Server Rack: DIY or buy?

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beatle

Member
Mar 23, 2017
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I have a few pieces of gear that are rack mountable, including a couple of Dell R510s. Servicing the servers to swap out or reseat components is getting to be a pain with where they are situated in my basement. I also have a rackmountable Unifi switch and a power conditioner that would look nice in a rack as well. Time to grow up, I guess.

I am handy enough with wood that I could go the DIY route with a few posts from Amazon or ebay, but I have read dissenting opinions of them - either the holes do not line up, or their threads are bungled from the factory and need to be either re-tapped or drilled out completely. While I don't mind a little work getting things right, I don't want to battle this on a regular basis. I like that I'd be able to put casters on it so I could move it around if necessary. I'm guessing a DIY 16-20U rack would set me back around $120 or so.

I live in Northern VA, so Craigslist usually has a few racks for sale ranging from $50-$450 depending on size/features/condition. This one is dramatically higher than my budget, but it has three nice shelves that I like: HP 10642 42U Server Rack - computers - by owner - electronics sale
That would save me having to purchase R510 rails and cable management arms which would set me back ~$200 or so, and I would need another shelf anyway for my non-rackmountable UPS and power conditioner. I'm not sure if it's on casters or not.

This one is a lot less: 52u SWDP Server Rack Enclosure - electronics - by owner - sale and even bigger, but I'd need to invest in rails and shelves, so maybe it's not such a savings.

Other options?
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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I'd buy the white one for $100 instead of DIY that's for sure.

If you need the shelves the other isn't a bad price they're expensive each for non-sliding, sliding even more.
Maybe offer him less?
 

beatle

Member
Mar 23, 2017
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I first looked at that years ago. It is neat and inexpensive, but it won't be enough for even my modest setup.
 

Markess

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2018
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Northern California
I first looked at that years ago. It is neat and inexpensive, but it won't be enough for even my modest setup.
I got gifted some rack mount gear a short time ago and built a rack out of Lack tables, which were on sale for around $9 each at the time. I got 3, and used the 3 tops with two sets of legs, giving me a bottom, middle and top shelf.

This gave me 18U to work with, plus room on the top shelf, which is right in the middle of the 16-20U range you mention above.

I used 1/16" aluminum angle as rails for holding gear that wasn't on the bottom or middle shelf. Its on casters, and rolls pretty easily even when full.

I still have to slide gear completely out of it to work on them though, so definitely not as convenient as a "real" rack that way. Plus, some items may not fit without a bit of tinkering. My 3U Supermicro Chassis was a tiny bit too wide, so I had to shave a bit off the inside of one set of legs where that server slid in.
 

cheezehead

Active Member
Sep 23, 2012
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Midwest, US
Unless you have unusual dimensions to work with (ie 30" tall crawl space or something) and have room for a regular rack it's usually just easier/cheaper to pickup something existing. When looking, there would be a wide range of prices and conditions for used keep in mind there are various types of 4-post racks, make sure it's typical 19" (telco gear was 23") and decide if square/round hole matter to you, also if sides/doors matter as well. Lastly figure out a rough max driving distance you'd want to go...i ended up driving about 2hrs to a larger metro area to pickup mine.
 

SRussell

Active Member
Oct 7, 2019
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US
The HP Rack is overpriced. I am in Atlanta and can always find a 42U Dell Rack with all sides and doors for under $200. Sliding shelves can be found for $20. This may be market dependent but I would think VA has more Data Centers than Atlanta.

If you have the room I would jump on the white rack. It has all sides, doors, and square holes.

If you are dealing with a small space and can easily access the front and rear of a DIY rack then I would go that route. I am bias in this decision because I have access to a full woodshop and plenty of lumber suppliers nearby. If I did not have that access I would default to buying a rack.
 

psc

Member
Jun 30, 2019
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Having done both, I'd say buy a used rack if you can. I built a 16U rack from a mix of timber and some square-hole rack verticals I bought, nicely boxed in and with cork to reduce noise\vibration. It seemed cheap, and certainly did the job, but had some failings:
- You couldn't adjust front-back spacing, which means if you get a new server that won't quite fit you can't easily solve it
- I never got round to putting front\back doors on, but that would have required a plan for airflow...
- Timber will never be as secure as steel
- No side access, without additional complexity
- Fewer (or no) cable routing options unless you know to plan that in
- The cork was a nice idea, but I'm not sure it did anything; you're basically building a speaker enclosure anyway...

