Lots of guys on here pretty knowledgeable with good connections on here so seemed like a good place to ask, what and where should I be looking for in a server rack?
Looking to centralize all of my home theater and networking gear into one spot, turns out the cupboard under my stairs had a nook that is just perfect. Originally had shelving in it but I tore that all out this aft and tore out the cieling to see what I am working worth and got lucky in that I have lots of space to work and access to 2 joists from in there.
I have a ton of space in there, which is great. Clocks in at 64" deep ( door, the actual closet is actually much taller than this but not square ), little over 24" deep, and about 28" wide. To me this seems almost ideal for a rack, probably able to get something 32-36U in height here ( if i did my math right, i really have no idea what I am talking about ) and a 4 post system seems to make sense?. Thinking something on casters would be nice to be able to pull the whole thing out to reconfigure etc. if that isnt cost prohibitive
But i am finding the market for racks a bit daunting, i cant seem to figure out what drive price on these things and I have also heard to consider used ( have a truck so easy enough for me to go get one from somewhere). You guys on here have any advice on where to look or what brands are the right cost for my essentialyl minimal needs?
Any advise from people?
Interesting in what people think for cooling, i have access to a wall direct on the right side which i could put fans in but I have also thought about getting some airflow from the left side routed under the other side of the stairs into my mudroom which is unheated and usually 3-4 degrees below house temp, more in the winter. Bonus points for less noise pollution into my media area ( open concept ). GOing to be putting all my networking gear in here, maybe a NAS, but more importantly my HT gear with 11 Channel AMP ( planning on wiring all my speakers to here ) and game consoles and cable boxes etc. which means some real heat.
Got a lot of work left to do to do speaker cables and cat 6 runs ( owe my electrician brother some beers for this job ) but I'm trying to bring the house into this century aw a summer project, but generally I'm not in any rush right now.
Interested to hear everyone's thoughts. One consideration is I would like to relocate my Telus FTTH to this spot so if I want to keep it fibre to the rack ( so i can keep it all on a UPS etc. ) i need to figure out what to run for a patch cable from where it is currently ( 30 feet away ).