After getting a number of components to set up the homelab - there was a fair amount of clutter around the work station. One solution is to invest in a server rack to organize the setup.

First thing is the size of the server rack - there are standard units when it comes to the server capacity. The vertical distance for the overall number of units is in terms of U (e.g. 48U) which is the number of units that can be stored vertically in the rack. The depth of the rack can be adjustable depending on the vendor. The default width is 19” for rack mounted components.

One good candidate for the rack is one by the startech.com - a good used unit are readily available on facebook marketplace.

Before taking the plunge - it would be good to identify exactly what I’m looking to get out and if it makes sense given the power consumption and cost to setup.

There’s also a mini rack which may be interesting for smaller setup which more aligns what I am looking for (e.g. a pi cluster and a couple other components.) There’s also a number of 3D printed components which would let me have another use for my old Prusa M3.

The project is here: https://mini-rack.jeffgeerling.com/

They also mention jetKVM.

Looks like framework also has some mini rack components.

Desk pi is a vendor for some of the mini rack components.

Bill of materials

Design

  • 1Gb network?
  • components powered by PoE?

Materials