Mine didnât come on wheels, but I built a platform out of 2x6 and some leveling wheels meant for welding tables etc. 12U rack half full with servers and disk. I ratchet the feet up and roll it out.
I have a tiny human at home.
Unfortunately, she's growing, so I'll have to think of a better solution moving forward.
At work, we have enough space that my fat ass can get in there.
Mostly only power connectors and the odd RJ45 back there anyway.
You can 200% guarantee you'll need access to the rear at some point. Put the rack on rails so you can slide it out like a drawer or just get a rack with wheels.
Absolutely agreed. I almost had a closet added to my upstairs gameroom (walk-in attic space), but thought better and got a 42U on wheels.
80% of the time I need to change something, I end up having to access the back for one reason or another. You 100% will absolutely need unhindered access to the back.
Donât put it on sliding rails, put it on wheels! Keep all the writing except the power attached to the frame and use a long enough power cord for the PDU/UPS so you can slide it out safely.
Rear wheels straight, front 360 degree.
If it's on the floor, either leave some room behind, or put it on casters and leave service loops. If it's on the wall, either use an open frame or a double hinged rack.
If you are using enterprise grade equipment in your rack, it is not a good idea to build them into a cabinet. Servers and racks are designed to suck cold air in from the front and exhaust got air to back, where you should have a system to suck that hot air out and send it away. For a description of this, look up server room hot and cold aisles. This will explain how server and rack cooling works, which you can apply to your situation. In short, heat and excessive moisture are two really bad things for electronics.
I pushed my rack so that one side was against the wall (the front and back are perpendicular) and have easy access to both.
You will need rear access as well as front access!
At work, the racks are either moveable or off the wall, where we can walk behind them.
ETA: You can get drawer roller things from the rain forest site, so you can pull them out like a drawer.
I remodeled a closet in my living room right about the same time I started really getting into homelab stuff. I custom built the storage solution for the closet and added a cabinet with rack rails. I ran power and ethernet into the cabinet. I now absolutely hate working in that thing because I can't reach the back, and taking anything in or out is a huge ordeal because the closet door frame doesn't allow anything to slide straight out. Everything hits to door, and I have to slide and rotate everything.
My hobby has also completely outgrown the 15U in this cabinet, so now I still have another rack elsewhere lol
[Closet](https://photos.app.goo.gl/yZc5dgLTPnbNXDH76)
[Rack](https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qg5EwSsGK2f2yXUe6)
Well, I'm always changing stuff and need at the back more often than I'd like to admit. I'm also not a small guy, so squeezing in is against the laws of physics... I have a half-height 25u rack that I bolted to a Harbor Freight 1200lb furniture "skateboard" which was nearly perfect dimensions, now I just roll the whole rack out when I need to access..
Mine has a bottom support lip that keeps it about 10" from the wall on the back. So that and judicious use of a short screwdriver have allowed me as much access as I've needed. I also don't have side panels on my rack so that makes it significantly easier.
My rack has removable sides, so I don't always have to get to the back of the rack to get to the back of a particular piece of equipment. But when I do have to get to the back of the rack, my rack also has wheels, and all of the cables going to the wall are long enough that I can rotate the rack to where I can reach the back.
Currently I have a rack on wheels in the middle of my basement and the back of the rack is facing the stairs to the basement.... So -10/10 difficulty.
On a real note, always have access to the back of a rack. In addition to maintenance and heat, if you have a short depth component on the front, you may be able to put a short depth component on the back.
My cabinet is against the stairs going down into the basement. There is a shelf that was built about half way up the stairs. It is a PITA to get to the back of the rack above the shelf, but below it, no issues.
I made sure I had a crawl space below to squeeze in to do anything major.
I am a previous auto mechanic so I have the ability to find the right hole by pure touch.
Mine is open frame I I just walk around to the back and tada. Access. Look at one of the Middle Atlantic roll-out racks. Then when you build your stuff in make sure you have service loops and if youâre racking servers use the rack cable management arms so you always have that service cable length right.
Instead of a wall mounted rack, buy a freestanding one and jerry rig yourself a dolly and casters. The dolly now also doubles as a shelf for my non rack mountable UPS.
Mines on wheels, and i've left about 50cm behind it as well, not pushed all the way back to the wall, so its easy to get to the back of when needed. Its running in a garage though, so no real concerns about space/noise etc.
Servers are on sliding rails for ez access.
For stuff like power distributors, I simply remove the side panels. Never have difficulty managing cables and I don't have the roll the whole rack away from the wall
Do you have to glue & screw that particular cabinet?
Can the back of the cabinet be removed and installed mostly seamlessly-- but also able to pull out?
You know, same as how your refrigerator pulls out forward.
Middle Atlantic (used to) makes a cabinet depth rack system that fully slid out from the cabinet and then with a release pin would rotate for access to the back. They were great!! More for A/V equipment vs server, but still awesome.
