For starters, let’s get one thing out of the way. Had I planned carefully the rack could have looked a lot better and fit my hardware better. I found this project, got excited about it, and just started printing parts, then, tried to put them together. Then I just did some iterating, until I finally ended up with something functional and a lot uglier than it could have been.
Part of the issue is, I would print some pieces, then get distracted with other projects. Try to put them together, realize I was missing a piece or what I had planned wouldn’t fit right, or something else along those lines. Run into just enough friction I’d get distracted, then come back to it, print more parts. Eventually I got there and I think most of the parts I printed made it into the final construction.
The parts come from a project called Home Racker. It’s a pretty thoughtful project and my work here may not count as an exemplar of what you can make with this project. If I knew what I was doing, I could probably buy and/or build a nice rack in the space for my data center, but I don’t know very much about computer racks. On the few occasions where I have bought computer racks, rack mountable gear, or rack accessories I feel overwhelmed by the options and choices I have to make. I like this project because it feels like the stakes are low. And I don’t need to start with a plan before I begin working with the physical pieces and putting them together.
Overall I am happy with the result. I’m using my limited space better and things feel more organized. I was also due for a bit of dust cleanup. I also have one spot left in the rack for some sort of 19in rack mounted piece of gear. No plans for that at the moment, but it’s nice to have a little bit of flexibility.
Here you can see my old data center setup. You can see I’ve already been using my 3D printer to make some shelves to tuck some stuff in between the joists.
I printed these parts over way too long of a span and just used whatever color filament was easy or what I wanted to get rid of.
If I was going to start “fresh” I think I’d go with the mini rack (10in) standard. In fact the Home Racker project I looked at first was a mini rack print/build. I think I could easily fit 2 of those in the space I have, but I’ve already got one piece of 19in equipment so I went this route.