Anyone built their own RACK? *UPDATED* The heck w/building...I bought a small one..

[MichaelD]

IOW, you had a patch panel and a switch or two...maybe a router.

All three were standard 19-inch rackmount width, and you either didn't have the money or didn't want to spend the money on a rack, so you built your own, somehow.

That's where I'm at. I've got a 48-port standard 19-inch patch panel in my cart. I've got a DLink DSS-24+ on the way...I want to put them both in a rack, but the cheapest price on a wall-mount 4U panel is $100. :Q

I'm pretty sure I could fab something for less than that.

Ideas, please?

 

[Buddha Bart]

one of my roomates in college made one of lumber from the local home depot.

you could never really pack things in tight enough just because it would take such large wedges to hold the weight of the equpment. so it'd be very spaced out. which is probably better because if they were in tight I could see a mild fire-hazard.

I'd say just stack 'em on top of each other on a shelf. if they need breathing room, just put like three shims in-between most of 'em

bart

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks for the reply, Bart. I'm fishing for ideas.

I could easily just use bigass screws and washers to screw the mounting ears of the equipment to some 2x4s or something, but I don't want to do that...scratch it all up and stuff.

I'm thinking, though! :beer:

 

[azev]

cheapest price on a wall-mount 4U panel is $100.

Can you tell me where did you find that price ???

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: azev

cheapest price on a wall-mount 4U panel is $100.

Can you tell me where did you find that price ???

Sorry, I made a mistake; I didn't mean "wall mount rack" I meant "rack" rack...the DLInk switch is a little more than 8-inches deep; all the wall mounts I've seen are only 6-inches deep.

My mistake...sorry.

Here's where I'm ordering from, though. Provantage.com

I've got the 48-port bracket in my cart right now.

I'm thinking along these lines: drops come out of the ceiling, patch panel is on wall. From there I can run jumpers to wherever else in the closet....

 

[spidey07]

for your application I would probably wall mount the gear and not go with a rack. You can encase the whole thing in a small 8" deep cabinet to make it look pretty.

A visit to your local data communications shop will give you TONS of ideas.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: spidey07
for your application I would probably wall mount the gear and not go with a rack. You can encase the whole thing in a small 8" deep cabinet to make it look pretty.

A visit to your local data communications shop will give you TONS of ideas.

Yeah, after consulting with my financial planner (my conscience) and my financial institution (my wallet...empty) I decided that as pretty as the professional racks are (ahem...$300+) I can't afford them.

So, I bought the wall mount for the patch panel ($40) so I can mount that up on the wall or whever. My switch and router...well, I will figure somethign out, as I'll also have a video distribution amp (for RG-6) and probably a voice panel as well to deal with.

Hey, I'm living large on a budget! :beer:

 

[spidey07]

micheal,

you should be able to get a regular threaded 19" aluminum rack for less than a 100 bucks.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: spidey07
micheal,

you should be able to get a regular threaded 19" aluminum rack for less than a 100 bucks.

Can you PM me a source or something? Thanks!

 

[spidey07]

damn boy!

ever heard of a search engine?

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=35681/mode=newgoto/ut=0cdc914687202de5

 

[Mucman]

Thankfully the man above blessed me with a fine rack adjustment

Before
After

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks Spidey!

Mucman; nice rack; baby!

Dang...I need to change my order now! Their site sucks....too hard to find stuff!

 

[MichaelD]

Well, I emailed Provantage and asked (OK, begged) them to PLEASE change my order. I ordered the 36" version of what Spidey07 linked me to, above.

This one, here.

That's exactly what I need. I already have a shelf that will fit on there...that would be schawwweeet.

Thanks for the linkage, Spidey!

 

[Mucman]

Mucman; nice rack; baby!

*blush* I wish people would like be for my personality and not my massive rack

Your home network project makes me nostalgic to when I did it a few years back Good luck!
It's a lot of work, but you will definitely have a sense of pride when you do it right

 

[MichaelD]

Thanks pal. I work in a building with 2200+ users and am friendly with the network guys...I've seen all the cables, how they are tied together, routed, etc. Also have seen the racks upon racks of switches, routers and firewalls...not to mention the Superdomes! All that jazz.

Trying to duplicate that on a minature scale, if you will.

I just hope they let me change my order. I'll be calling them up first thing in the morning.

 

[ScottMac]

Nuts, late again.

A (possibly) cheaper option might be a rack used by musicians (like a MIDI rack, Pro-audio, production). I picked up a rolling half-rack/cabinet at the local Guitar Center.

Maybe someday I'll replace it with a Rittal .....absolutely the finest racks & cabinets ever made (IMHO).

FWIW

Scott

 

[MichaelD]

I bought a rack!! Really...I'm excited! :beer::beer:

I bought a Belkin "half rack", here.

It's all I'll need. 48-port patch panel and a switch, plus another panel with a video distribution amp mounted on it...neato.

I got it for $123 at Provantage. Money well-spent, IMHO.

I really didn't want to make a wooden box...not that I couldn't, but then how do you mount the component so they are EASILY removable, etc. <--logistical stuff I didn't want to deal with.

 

[amdskip]

Cool, glad you decided to spend the money.

I have a rack but I don't have room for it so I'm letting LyNx01 use it for his setup.
pic
He has a switch mounted in it now and it works great. The best part about that rack is that it was free from work. They were gonna scrap it out so I got pretty lucky getting it.

 

[Soybomb]

I think you made a good call, its not worth the hassle to make one Careful if you use a drill to put in screws, the noobs are work always strip out a few holes the first time they mount something by just shoving a screw to the hole and tearing up the threads heh.

 

[MichaelD]

AMDSKIP, dang, that's a nice rack! That's like a $300 rack there and the fact that you got it Gratis is just sweeeeet!

I actually almost got the full size (84") one, but I don't need one that big, plus, I don't know if it would fit where I'm probably going to put it! I do like those shelves though; I know I'll need at least one, as my router and cable modem are not rack-width units.

SOYBOMB, thanks for the tip; I'm only going to use the bigger thumbscrew-type, case-looking screws and put them in by hand.