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LackRack: IKEA's cheapest table is perfectly sized to rackmount computers (2020)

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Re: LackRack: IKEA's cheapest table is perfectly sized to rackmount computers (2020)

#141

Post by ErneX »

sophacles wrote: post #114
michaelhoffman wrote: post #18

Given how many Lack tables I've seen fall apart without any sort of load, I would be very reluctant to try this, no matter how many people report it works for them. It's IKEA's cheapest table for a reason.

Why? Do the legs shatter? That would be the only reason that your concern makes sense - adding 1 or more rigid metal bodies that connect to each leg seems like it would stabilize the structure.

Some years ago the legs used to be fully solid, now most of the legs are empty. So what you can do is get some wood sticks cut to the same size of the inside of the legs.

Re: LackRack: IKEA's cheapest table is perfectly sized to rackmount computers (2020)

#142

Post by tristor »

I used a LackRack for about 8 years, worked great. All you need a is a couple of L-brackets from the home store and 2+ Lack tables.

Ikea Hacks is a site that has a lot of other things like this. A lot of the stuff in my office and home lab is from Ikea being utilized in a way it wasn't intended.

Re: LackRack: IKEA's cheapest table is perfectly sized to rackmount computers (2020)

#143

Post by inopinatus »

slg wrote: post #113
Arubis wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’ve already got a bucket ready to roll for this sort of thing, S3 is cheap, straightforward, with a stable interface and API, ownership over your assets, and a much lower chance your content will end up placed on-page and strongly associated with stuff that isn’t yours.

Free beats cheap. Imgur and its comeptitors are also straightforward. You don't really need an API for a single upload. The ownership and control argument is great in theory, but this is now an image on the internet. Anyone can link to it which will cost you money. Anyone can download it and upload to somewhere else. That means all appearances of control are artificial. I don't see much benefit here.

> You don't really need an API for a single upload.

Au contraire, what I “didn’t really need” was an entire image processing and sharing platform run for someone else’s benefit. That image sharing platform is itself primarily accessed via the use of a grossly overweight multiple-API client called a “web browser”.

No, what I want is a programmatic interface with multiple language bindings and a command line tool, so I don’t even have to leave the terminal. When I share an image, my preferred service for this is a bucket.

Re: LackRack: IKEA's cheapest table is perfectly sized to rackmount computers (2020)

#144

Post by jheuel »

graftak wrote: post #108
LaputanMachine wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On top of that, Imgur automatically deletes EXIF data, which would've prevented GGP from leaking their home address.

This touches a semi-related nerve. When you share a photo on iOS there’s an option to remove exif data—or at least the photo’s location—but there’s no way to always have it removed by default. Really annoying and easy to forget. /rant

I think the default is to remove everything. I like to archive nice photos and because of that always have to ask family members to resend the image with metadata enabled.

Re: LackRack: IKEA's cheapest table is perfectly sized to rackmount computers (2020)

#145

Post by jakeinspace »

ska wrote: post #104
jakeinspace wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can find incredibly cheap (nearly free) used servers for pickup if you’re patient. If you have cheap electricity (or better yet, provided with your lease), a 2013-era dual Xeon server is pretty compelling at $50.

That part about power is key. Some of the commercial gear is thirsty enough you'll notice it right away on your bill.

Thankfully I live in Quebec. My salary may suck compared to the US but at least I get that sweet sweet cheap hydro power.

Re: LackRack: IKEA's cheapest table is perfectly sized to rackmount computers (2020)

#147

Post by nfhshy68 »

tristor wrote: post #142

I used a LackRack for about 8 years, worked great. All you need a is a couple of L-brackets from the home store and 2+ Lack tables. Ikea Hacks is a site that has a lot of other things like this. A lot of the stuff in my office and home lab is from Ikea being utilized in a way it wasn't intended.

For a few extra bucks, IKEA sells a 4 pack of casters that perfectly fit the base of these legs. Only takes a few screws and your rack is on wheels.

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/alex-caster-black-10480607/

https://ikeahackers.net/category/hacks/media-storage/tech-se...

Re: LackRack: IKEA's cheapest table is perfectly sized to rackmount computers (2020)

#148

Post by inopinatus »

The LACK has also been a staple of thrifty musicians for decades. As a student in the early 90s supporting myself playing clubs and bars, I had a quadraverb, mixer, compressor, and foldback amp bolted into a single, reasonably portable unit I could also rest a beer (or myself) on.

Re: LackRack: IKEA's cheapest table is perfectly sized to rackmount computers (2020)

#149

Post by trombone5000 »

LaputanMachine wrote: post #90
londons_explore wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

S3... Harder to use... Gotta pay egress.... It seems worse all round.

On top of that, Imgur automatically deletes EXIF data, which would've prevented GGP from leaking their home address.

Who or what is GGP?

Re: LackRack: IKEA's cheapest table is perfectly sized to rackmount computers (2020)

#150

Post by lgbr »

gregmac wrote: post #139
sircastor wrote: post #19

I naively put an old LaCie 1U server under a Lack table 13 years ago, thinking it would be a great media server in my living room. I had no idea how loud rackmount fans were. It was obviously unusable for watching any kind of media.

For all the effort (and money) put into making a media server as quiet as possible (which is still not silent), I think you're way further ahead to just not put the server in your living room. Instead, put it in the basement/closet/garage/utility room -- somewhere you won't hear it. Then, broadly speaking, you have three options: A commercial box, like NVidia shield, Chromecast, Roku, Amazon Fire stick or AppleTV. Th…

I can't recommend the long HDMI (or HDMI-over-CAT5, or long Thunderbolt) enough. The noise isolation you can achieve by doing so is unbeatable. Even moving anything short of a 1U server into a neighboring closet means no perceptible noise, so you're really buying yourself more flexibility such that you can use almost any computer without thinking about noise constraints.

Even more than that, I'll bet a lot of people who are connecting a media PC to their living room TV also have another PC somewhere in the house. With a long HDMI cable, you can connect an existing PC to the TV, thus saving the entire expense of a new PC. This is particularly interesting for gaming, since a good gaming PC is a lot more expensive than even some of the longest HDMI cables.

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