
LackRack - tete
https://wiki.eth0.nl/index.php/LackRack
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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.

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protomyth
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.

It was quite functional, but did bring up and issue that LackRack owners might
take into consideration: "don't forget to do proper grounding". Fortunately,
the school's electrician knew his business and did his part.

I do admit it looked better and was easier to use than the current dull,
commercially bought one in the building we later moved to. After all these
years, I sometimes miss the old one, but I would have probably gone steampunk
on it and that can be bad.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA)

~~~
cromo
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](https://imgur.com/a/D0lXM)

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ullarah
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?

~~~
problems
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.

~~~
patrickg_zill
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.

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peckrob
I used to work IT for a somewhat large fan convention. For all the servers and
switches we had to roll in for our needs (registration, store, etc), I build a
wooden rack [0] [1] that rolled on casters. We could prep everything before
loading in, and then we got there it was literally roll it in and start
everything up.

Couple years ago I built another one for a friend [2] that we mounted on a
wall in his basement.

[0] [http://www.robpeck.com/2008/01/diy-19-rolling-
rack/](http://www.robpeck.com/2008/01/diy-19-rolling-rack/)

[1]
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/codelemur/albums/7215760380481...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/codelemur/albums/72157603804812692)

[2]
[https://twitter.com/codelemur/status/576766147342655488](https://twitter.com/codelemur/status/576766147342655488)

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remremz
Also works very well as a 3D printer enclosure

[http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1843235](http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1843235)

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gotts
Thanks for the link!

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sebisebi
Used this for my audiointerface. Works great and is super cheap. I wonder if
the fit is pure coincidence or if there is a useful norm behind this.

~~~
rhizome
Probably coincidence. I first learned of this from Frankie Bones probably at
least 5 years ago.

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rhizome
Here it is, "over 12 years ago":
[https://www.discogs.com/group/thread/457859#4448801](https://www.discogs.com/group/thread/457859#4448801)

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thomasdd
My favourite (2010):

\- [http://helmer.sfe.se/](http://helmer.sfe.se/) \- [http://www.helmer-
air.com/](http://www.helmer-air.com/)

~~~
rzzzt
I liked the design of Render Pockets a lot (custom laser-cut shelves for
Helmer, holding Mini-ITX boards and hardware):
[https://www.facebook.com/renderpockets](https://www.facebook.com/renderpockets)

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amelius
Nice, but how do you deal with the noise?

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DKnoll
In your living space? You just tune it out eventually.

Sounds really weird when you turn everything off though...

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DKnoll
That is cool, but personally, I would just buy a rack.

I purchased 3 new 42U (for the unfamiliar, that's roughly 6'6") 4-post racks
locally last week at a cost of $450 CAD each plus another $100 CAD for
delivery (dude with a truck, not a big courier). Fully enclosed, fans on the
top, 1 movable shelf, castors and a (albeit terrible) PDU. I bet I could find
something similar in the realm of $100-250 CAD at a smaller size with similar
features. They're not the greatest but they're definitely better than an Ikea
coffee table.

There are decent cheap racks out there, it's not like you're forced to buy
either a APC NetShelter or a coffee table.

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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.

~~~
aidenn0
It's probably talking about a molly:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNFv65-QTPI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNFv65-QTPI)

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jamesfmilne
Lekker Lack Rack

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johnhenry
I just bought a few of these for my servers, but they don't fit. I suspect
that Ikea may have changed the dimensions of the product since this page first
went up.

~~~
chrisper
I believe there are different sizes of this table.

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myrandomcomment
Okay, is it bad that from the blurry photo I still instantly knew the switch
is a BayStack 350?

19" telco racks are pretty cheap in Silicon Valley.

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monocasa
This is what I use for the weird collection of rack mount stuff I keep at
home. Works well.

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Gravityloss
I wouldn't put any high value hardware in this. Also a fire hazard.

