1U network switch
1U SAN switch
4U NAS server (maybe I can squeeze this into 2U)
4U ESXi server (maybe I can squeeze this into 2U)
2U UPS
--
12U TOTAL

not a bad idea i may do the same. I'm getting tired of this 36U in my room

 

[houkouonchi]

I have done this. My rack is even bolted down into the foundation my house is on. I went with a full 47u rack though. Honestly I would go for something bigger as you will already be using up almost the entire rack from the get go. If you could already fill up 12u i would look at getting at least a half rack (12u). Also with extra space and stuff you can have a patch panel, extra power strips, etc...

I have a room dedicated to my rack which helps with the noise. Here is a vid of my rack running if your interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL0xC7H7naY

 

[evt]

I would continue scouring craigslist for a server rack.

Picked up two 48U rackmount enclosures for $50 + 500gb drive + 160gb drive. All you need is a way to move the damn things.