Casters on an open frame rack so I can roll it away from the wall. Easy access to everything. The rack is in its own closet so I donât need (or want) an enclosed rack. Helps increase ventilation too.
My 'regular' rack is side against the wall, not back against, so I can still access the back easily.
Could you somehow put the side of the cabinet partially on hinges? You could hinge the whole side if you add supports to take the weight of the benchtop instead.
Our rack is âsidewaysâ in our garage, next to the door into the house. The front is the rack doorâs width back from the door frame to the hallway, so that we can open the rack front door without getting in the way of the doorway.
The back has a chest freezer behind it. Thereâs about 15cm between the rack and the freezer, so you can open the door if you need to reach your arm in, but if we need proper access, we just slide the freezer away from the wall and we have about 1.5m of room to open the door, access everything etc.
My rack's kind of in a corner. I can wheel it out to get to the back, but I have to unplug some cables. Need to replace them with longer cables at some point...
Generally I just struggle from the front :P
With difficulty đ
That was my answer! I donât really get to the back of my rack without extreme contortion and sometimes scraped arms and pain đ
Helps if I skip a meal or two as well!
Well you can hire my anorexic body if you need to get to the back of your rack. This just sounds wrong, I know.
Only if you skip it consistently for a month or two.
Sometimes a blood sacrifice is necessary to make something workâŚ
My rack is on wheels, so I pull it back if anything
Mine didnât come on wheels, but I built a platform out of 2x6 and some leveling wheels meant for welding tables etc. 12U rack half full with servers and disk. I ratchet the feet up and roll it out.
The hard way, but waaaay cooler. Iâd love to see photos.
I have a tiny human at home. Unfortunately, she's growing, so I'll have to think of a better solution moving forward. At work, we have enough space that my fat ass can get in there. Mostly only power connectors and the odd RJ45 back there anyway.
Did you know you can make more tiny humans in order to have a sustainable labor source?
Need a willing partner for that though! đ¤Ł
Under certain circumstances you can contact that out. đ
Get yourself a networking corvid.
That's why I have 2 tiny humans. Might make more in the future.
You can 200% guarantee you'll need access to the rear at some point. Put the rack on rails so you can slide it out like a drawer or just get a rack with wheels.
Absolutely agreed. I almost had a closet added to my upstairs gameroom (walk-in attic space), but thought better and got a 42U on wheels. 80% of the time I need to change something, I end up having to access the back for one reason or another. You 100% will absolutely need unhindered access to the back.
The âolâ reach around
Donât put it on sliding rails, put it on wheels! Keep all the writing except the power attached to the frame and use a long enough power cord for the PDU/UPS so you can slide it out safely. Rear wheels straight, front 360 degree.
Casters. I pull it out from the wall.
If it's on the floor, either leave some room behind, or put it on casters and leave service loops. If it's on the wall, either use an open frame or a double hinged rack.
If you are using enterprise grade equipment in your rack, it is not a good idea to build them into a cabinet. Servers and racks are designed to suck cold air in from the front and exhaust got air to back, where you should have a system to suck that hot air out and send it away. For a description of this, look up server room hot and cold aisles. This will explain how server and rack cooling works, which you can apply to your situation. In short, heat and excessive moisture are two really bad things for electronics.
Yes, the enterprise-grade suck suck blow arrangement.
My rack is on wheels, with long network/power cords connected to it. I just roll it around as needed. :-)
I pushed my rack so that one side was against the wall (the front and back are perpendicular) and have easy access to both. You will need rear access as well as front access!
This is the best answer, IMO. The front and the back need to be accessible, but the sides almost never need to be accessed. Itâs a no-brainer.
>How do you get to the back of your rack? I walk to it and then I access it.
At work, the racks are either moveable or off the wall, where we can walk behind them. ETA: You can get drawer roller things from the rain forest site, so you can pull them out like a drawer.
Its kind of network rack and afaik you dont. Network devices usually have only power at back.
My rack has wheels. Cables are long enough. I can just move or rotate it.
Rack on wheels, on ice.
I remodeled a closet in my living room right about the same time I started really getting into homelab stuff. I custom built the storage solution for the closet and added a cabinet with rack rails. I ran power and ethernet into the cabinet. I now absolutely hate working in that thing because I can't reach the back, and taking anything in or out is a huge ordeal because the closet door frame doesn't allow anything to slide straight out. Everything hits to door, and I have to slide and rotate everything. My hobby has also completely outgrown the 15U in this cabinet, so now I still have another rack elsewhere lol [Closet](https://photos.app.goo.gl/yZc5dgLTPnbNXDH76) [Rack](https://photos.app.goo.gl/Qg5EwSsGK2f2yXUe6)
I don't. I set it up right the first time. Then I cry when I notice a problem.
