Deals on soundproof rack enclosures for home setting?

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watersb

New Member
Jun 11, 2016
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New Mexico
I have been distracted by a couple of finds on eBay today. Top-grade data server enclosures, -30dba broadband noise attenuation, monitored heat and ventilation. BRING A TRUCK

These are steelcase grade APC NetShelter OEM; the more intriguing oneis the ucoustic branded quiet box.

Alas, I can't move large cabinets quite so easily. To get started, a couple of IKEA Lack side tables. We can immerse the prepped boxes in oil. They are happy .
 

doughnet

Member
Dec 24, 2018
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that first one posted (24U) brand new is $6,000 but refurbished is $600?


Sounds crazy on price difference.
 

brmiller

New Member
Jan 1, 2017
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If you can find one of these second hand locally, and want to have servers inside or near living areas, jump on it. I found a used IsoBox near me a few years ago and it has made all the difference. The company targets the digital audio processing’s market, so their regular units are shallower than full depth equipment. They do make deeper units for server gear, but good luck finding one of those second hand. I have a 14U version that has 5U of full depth and 9U of less depth. This forced me to dump my long gear and move to shorter depth 1U and 2U chassis. It also force me to focus on virtualization so I don’t need as much gear. I’m just writing this to upvote these types of rack enclosures if you can find one or afford them new.
 

markballew

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May 21, 2020
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San Francisco, CA
markballew.com
I was able to get a XrackPro2 12u on Craigslist for $400 and rented a pickup to go get it about 30 miles away, so about $450 total after the rental. Beware that the Isobox is for sound equipment, so not all of the units will be full depth due to how the fans are located. I would read their manual closely to make sure you are getting what you expect. The XrackPro2 has some space lost due to fans but it is maybe an inch on the top 4 units -- not big deal for many rail and rack types.

When looking on Craigslist or Ebay, also look at sound rack gear. So instead of "quiet server rack" try "studio rack". There are also some DIY build guides on reddit, but it seemed better to me to just buy after getting the initial metal rails and thinking I was about to get myself into too big of a project. For Craigslist, make an account and put in search terms with titles only. When you get a hit, be sure to jump on it because I missed a few deals taking my time to respond.

As far as the XrackPro2, most of the noise is from the fans in back. The Dell 730xd I have is acceptably quiet now, but it would still be annoying in a living room.
 

brmiller

New Member
Jan 1, 2017
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@markballew is right - I should have taken more time to point this out - the studio racks are meant for studio gear, which means a) the generally only have mounting rails in the front (studio gear is lighter and not very deep) and b) the cooling is only set up for moderate heat-generation. 12U of server/network gear generates way more heat than 12U of studio gear. To that end, I added additional fans in the bottom to pull cold air through the filter on the bottom. The rear fans were already set to exhaust warm air. The IsoBox has two temperature sensors to monitor the cool air coming in and the warm air leaving. Mine runs 65-72F in and 85-87 out. The IsoBox people also say “Just because it’s 12U, that doesn’t mean fill it with 12U of running gear! I have a 2U APC SmartUPS, 2 1U Supermicro CSE-813 chassis, 2 2U genericish iStar-USA chassis, a 1U switch, and a 1U slide-out console. I’m probably a little over capacity - could probably reduce some of the load, but one of the iStar cases is usually off. Airflow between equipment is said to help. I did have to put rear rails in mine in order to mount the UPS and a full-length CSE-823 I used to run. IsoBox does make them deeper with full 4-post and bottom intake fans, but I had apply some DIY given what I was able to find.
 

watersb

New Member
Jun 11, 2016
19
10
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54
New Mexico
@brmiller The tip regarding audio studio racks is a good one, thanks! We do some audio stuff so I was indeed considering that as an option.

As we are in a remote rural location, racks don't come up very often, but always worth looking. I would totally go get this eBay thing if I were not 2000 miles away. Heavy thing is heavy.

Since this is a home project with no hard timeframe, I will just build a rack. IKEA will ship me one for twenty bucks. :)

At the moment, I have APC surge, PDU, and UPS serving old Mac Pros as servers. They are big, but not loud, and stuffing them with RAM is cheap these days.

Another non-traditional rack option I stumbled across, in addition to audio roadie cases, are these military surplus technical boxes.


Although these seem to be better at shipping gear rather than operating loud servers in the living room. But it's an idea...
 

tommybackeast

Active Member
Jun 10, 2018
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I was able to get a XrackPro2 12u on Craigslist for $400 and rented a pickup to go get it about 30 miles away, so about $450 total after the rental. Beware that the Isobox is for sound equipment, so not all of the units will be full depth due to how the fans are located. I would read their manual closely to make sure you are getting what you expect. The XrackPro2 has some space lost due to fans but it is maybe an inch on the top 4 units -- not big deal for many rail and rack types.

When looking on Craigslist or Ebay, also look at sound rack gear. So instead of "quiet server rack" try "studio rack". There are also some DIY build guides on reddit, but it seemed better to me to just buy after getting the initial metal rails and thinking I was about to get myself into too big of a project. For Craigslist, make an account and put in search terms with titles only. When you get a hit, be sure to jump on it because I missed a few deals taking my time to respond.

As far as the XrackPro2, most of the noise is from the fans in back. The Dell 730xd I have is acceptably quiet now, but it would still be annoying in a living room.
I also have a XRackPro2 12U and I -hate- the three rear fans - the frequency of the noise is most annoying.

Are you still running factory fans or have you tried replacing them?
 

0dd

New Member
Oct 25, 2014
14
1
3
109
@brmiller The tip regarding audio studio racks is a good one, thanks! We do some audio stuff so I was indeed considering that as an option.

As we are in a remote rural location, racks don't come up very often, but always worth looking. I would totally go get this eBay thing if I were not 2000 miles away. Heavy thing is heavy.

Since this is a home project with no hard timeframe, I will just build a rack. IKEA will ship me one for twenty bucks. :)

At the moment, I have APC surge, PDU, and UPS serving old Mac Pros as servers. They are big, but not loud, and stuffing them with RAM is cheap these days.

Another non-traditional rack option I stumbled across, in addition to audio roadie cases, are these military surplus technical boxes.


Although these seem to be better at shipping gear rather than operating loud servers in the living room. But it's an idea...
They are amazing for keeping gear safe seen a few dropped from 5+ ft with minor damage(scuffs, scratches, dings, ect) to outside and no damage to the 100+ LBS of hardware inside.

Biggest issue i have had with them is at times they can seem to make noise worse, so definitely not what you want to keep things quite.
 

watersb

New Member
Jun 11, 2016
19
10
3
54
New Mexico
They are amazing for keeping gear safe seen a few dropped from 5+ ft with minor damage(scuffs, scratches, dings, ect) to outside and no damage to the 100+ LBS of hardware inside.

You are talking about the Pelican Hardigg cases?

I know audio road crew has to work fast with heavy stuff, but how often do things get dropped from two meters up? (never mind; if you have to ask the question, the answer is "often enough")
:)
 

0dd

New Member
Oct 25, 2014
14
1
3
109
You are talking about the Pelican Hardigg cases?

I know audio road crew has to work fast with heavy stuff, but how often do things get dropped from two meters up? (never mind; if you have to ask the question, the answer is "often enough")
:)
In the military i worked with some equipment using the cases and transported on the back of trucks with bed height's of >1m. so like you said "often enough"
 

czl

New Member
May 14, 2016
25
4
3
I'm in the sfbay area would be willing to sell my "24u UCoustic Soundproof Server Rack"


PM me for details. Cheers!