Need a rack? This is pretty neat.

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herby

Active Member
Aug 18, 2013
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Penn Elcom, a road/flight case hardware manufacturer sells this interesting product:
http://www.pennelcomonline.com/us/P...and-Base--Assembly-Parts-R8230-TB/m-6260.aspx




Pretty much an erector set to build a professional looking rack, just add the threaded or square hole rails.
Which of course Penn Elcom makes:
Rack Rail SQ Hole Buy Now at PennElcomOnline.com
Rack Rail 10/32 Buy Now at PennElcomOnline.com

I'm pretty intrigued by this design. The only questions in my mind are the height and weight capacity of this set up with a few servers in it.
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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Hopefully you find this on track with this topic...

I was blown away by how sturdy and light weight these kits were, and also how well they went together!

I have 2 of these "Pro Kits" in square setup:
Pro Series Server Rack Kits
+ misc accessories
Rackmount Accessories | Server Rack Accessories

You can get top pieces, side pieces, braces, etc... I have mine loaded right now (22U iirc) with just the main frame and it's sturdy as can be! I got the top piece, and braces (1 set each) to test and just have never installed them. Now, I'll likely add some side pieces and a 3rd rack as I finish their perm. home and make sure air flow is how I want it.

I have a full size $$ rack and the only real difference of the 'rack part' itself is the $$ rack is adjustable where-as the "Pro Kit" is fixed, obviously the $$ rack has an external metal shell for protection/security, wire management, pdu, etc... so you can't really compare a full blown rack to a bare bones rack frame.

Anyway, I'm really happy with my StarCase.com rack and will be buying more!
 

herby

Active Member
Aug 18, 2013
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Nice I like those too, especially the sized doors they sell.

...but I gotta say mine's (slightly) cheaper ;)

Actually the reason I might buy the Penn Elcom kit is I can see some easy mods.

For example drilling and tapping some angle iron to make my own horizontal cross members instead of using their rack rails, or putting a second set of rails towards the back for shallower but still 4 post gear.
 
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ViciousXUSMC

Active Member
Nov 27, 2016
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Thanks for this, I am in cheap rack mode, the prices look really good. I'll have to pick all the parts (still trying to figure out what part would create a 30" depth) and hope the shipping is not exorbitant. If all goes well this could be mine soon.

I emailed them today to ask about the size offset of the bracket.
Given a 1U is 1.75" to get 30" I would want about 15U brackets between the front and back, but it all depends on just how offset the brackets are.

Also I can not tell if you need just the right angle brackets or the u shaped ones.

Example This: Penn Elcom 18U Full Hole RacK Strip with Squre Holes 2mm/0.08" R0863/2MM-18 | PennElcomOnline.com

vs This: Penn Elcom Full Hole Rack Strip 18U R0883-18 | PennElcomOnline.com

Infact I do not see what the 2nd design is for at all, in DIY you just need an anchor point and your forward facing holes to mount too.
 
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ViciousXUSMC

Active Member
Nov 27, 2016
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I have had to go back and forth a bit with them to get more detailed measurements so I can determine what size rail to get.
Looks like 14U is going to be about right for a 29/30" depth. I am assuming adding about 3" to the rail on each side based on the measurements.

Posting the detailed schematics for others interested.

R8230-TB_Page_1.jpg

R8230-TB_Page_2.jpg
 

ViciousXUSMC

Active Member
Nov 27, 2016
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Mine was delivered today.
Will try to do a build video or atleast log some details on it.

Total cost was about $160, a good amount cheaper than most any other 22U full size 4 post rack. Granted its plain as can be.
The cost was very much affected by the fact I got free shipping and it was tax free.

Could have shaved $30 off and not gotten casters, but I wanted those so that when I move I can wheel the whole thing out without taking it apart (half the reason I am getting a rack)

The rails are cheap only $6-$8 so I could easily change the size of the rack as needed without much additional cost, thats a cool feature.
 

herby

Active Member
Aug 18, 2013
187
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A bit of a necro-post; but I realized despite building one of these racks I never posted any pictures.

I used 18U rack strips for the vertical members and 11U for the horizontal giving me a rack 32" tall by 25.5" deep. Instead of the Penn Elcom hardware kit for the rack I just used my own screws and nuts and I mounted the whole thing on fairly small plate casters.

I painted the top and bottom parts with industrial Rust-Oleum "Almond"



and the front panels of my server chassis "Deep Blue" because I'd like the end product to have sort of a 70's/80's minicomputer aesthetic.

I'm still a long way from what I've envisioned for my rack, but I'm pleased with this frame kit. I think it will suit my needs well as I continue my home server projects.
 

kse

New Member
Dec 14, 2019
24
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Does not look really stable.

I've build my rack with some extruded 30x30mm aluminum profiles and four "TRITON RAX-VL-X12-X1" 12he mounting rails.

i paid 24€ for the rails and 55€ for the 30x30 extrusion profiles ( 4 x 505mm ; 4 x 720mm ; 4 x 740mm)

So i have 800mm rack depth aud 720mm height.

This selfmade rack is both: rack and leg for my desk.
 
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firworks

Member
May 7, 2021
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Got a little follow up for this that maybe will be useful to someone some day. Found this thread, thought it was an awesome idea and immediately started trying to piece together a kit. I sent a message to Penn Elcom's Twitter account just asking them if I was ordering the right parts and they told me that the kit is not recommended for larger racks. I think the depth was the problem. I was planning on 34U R0883 uprights and 20U R0863 for the cross members. Trying to get a 32U x ~35" depth.

1669101552815.png

You could obviously still go for it and it'd probably be fine but that's their view on it as the manufacturer. I was excited because it was only gonna be something like 280$ for a 32U deep rack which is pretty good. Back to wheeling and dealing on Facebook marketplace I go to find a rack...
 

CyklonDX

Well-Known Member
Nov 8, 2022
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yeah, i wouldn't recommend going with that either, i doubt it can support the weight when servers are in; especially if its pushed from one edge when half loaded. I could see it collapsing.
 

Asuka17377

New Member
Mar 15, 2023
23
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Here are pictures of my selfmade rack. cost about 80€
My words maybe let you unhappy:It's too short and doesn't take into account the switch cable at all.
You should add another 20cm to accommodate the cables, like I did this one, but my design is a bit complicated...can you imagine it has 300 bolts? I don't want to use hand tools to turn bolts for the rest of my life.