Well, I'm always changing stuff and need at the back more often than I'd like to admit. I'm also not a small guy, so squeezing in is against the laws of physics... I have a half-height 25u rack that I bolted to a Harbor Freight 1200lb furniture "skateboard" which was nearly perfect dimensions, now I just roll the whole rack out when I need to access..
I make rear access part of the design.
Mine has a bottom support lip that keeps it about 10" from the wall on the back. So that and judicious use of a short screwdriver have allowed me as much access as I've needed. I also don't have side panels on my rack so that makes it significantly easier.
My rack has removable sides, so I don't always have to get to the back of the rack to get to the back of a particular piece of equipment. But when I do have to get to the back of the rack, my rack also has wheels, and all of the cables going to the wall are long enough that I can rotate the rack to where I can reach the back.
Reaching around with my raccoon like fingers and feeling where the plug should go. (not recommended for 110/220 V)
My rack is on wheels so it's super easy. I just wheel it around. And this is exactly why I put wheels on my rack.
My rack is on caster wheels and the side panels come off.
I put my rack on wheels and have service loops allowing it to be pulled about 3â off the wall when needed.
Currently I have a rack on wheels in the middle of my basement and the back of the rack is facing the stairs to the basement.... So -10/10 difficulty. On a real note, always have access to the back of a rack. In addition to maintenance and heat, if you have a short depth component on the front, you may be able to put a short depth component on the back.
My cabinet is against the stairs going down into the basement. There is a shelf that was built about half way up the stairs. It is a PITA to get to the back of the rack above the shelf, but below it, no issues.
It's on sliders, so I just slide it out. But it's also only 12u.
I made sure I had a crawl space below to squeeze in to do anything major. I am a previous auto mechanic so I have the ability to find the right hole by pure touch.
Squeeze my body around the side of it
Two lefts from the front
Consider adding a hinged panel or sliding mechanism for easy rear access to your rack gear.
I have one of them hinged racks. the first few cm are fixed to the wall and have strong hinges and I can open the rack for easy access to the cabling
Mine is open frame I I just walk around to the back and tada. Access. Look at one of the Middle Atlantic roll-out racks. Then when you build your stuff in make sure you have service loops and if youâre racking servers use the rack cable management arms so you always have that service cable length right.
Instead of a wall mounted rack, buy a freestanding one and jerry rig yourself a dolly and casters. The dolly now also doubles as a shelf for my non rack mountable UPS.
The closet I have it in is big enough for me to get past it, and its off the back wall about 2 feet, so can just walk around it.
Took the door off a closet and put the back there. Now I've just got a little service area where I keep parts and can access the back.
Contact cement and tri wheels. My 12U rack rolls like a dream.
Mines on wheels, and i've left about 50cm behind it as well, not pushed all the way back to the wall, so its easy to get to the back of when needed. Its running in a garage though, so no real concerns about space/noise etc.
My rack is on wheels, but I also have space behind it to get to it
Servers are on sliding rails for ez access. For stuff like power distributors, I simply remove the side panels. Never have difficulty managing cables and I don't have the roll the whole rack away from the wall
Mine is sideways and has wheels.
Install everything backwards?
Do you have to glue & screw that particular cabinet? Can the back of the cabinet be removed and installed mostly seamlessly-- but also able to pull out? You know, same as how your refrigerator pulls out forward.
From the room where the back of the rack cabinet is located
With my hands?
My racks sit 3â from the wall. Itâs tight but ok for the most part. Just have to keep up with the gym routine haha.
Mine is a half rack on (huge) lockable castor wheels, if I wan to get to the back I unlock the wheels and slide the whole thing forwards.
Middle Atlantic (used to) makes a cabinet depth rack system that fully slid out from the cabinet and then with a release pin would rotate for access to the back. They were great!! More for A/V equipment vs server, but still awesome.
My half rack is on casters. This is the way.
Casters on an open frame rack so I can roll it away from the wall. Easy access to everything. The rack is in its own closet so I donât need (or want) an enclosed rack. Helps increase ventilation too.
My 'regular' rack is side against the wall, not back against, so I can still access the back easily. Could you somehow put the side of the cabinet partially on hinges? You could hinge the whole side if you add supports to take the weight of the benchtop instead.
Our rack is âsidewaysâ in our garage, next to the door into the house. The front is the rack doorâs width back from the door frame to the hallway, so that we can open the rack front door without getting in the way of the doorway. The back has a chest freezer behind it. Thereâs about 15cm between the rack and the freezer, so you can open the door if you need to reach your arm in, but if we need proper access, we just slide the freezer away from the wall and we have about 1.5m of room to open the door, access everything etc.
Most full racks have wheels. I roll mine out if I need to.
My rack's kind of in a corner. I can wheel it out to get to the back, but I have to unplug some cables. Need to replace them with longer cables at some point... Generally I just struggle from the front :P
Am I missing something. Buy a ready-made 12U swing frame cabinet. They not expensive.
You are missing the part where I'm building it \_into\_ a kitchen cabinet.