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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)

#191

Post by tasuki »

serf wrote: post #185
madduci wrote: post #138

Watch out: newer Lack Tables from Ikea are less sturdy than their older predecessors. IKEA has made them even lighter than before, particularly the legs are almost cave inside, so beware that server racks might be too heavy for it

wow -- how can that even be? I have a five or six year old lack I just disassembled due to wobbly joints. The entire thing was made of cardboard + a few small particle-wood reinforced areas near the joints, and a hard thick veneer. the veneer shell is doing 85% of the workload already. I can hardly fathom how a weaker version would even work as a table.

Would you say that it... lacks?

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

#192

Post by kn0where »

serf wrote: post #185
madduci wrote: post #138

Watch out: newer Lack Tables from Ikea are less sturdy than their older predecessors. IKEA has made them even lighter than before, particularly the legs are almost cave inside, so beware that server racks might be too heavy for it

wow -- how can that even be? I have a five or six year old lack I just disassembled due to wobbly joints. The entire thing was made of cardboard + a few small particle-wood reinforced areas near the joints, and a hard thick veneer. the veneer shell is doing 85% of the workload already. I can hardly fathom how a weaker version would even work as a table.

I think the “newer” LACK is the one you disassembled. Time flies, they cost-reduced it quite a number of years ago.

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

#193

Post by silicon2401 »

BeefWellington wrote: post #177
silicon2401 wrote: post #23

can somebody with more server/home server experience explain to me the benefit of going with a rackmount setup vs let's say, just building a second PC to use as a home server? I recently bought a house and am excited to get into home networking/home server work, but don't know anything about rack mount. Is rackmount equipment cheaper than regular consumer PC hardware?

Separately from what others are saying about used equipment being very inexpensive, which is all very true, I have a different take on why I do it. I'm a gamer and upgrade my primary gaming machine on a much tighter cycle than a lot of other people, which means I have a fair bit of hand-me-down hardware around to pass along. Sometimes, instead of just selling/trading/giving my old stuff away, I'll stick the consumer-…

> Nowadays a lot of consumer-grade CPUs have as many or more cores than older second hand server equipment, and often can run lower power (not always true). Plus putting it into 4U boxes means I can more larger fans so it's quieter than traditional aircraft-engine servers.

So you use consumer CPUs in rackmount hardware? Are you able to use any consumer PC components in a rackmount rig? I'd love to build a home server and I can see the benefit to better ventilation/noise result with rackmount, and I imagine rackmount uses the same hard drives, but are other PC parts equally usable?

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

#194

Post by silicon2401 »

digitallyfree wrote: post #30
silicon2401 wrote: post #23

can somebody with more server/home server experience explain to me the benefit of going with a rackmount setup vs let's say, just building a second PC to use as a home server? I recently bought a house and am excited to get into home networking/home server work, but don't know anything about rack mount. Is rackmount equipment cheaper than regular consumer PC hardware?

Used rackmount equipment can be had for cheap when businesses decommission them. The depreciation curve is much sharper than typical consumer gear when it goes out of support. New rackmount gear is very expensive. Many people who have home servers (me included) buy used enterprise gear for this reason.

How would you suggest going about buying used enterprise gear? I was thrilled to get a decommissioned optiplex and old monitor from an old job, but that's just because I happened to be in the office the day the stuff was lying around. Otherwise I have no idea how to get that kind of stuff

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

#195

Post by silicon2401 »

kennend3 wrote: post #126
silicon2401 wrote: post #23

can somebody with more server/home server experience explain to me the benefit of going with a rackmount setup vs let's say, just building a second PC to use as a home server? I recently bought a house and am excited to get into home networking/home server work, but don't know anything about rack mount. Is rackmount equipment cheaper than regular consumer PC hardware?

There has been a number of solid responses but my two cents. It isnt about the "form factor" - but the cost. Businesses buy rackmount servers because it is space-efficient. Eventually they sell these off very cheap and unlike your desktop grade equipment business servers are built to last. while that 5 year old business server may be out of date for them, they still have plenty of life left and can be had for dirt ch…

Very cool points. do you have any advice for how one can get retired enterprise equipment?

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

#197

Post by slg »

dang wrote: post #190
slg wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Please don't take HN threads further into flamewar. It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for. Please especially avoid tit-for-tat spats, which are especially boring and tedious. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

I'm not trying to be a jerk and challenge your authority, just trying to get better because I legitimately don't know where I crossed the line. Can you be more specific about what I did wrong here? Because comparing the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to image hosting seems perfectly on theme for HN.

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

#198

Post by muttled »

jacquesm wrote: post #170
whalesalad wrote: post #24

I have been really happy with the HEJNE shelf as a rack. Here are some 2U's here at home: https://s3.whalesalad.com/lab/rack.jpg The shelf: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/hejne-shelf-unit-softwood-s7903... I keep seeing full height Dell racks for sale on FB marketplace in the $200 range but haven't encountered the right manic episode to actually go for it.

It's not the rack that's the problem, it's the fans. Most industrial gear requires a ton of airflow and the noise is something like having a model jet engine sitting in your closet. This from someone who actually did go for it and later recanted.

I always think it'd be cool to have a server rack in my apartment until I powered up a server in my apartment and it far eclipsed the noise produced by the air conditioning from anywhere in the living space.

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

#199

Post by bombcar »

Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #168
bombcar wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every American kitchen has measuring cups, few have scales. And people learn that method and continue to use it (most people don't even know about zeroing a scale after you add each ingredient). It may also be that US measuring cups are "more convenient" sizes than the equivalent metric ones would be. For flour, they often specify "sifted" which removes some of the variability.

> Every American kitchen has measuring cups, few have scales. There's no reason Americans can't buy scales. I got mine for $15 at Costco 10+ years ago. You can still get them from Amazon or Walmart for less than that. > It may also be that US measuring cups are "more convenient" sizes than the equivalent metric ones would be. When measuring out flour, I don't use a measuring cup at all. I put a bowl on my scale, hit…

The problem is recipe book authors want to sell to all Americans (especially that group that always buys recipe books but never actually uses them) and so they aim at the widest possible market.

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

#200

Post by muttled »

lgbr wrote: post #150
gregmac wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

To add to the HDMI-over-CAT5 instead of long-run HDMI, I wanted to offer an anecdote: we tried doing HDMI with extenders at a previous MSP shop. We had random de-syncs. We were probably far past the 50ft spec for how long to run an HDMI cable and the extenders were unpowered (basically female-to-female boxes). HDMI-over-CAT5, however, handled the distance flawlessly without powered boosters in the middle.
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