justin146

Since my wife and I use the same desk, I decided to come up with something that would keep our computers tidy. My first thought was to buy a pair of matching Lanbox style cases (since both of our systems are uATX). I decided against this because of the lack of room inside them. I then discovered some Norco rack mount cases that are only 15 3/4" deep. I just happen to have a 19" rack that was about to be scrapped; so I figured I'd give modding it a try. For my case, I decided to go with a 4U case because it allows for a full ATX motherboard. Since she already has a low profile 9600gt (even though she doesnt play games), I went with a 2u case for her. The 2u case allows a uATX motherboard and full size power supply.

EDIT: Here are the most recent pictures of the progress:








Here is the 19" rack's former life- holding a T1 DSX panel and Tcoder shelf...



I got the rack home and cleaned it up a little. The base was a little rough from being waxed when the old floor was. I tried to clean it up to match the rest, but ultimately decided to paint it. Here it sits in the planning stage....



I started measuring to see how tall it would be. I settled for a 10u rack. 6u for computers and 4u for my 360 radiator. This was my way of measuring....



then the cutting began...




The way the rack base is designed, it would try to tip backwards because of the balance point. I didnt want to bolt it to my desk, so I came up with the idea to cut some brackets and put another section of rack towards the front. The brackets are just 1U size peices of rack and I drilled out the threads on them. This way I could bolt them to the rack. Here are the brackets; and under it are the sides mocked up. I also took some 320 grit paper and wetsanded these pieces (except for the brackets) along the grain to smooth them out a little. Sanding removed some of the wear markson the uprights and I left the brackets in raw form..





This is a picture of the assembly of the unit. I went with a wrinkle finish on the base to break up the aluminum color a little.




And finally, the rack finished. I used a white 1u dummy on the top for a brace until I get the cases bolted in...



The computer cases will not be here until Monday, so more will come then! I am planning on adding some lighting and windows to them, but who knows..

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[Project] NICE RACK: a rack mount mod

justin146

I just realized I put this in the wrong section- Mods, please move this to the worklog section

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[Project] NICE RACK: a rack mount mod

MomijiTMO

That is cool.

fedex1993

very cool

justin146

Here are the cases I bought. The Norco RPC-230 and the RPC-430.

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[Project] NICE RACK: a rack mount mod

Papa.Smurf

Wow that's gonna look great, Great idea!

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procpuarie

this is nice! great idea. you have T1? do you have multiple T1's or just 1. 1.54Mbps is kind slow now but the ping and the reliability must be great.

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justin146

That rack pictured has multiple T1's on it That picture is inside a decomissioned cell site of mine.

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[Project] NICE RACK: a rack mount mod

wastedtime

The Norco cases look cool , Looking forward to more updates

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Complete - Gemini -Lian-Li PC-Q7 Mini-ITX

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Completed: Storm

Completed : Azure - A Rack Server Mod

Rick Arter

Nice looking rack! rep+

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