Rackmounting normal ATX machines?

[MadAd]

I have pcs that I use on a daily basis 24/7 and just added a 4th and its getting a bit awkward having them all in separate ATX towers as im a bit stuck for space.

Im familiar with 1U 2U kinda enclosures but they are WAY expensive and are more for systems with hotswappable multiple drives, fitted with KVM, need special PSUs etc etc and all that is totally out of my budget.

My boxes are medium power units with 1 fixed drive 1 optical each and there has to be 1 keyboard/mouse per unit (no kvm). The only thing i can think of is moving them out of towers over to desktop style cases and building my own cabinet out of wood or something.

That would still be bulky, just vertically instead of horizontally and really id like to get rid of all the cases completely so I can cool the cavity as one.


Do i have an alternative? Anyone done anything like that using cheap or easily available racking?

 

[Zepper]

You could put three or four standard mid towers on a shelf and make cutouts in any backpanel for exhaust and cabling. Not too difficult. And you can find 4U rack cases for reasonable prices these days ($70. or less) and those usually can take standard ATX PSUs.
It's the racks themselves that can be very expensive if you buy new, so go to your large local, state and federal govt. used and surplus sales to buy that kind of stuff a lot cheaper. A little time spent with spray paint and they can look pretty good.

.bh.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Go to a hardware store and pick up a nice Wire shelf system and put your PCs on there. It will be cheaper overall. Otehrwise you will have to by a server rack and U4 cases to put all the systems in and install them into the rack. You can get the a nice wire shelf for about $50.

here is one of my shelf to give you an idea of what i'm talking about.
http://forum.xcpus.com/gallery/d/3161-2/Desk2.jpg

The black case you see there is a U4 server case that i used to build a PSU load tester. The U4 cases do take a regular ATX PSU and have the same amount of space as most mid towers. The link in my sig will show you that load tester build and the case i used. Should give you a good idea of what the U4's are like if you choose to go that rout.

 

[MadAd]

yeah 4Us take an ATX but its the size of desktop cases and still are separate units needing individual cooling and costing way more.

Im kinda wanting all the systems open inside one big case, like individual shelves so i can cool the lot in one and am hoping someones done something like this (or has better ideas) so I can get some idea of what the challenges are.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Afraid you'll have to build your own system from scratch. Here is an idea for you.

http://www.themodnation-forums...wtopic.php?f=28&t=3184

Several of these cases could be a possibility for you as well. Once again cost can be a problem.

http://www.frozencpu.com/searc...xMaGW8&searchspec=hspc

 

[MadAd]

okay- thats a great help, ty, thats already got me thinking - shame the station isnt modular and more compact. Looks like the only solution is to make one out of something, pita.

 

[MichaelD]

I agree that a wire rack is your best choice (being that you don't want to spend the coin on a real rack and 4U cases). Here's what my old "rack" looked like. This pic is about 5 years old, at least. PIC. As you can see, I have done the wire shelf thing too. That was part of my old F@H farm; it eventually grew to 6 PCs. Cooling/Electricity is too darn expensive these days so I don't fold anymore.

I've since moved to an 18U rack and all 4U cases for my two PCs. I bought my rack from Starcase.com; I got the 18U x 30" deep version. They ship knocked down and are quite sturdy when assembled. I bought the side panels and top panel as well. Here's a link. Their site stinks, but the info is there. LINK.