When we moved, I got a 2nd-hand Cooper B-Line rack for £50, with locking doors front & back, side access panels, fully adjustable, and can be completely disassembled for moving if necessary. I spent about a month finding new reasons why it was a good decision.
 

beatle

Member
Mar 23, 2017
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Hmm, I stopped getting email notifications on this thread...

I can get the HP rack for $350. The white rack already sold. In hindsight, it would not have fit where I'd like to put it in my basement as I have HVAC ductwork over the top. My max is about 82".

This one popped up today for less than the HP: StarTech 25u Adjustable Server Rack - computer parts - by owner -...

I have not seen sliding shelves for $20. I see some for $67, but they only extend 14 inches or so: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sliding-Rack-Vented-Server-Shelf-1U-19-4-Post-Rack-Mount-29-50-750mm-Deep/254473732826 I think I'd be better off buying rails for the servers. Even if I bought some decent drawer slides and built my own shelf out of plywood, I'm still in for another $40-$50 per shelf.
 

Markess

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2018
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Northern California
I recall one long time member posting some advice here about racks on CL. I don't remember who it was, but whoever they are, credit to them. It was basically:

If your local/regional CL is in a reasonably sized community, and if you're able to be patient and keep an eye out, inevitably some local business will post racks at a great price simply because they're taking up space and they want them out of the way. An empty rack off in a loading bay or storage room is a nuisance to them, and they don't care how much they get, they just want them gone.


I see that happen where I am (Sacramento, CA area). At some point, some business puts up complete racks for $20-$30. But at those prices, the listings last for no time at all of course, so you have to be willing and able to check CL frequently.
 

beatle

Member
Mar 23, 2017
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I'm keeping my eyes peeled. My motivation was spurred on by having to reseat the HBA in my R510 after every reboot, and the way I have my equipment strewn over my basement shelves, it was getting to be a chore.
 

nthu9280

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2016
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San Antonio, TX
I, among other members here, posted about CL listings. You can set up alerts and be patient. 42u are more common. 24u are less frequent. Make sure the depth is sufficient. About 40” / 1070 mm. Most of the current rails need square holes. Older racks come with threaded holes.
 
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acquacow

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Feb 15, 2017
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Fellow NoVA homelabber here... NoVA $/sqft is expensive. I put my lab on the wall in a bunch of HTPC cases. All flash, all 10gige, all L series v2/v3 xeons with ECC.

All under 500W peak, around 250W idle.



-- Dave
 
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seang86s

Member
Feb 19, 2013
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OP, do you have the rails for your R510 servers? Might be better getting the rails instead of pullout shelves. Most server rails need square hole rack rails so keep that in mind.
 

beatle

Member
Mar 23, 2017
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No rails yet. I'll need to order some. I believe these are the cheapest sliding rails available for the R510:
Dell 61KCY PowerEdge R510 R520 R720 R820 R830 2U Sliding Rail Kit Y8P81 R194R 635111227406 | eBay

I actually just bought a rack on ebay. I've got to drive to Delaware this weekend to get it, but it was $134: HP 42U 10642 Server Rack Data Cabinets for Dell IBM 19" with PDUs and adapters | eBay

Not sure what I'll do with the PDUs that come with it. They appear to be 240v - maybe an L6-30? I could technically run a 240v circuit over to the rack's location in my basement, but I will probably keep it 120v since I won't be running that much stuff and I'll be able to use my existing UPS.
 

beatle

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Mar 23, 2017
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Well I'm back on the hunt. The seller is now backtracking on the offer, saying it should have been $234 and not $134. So much for integrity these days.
 

acquacow

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Feb 15, 2017
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Well, there are lots of racks for sale in NoVA for cheap. I saw a few on FB marketplace and Craigslist this last week.
 

beatle

Member
Mar 23, 2017
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I've contacted a few people on CL for racks, but have not been able to close the deal. They have either been snatched up quickly, or the seller flakes out. I am not a facebooker, but I will keep shopping.

I think I've decided that I only want square hole racks, preferably a full rack. They offer the most flexibility, and it seems that fulls are often less expensive than half racks.
 

beatle

Member
Mar 23, 2017
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Finally got one on CL for $90 - it's a full Dell cabinet with a couple of full length angle brackets. I'll turn those into shelves with some plywood and pick up some rapid rails for my R510s.

BTW, a full size rack will fit through a standard 6' 8" door - but only after you remove at least one set of casters...
 

acquacow

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Feb 15, 2017
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Nice. I'm eyeballing some 2-post network racks with shelves. I can't fit a full rack comfortably anywhere in my house.