homelab server rack time

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stuzz

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#318042 9-Dec-2024 20:05

It's time to look at tidying up my networking setup

I'm keen to look at a 10", preferably 6U rack, to tidy up my setup.

It is a small home system consisting of:

Unifi USW Lite 16 PoE switch
Unifi UCG-Ultra
2 Rpi 4 ( soon to be atleast 1 Rpi 5)

I envisige 2 x 8 port keystone patch panels.

Has anyone dabbled with something like this?

I've looked at DeskPi T1 and numerous 3d printed options which allow for the unifi gear to fitted in a half decent way, but keen to find any local options.

Lias

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#3318584 9-Dec-2024 20:52

I just got a 42ru full size rack and then built a server room to put it in so I cannot offer advice about micro racks :-P

I'm a geek, a gamer, a dad, a Quic user, and an IT Professional. I have a full rack home lab, size 15 feet, an epic beard and Asperger's. I'm a bit of a Cypherpunk, who believes information wants to be free and the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. If you use my Quic signup you can also use the code R570394EKGIZ8 for free setup.

Jase2985

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#3318589 9-Dec-2024 21:30

Mines in a cupboard, got some rack rails and i bolted them into some of the shelves. The cupboard has a temperature controlled fan on the top and an opening on the bottom of it.

freitasm

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#3318665 10-Dec-2024 07:28

I've moved this to the self-hosted sub-forum.

xpd

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#3320392 14-Dec-2024 10:26

Just finished assembling mine just now. Did have other ideas, but didn't happen.... maybe down the track :)

Is located in my home office which is the end of the garage (deep garage, walled off section for my office).

Is sitting on bits of wood to keep off floor in case the water pump thats right next to it decides to leak :D

Server (i5 6500), Alexa speaker, 8 port switch, NAS, and UPS which the NAS and server are connected to. Network is fed by a 15m outdoor CAT6 run down to the other end of the house where the ONT and router are connected to Quic.

I did get a free HP enterprise grade switch, but it dosent quite fit in the boxing.... so will leave that out for now.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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Kodiack

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#3333270 19-Jan-2025 15:58

stuzz:

I'm keen to look at a 10", preferably 6U rack, to tidy up my setup.

I've been passively watching this space for a couple of years now. I was thinking I'd possibly go this route with my next server rebuild, but I've just locked myself into full-width again for the next several years. I'll probably think about revamping everything into a 10" setup when I next revamp everything several years down the road.

Jeff Geerling just recently uploaded a nice video on 10" racks, btw:
https://youtu.be/y1GCIwLm3is

I watched it over lunch yesterday and tried to not have any buyer's remorse before shuffling stuff in my full-width rack hahaha.

stuzz

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#3333277 19-Jan-2025 17:12

Nice. I watched his videos in my research.

I finally went this route:

UCG-Ultra
USW Lite 16 PoE

Homebuilt cabinet.
6U rack rails from Livesound NZ

3D printed front panels from https://www.drei-d-w.de/ in Germany.
Alex was only too helpful and cost to source and ship was better than I thought.

Cheap side grille vents from Trade me

Keystone couplers and 10cm patch leads from Aliexpress (They say cat6 and seem to be so)

I have since swapped out the HDD caddy for an Asustor 4bay NAS and the Pi4 into one of the bottom panel. A Pi5 soon.

It turned out better than I thought, and suits me needs now and allows for more devices.

Tinkerisk

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#3333280 19-Jan-2025 17:19

For me, a mini-rack is a 19’ rack with 12 RU. This means that I am not unnecessarily restricted in my choice of devices, but I am still forced to be careful with the space available.

For me, 10’ racks only make sense for mobile use for seminars and training courses, for which I have a complete autonomous mini system including an UPS in a Peli-suitcase.

- NET: FTTH, OPNsense, 10G backbone, GWN APs, ipPBX
- SRV: 12 RU HA server cluster, 0.1 PB storage on premise
- IoT: thread, zigbee, tasmota, BidCoS, LoRa, WX suite, IR
- 3D: two 3D printers, 3D scanner, CNC router, laser cutter

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Kodiack

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#3333281 19-Jan-2025 17:22

Wow, that looks great! Nice work. I’m hoping that 10” racks continue to grow in popularity. Small, power-efficient hardware can probably meet most people’s needs these days, but homelabs still lean towards being large and oftentimes power-hungry.

Hopefully some other members of the community are also exploring this space. I’d love to keep drawing inspiration from others’ efforts haha.

stuzz

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#3333282 19-Jan-2025 17:22

I just couldn't find, or justify, the space needed.

I did think about a Pelican case, but this suited.

Kodiack

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#3334182 21-Jan-2025 15:03

Another article about mini racks! The future is looking bright, if this kind of excitement and momentum keeps up.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/01/project-mini-rack-wants-to-help-you-make-your-non-closet-sized-homelab-a-reality/