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LackRack

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Re: LackRack

#31

Post by owenversteeg »

Most people here are completely missing the point. It's a $4.99 coffee table, available at every Ikea worldwide. You're telling me you shouldn't put your "high-value hardware" inside a four dollar and ninety nine cent coffee table? Wow, I'm super surprised!

It is helpful for a lot of people though. I know a handful of people myself who have no rack whatsoever, just putting the unit on the floor or on a desk. For them, this is a massive upgrade that costs less than a sandwich, looks nice, and boosts airflow.

Is it marginally more dangerous than spending a ridiculous amount of money on a rack? Sure. Did Ikea specifically design these as server racks? Obviously not. It's a hack. We're on Hacker News.

Re: LackRack

#32

Post by 0xcde4c3db »

Anyone know of some reports on how well the hollow-legged models actually work? The page has a tiny section about this and suggests using some type of anchor (it says "cavity plug", but the example link redirects to the vendor's homepage and searches suggest "cavity plug" to be a hydraulic component, so I suspect a translation issue), but I'd be worried that it would tear out with so little surface area to spread the load over.

Re: LackRack

#33

Post by problems »

ullarah wrote: post #15
cromo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I built my own rack for my apartment homelab as well. It's just unfinished pine, but it's a horizontal rack instead of the typical vertical rack to make better use of my limited space. Here's the album on imgur: https://imgur.com/a/D0lXM

Hopefully this isn't a silly question, but do you have a concern about the exhaust/heat hitting the floor instead of having enough room for it to escape?

Servers usually have pretty good fans, as long as you're not doing anything extremely intense you're probably fine with just air cooling at room temp like any desktop PC, we've run them on shelves in a non-ventilated lab for years without issue.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression that the main reason DCs need special ventilation is due to sheer number of servers producing a lot more heat combined.

Re: LackRack

#34

Post by patrickg_zill »

problems wrote: post #33
ullarah wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully this isn't a silly question, but do you have a concern about the exhaust/heat hitting the floor instead of having enough room for it to escape?

Servers usually have pretty good fans, as long as you're not doing anything extremely intense you're probably fine with just air cooling at room temp like any desktop PC, we've run them on shelves in a non-ventilated lab for years without issue. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression that the main reason DCs need special ventilation is due to sheer number of servers producing a lot more heat combin…

Yes, there is a lot of heat that must be removed quickly.

As well, savings can be had by running separate hot/cold aisles - cold air goes into the front of the racks, and the hot air is of course found on the other side of the racks, so that hot air is the focus of the chiller.

Re: LackRack

#35

Post by aidenn0 »

0xcde4c3db wrote: post #32

Anyone know of some reports on how well the hollow-legged models actually work? The page has a tiny section about this and suggests using some type of anchor (it says "cavity plug", but the example link redirects to the vendor's homepage and searches suggest "cavity plug" to be a hydraulic component, so I suspect a translation issue), but I'd be worried that it would tear out with so little surface area to spread the…

It's probably talking about a molly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNFv65-QTPI

Re: LackRack

#36

Post by mnutt »

elliottkember wrote: post #8
protomyth wrote: post #7

This reminds me of another wood rack. When we first setup the college's server room, we really couldn't afford proper server racks. The carpentry program decided they weren't really that tough to build. They took all the measurements and specs for size and where the holes had to be and went off and said they would get the job done. So, I showed up to install the new servers and gazed upon beautiful oak server racks.…

I'd love to see photos of oak server racks if you have any!

I built one back in college: https://63towuxu569fy07zrhhj.mnutt.sandcats.io/2006-07-23%20... , https://63towuxu569fy07zrhhj.mnutt.sandcats.io/IMG_3628.jpg

I didn't do a whole lot of planning for airflow, but it seemed to work ok. The back was more open than the front. I built out a metal frame that was inserted into the box, but afterwards realized that I probably could have just bolted the rack mount rails to the wood and called it a day.

Unfortunately, it was kind of big and unwieldy for keeping in an NYC apartment. I wouldn't be surprised if it's still sitting in the Brooklyn apartment where I abandoned it during a move.

Re: LackRack

#40

Post by ullarah »

cromo wrote: post #29
DKnoll wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the same thing. I would also be really concerned about people shaking it when steadying themselves remove or putting on shoes. Beatiful workmanship though, I wish I could fabricate things like that.

I'm not really concerned about the exhaust heat. There's a decent amount of clearance, and the fans are gonna be way stronger than convective currents. Since it's also at the bottom of the stairs, it also sits in what is usually the coolest part of my apartment. If I need more support while handling shoes, I just sit on the stairs or lean against the wall or hold on to the railing. In other words, there are an abunda…

Thanks for the info! I guess you don't live in a very humid/hot area like Australia then!

OpenSCAD seems to be a great tool, are there any reference guides or tutorials you recommend to use it?

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