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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)

#151

Post by stacktrust »

There has been a construction industry effort to standardize "structured wiring" panels for low-voltage (alarms, A/V, ethernet, wifi) wiring connections in homes, but it has not quite kept up with the rapid expansion of devices for home networking, including mixtures of consumer and repurposed enterprise equipment.

Tripp Lite has an elegant vertical, low-profile, 3U wall-mounted enclosure that fits over existing structured wiring panels, which can accommodate both rack-mountable gear and odd-sized items like modems and access points. Price is ~$500, comparable to 12U wall-mountable racks that ship fully assembled.

SRWF6UMOD specs, https://www.tripplite.com/smartrack-3u-low-profile-vertical-...

video review (2020) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XcYbr0L4WY

It might be possible to build a low-cost DIY clone, with 1/4" pegboard for the odd-sized items and a StarTech vertical frame for the rack gear. Hammond perforated metal panels (1/8" holes for self-tapping screws) could also be repurposed, https://www.hammfg.com/electrical/products/accessories/appp

For comparison, there are structured wiring product lines from Leviton, https://www.leviton.com/en/products/residential/networking/s... and Legrand, https://www.legrand.us/solutions/structured-wiring, but they don't typically support a mixture of home and rack kit.

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

#152

Post by iso1631 »

brewdad wrote: post #106
silicon2401 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, even cheap IKEA stuff is pretty solid and well worth the cost as long as you treat it with care. Some stuff is garbage even if you're careful but I've never personally seen something from IKEA that isn't great if handled gently.

In my experience, you get one move from IKEA furniture. By the time you've relocated it twice, whether across the room or across the country, it will become unstable and likely to fail. If you are exceptionally careful and always have help moving anything of size, you may do better.

My oldest Ikea unit is from 2007, it's moved 5 times since then, as solid now as the day I bought it, although that one is small enough to not have to dismantle.

I've got an ikea bed dismantled, moved, rebuilt 3 times no problem, and a bookcase with the same dismantle/rebuild process 4 times. My office desk is also on 4 moves over 10 years.

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

#153

Post by slg »

inopinatus wrote: post #143
slg wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

>what I “didn’t really need” was an entire image processing and sharing platform run for someone else’s benefit.

Do you think AWS is run as a public service? If you aren't hosting it on your own hardware, someone else is benefiting.

>That image sharing platform is itself only accessible via the use of a grossly overweight multiple-API client called a “web browser”.

The web browser that you are using to post this comment?

It takes two clicks of the mouse to upload something to Imgur. Maybe you have built an S3 workflow that is nearly as seamless, but it would be tough to beat Imgur for simplicity.

I got no problem if anyone prefers to upload images like this. People have their own preferences and I can't argue with "I prefer to stay in the terminal". However "I like this better" is a different statement than "this is better" and the comment I replied to was closer to the latter.

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

#154

Post by 83 »

CommieBobDole wrote: post #43

As someone who bought a used 42U cabinet and somehow got it into my basement where it will remain forever unless someone cuts it into pieces to remove it, I can see the appeal of this.

What most people should be using at home is a "knock down" or "open frame" rack. The posts can be separated from the top and bottom for transport. I use a couple of these in my basement, fairly sturdy and I can move them when I need to: https://avproducts.mccannsystems.com/avcat/ctl11226/index.cf...

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

#155

Post by detaro »

brewdad wrote: post #106
silicon2401 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, even cheap IKEA stuff is pretty solid and well worth the cost as long as you treat it with care. Some stuff is garbage even if you're careful but I've never personally seen something from IKEA that isn't great if handled gently.

In my experience, you get one move from IKEA furniture. By the time you've relocated it twice, whether across the room or across the country, it will become unstable and likely to fail. If you are exceptionally careful and always have help moving anything of size, you may do better.

you can't really generalize that IMHO, they make both things that are easily damaged and stuff that can easily survive many moves.

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

#156

Post by gertrunde »

trombone5000 wrote: post #149
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.

Who or what is GGP?

Grand grand parent I suspect.

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

#157

Post by AdamJacobMuller »

CommieBobDole wrote: post #43

As someone who bought a used 42U cabinet and somehow got it into my basement where it will remain forever unless someone cuts it into pieces to remove it, I can see the appeal of this.

I had to use a 4-post rack and a chop saw and take ~4 inches off the top of the rack and then I had to assemble it in the basement vertically since it's so close to the ceiling, it's too tall to tilt! Figured that out the hard way.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0cdcI0nzE1jyUF8mGNwdrnCTQ

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

#158

Post by ComputerGuru »

I prefer the minimalism of a "vertical rack" which, for some reason, I tend to never see. If you don't have more than 6U or so of equipment, it's really the way to go because of its minimal profile and amazing load-bearing ability: it is load-bearing parallel to the direction of gravitational pull (vs regular rack cabinets where the load is perpendicular to the posts), and then that weight is all redirected towards the wall, so even the heaviest servers or whatnot that would normally sag unless it comes with rear-mountable rails for 4-post racks (which, for some reason, very few do) work amazingly well. I've bought a few of this StarTech one [0] over the years, but I've also seen people weld together a couple of metal struts to accomplish the same.

[0]: https://amzn.to/3QTmVee

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

#159

Post by inopinatus »

slg wrote: post #153
inopinatus wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

>what I “didn’t really need” was an entire image processing and sharing platform run for someone else’s benefit. Do you think AWS is run as a public service? If you aren't hosting it on your own hardware, someone else is benefiting. >That image sharing platform is itself only accessible via the use of a grossly overweight multiple-API client called a “web browser”. The web browser that you are using to post this comm…

hard to imagine someone stooping to this level of antagonistic misrepresentation because they disagreed with someone else’s preference for image hosting, but there it is.

“two clicks of a mouse” - that’s a negative, not a positive, attribute. I’d rather not use a mouse, when possible. And yes, my S3 “workflow” is a very short shell script.

are you actually interested in which user agent I use to access HN, or was that just a snide assumption? I mean, sure, sometimes it is, but it’s ableist arrogance to assume everyone’s using a fat graphical client. Folks really don’t always use a web browser, or touch a mouse, to interact with websites.

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

#160

Post by jjeaff »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #158

I prefer the minimalism of a "vertical rack" which, for some reason, I tend to never see. If you don't have more than 6U or so of equipment, it's really the way to go because of its minimal profile and amazing load-bearing ability: it is load-bearing parallel to the direction of gravitational pull (vs regular rack cabinets where the load is perpendicular to the posts), and then that weight is all redirected towards t…

I didn't know this was an official thing. Seems like it would work great in a lot of cases. But one of the main reasons I like racks is the ability to pull a server out on tracks and open it up to do maintenance, add hard drives, etc. I suppose you still could do that on this vertical setup, but only with one server with the top facing away from the wall.
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