[jeffcora]

Hi there. Hopefully I'm posting in the most appropriate forum for advise on installing a small 19" data rack.

I floodwired my house with CAT5 years ago and terminated the connections in a 19" 6U wall mounted rack. I'm now looking to redo the wiring and terminating it in a better quality rack hidden away. I have a small void that I've recently accessed through a wall which I want to house the rack. The rack is only used for data equipment i.e. I'm not planning on housing av equipment in it.

I'm torn between just creating a neat cupboard out of the void and mounting a standard 6u (maybe 9u) rack inside as that's the biggest I can get in. Or effectively creating the cupboard around the rack so when you open the cupboard door that's all you see with no space around it. I've looked at Home Cinema Installation Specialists | Wired Life but really just want to use a more standard type of rack.

Has anyone got any good sources (pictures) of examples of similar types of installs to give me idea's on which way to go. Only want to spend £150 tops on the actual rack. I'm more interested in the neatest way to install a standard rack such as Wall Data Cabinets 6U - Screwfix.com, Where the Trade Buys or possibly a rack which is more designed to be installed flush into a wall (which I'd house inside the cupboard).

Thanks.

[hornydragon]

Jeff your going to struggle for any Rack for £150 let alone a nice flush mounted one unless your mouning 19" Hardware, switches, Amps, matrix switches etc then 19" is a pain. Thats why the smaller domestic racks were created. See some pics here node 0 termination

[dj-dulux]

If you must have 19" mountings then you could look at making something, rack strip avalable here.

Dupe...

[jeffcora]

Hi, thanks for the reply. My existing stuff (switch, patch panels, shelves etc) are all 19" so I'd prefer to stick to rather than using propriety stuff. 19" data racks are pretty cheap, a 6U of solid metal build can easily be found for under £150 - even the screwfix one, or more like £70 if you want to take a gamble with the quality of 1 off ebay.

Take your point about a flush mounting one although I assumed that the construction was more of a frame without sides so maybe would be around the same sort of price. But I'm stuggling to find examples (and sources of the actual equipment to give a better idea on the price).

[skydivemacca]

Just look for studio builders, they all sell racks pretty cheaply. Certainly cheaper than some of the 'AV' ones i've seen.

There's actually quite a few good ones on ebay at the moment for very good prices.

[KW1816]

Some examples here Automated Home - NodeZero Gallery

Horses for courses really - for CI, racks specifically designed for Home intergration are great and easy to disguise if needed. For DIY it's far cheaper and easier to source standard 19" racks. For my own setup, I've built a 19" rack front into a custom built cupboard/false wall. The patch panels sit in the top section with the Network switch and router etc. Under that is the coax RF feed to each room and the speaker connections for the multiroom ceiling speakers. The frame is simply an MDF square with rack strips bolted to the side.

In the bottom half lives a 22U equipment rack that houses 3 servers, a UPS, a Russound CAV 6.6 Multiroom audio unit, Autopatch HD component video/audio matrices (for sale in the classifieds ) and 2 Sky boxes. One if for dedicated radio feed to the Russound, the other is the Multiroom box.

Might this be better off in the DIY section ?

[skydivemacca]

Is it wrong / geeky to have just dribbled on my keyboard after looking at that?

[jeffcora]

Guys, thanks for the responses, pictures and advice. Looking around I've found some more examples here Show me your RACK - AVS Forum too.

I think for me a DIY rack build is best, I like the idea of the studio rack route and I'm now thinking that a couple of prebuilt MDF 6u boxes with rails would be the best route - mounted side by side flush inside the cupboard, probably all painted black. All completed with blanking plates I think it could look pretty neat.

I'd be interested in any more advice or pictures similar to what I'm proposing, but I think I'm sorted for the moment. Cheers.

[dunks517]

This is one of the many iterations of my rack - note this is now 44u but we are in the process of decorating...

From experience you really should have rear access and plenty of power sockets.

Duncs

[jeffcora]

Duncs,

Thanks for your reply and link to your own build. I've taken a look through - very nice. Looks like you've gone for mounting your own rails. Did you do this for your 44u build too rather than using a prebuilt frame.

I'm thinking of something in the middle, like studioracks.co.uk MDF racks. Basically mounting them into the void I have. As the void is straight into a roof area I'm a bit wary of leaving it all totally open in case the unlikely happens and the roof leaks straight onto live stuff. So basically this will vent straight into a narrow loft area/crawl space which vents to the outside under the eaves. Not sure if this is a good or bad idea. Thinking maybe bad as when it's very cold/windy, I'm thinking the draft will come through into the room? Might need to rethink this and box out part of the loft space first.

BTW, this thread probably is better in a DIY section, could it be moved if possible?

[dunks517]

Originally Posted by jeffcora

Duncs,

Thanks for your reply and link to your own build. I've taken a look through - very nice. Looks like you've gone for mounting your own rails. Did you do this for your 44u build too rather than using a prebuilt frame.

I'm thinking of something in the middle, like studioracks.co.uk MDF racks. Basically mounting them into the void I have. As the void is straight into a roof area I'm a bit wary of leaving it all totally open in case the unlikely happens and the roof leaks straight onto live stuff. So basically this will vent straight into a narrow loft area/crawl space which vents to the outside under the eaves. Not sure if this is a good or bad idea. Thinking maybe bad as when it's very cold/windy, I'm thinking the draft will come through into the room? Might need to rethink this and box out part of the loft space first.

BTW, this thread probably is better in a DIY section, could it be moved if possible?

Hi Jeff, I 'acquired' an old 22 U cabinet and took the frame out of the cabinet and placed that into the frame that the builders provided. I needed more space and better access to the void below so I opened up the bottom half and bought 2 44U rack strips from here and here. Most of the shelves were bought from DJ/Studio suppliers on Ebay and the net, there are quite a few online suppliers of blanking plates, shelves, rack strips, cage nuts and screws.

My rack has the main aerial cable run going into the eaves and onto the loft space, the draught and cold air actually has a cooling effect on the rack!

Regards

Duncs

[LV426]

Originally Posted by jeffcora

BTW, this thread probably is better in a DIY section, could it be moved if possible?

Moving as requested. >>>

[GlynG60]

Have a look at this thread for some lateral thinking to achieving the same kind of look on a budget.

[CraigH]

Originally Posted by dunks517

From experience you really should have rear access and plenty of power sockets.

Regarding rear access to a rack, I'm trying to find a suitable rack to hold AV equipment in a dedicated AV cupboard but it doesn't have the possibility of rear access. I was thinking along the lines of having a trolley type rack that would be able to be wheeled out from the cupboard (as long as all the cables connected at the rear allow so!) when any changes were required.

Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions on what I could use to do this?

Craig

[jeffcora]

Hi guys, just wanted to come back and say thanks for all advise. Finally got round too getting it done, and this is what I ended up with. It's more for data rather than AV, but I've got Sonos, CCTV and loftbox in there too. A few finishing off bits to do like replacing the blanking plates with hinged plates for easy access to the cabling and routers, magnetic catch for the door etc. If time permits I'm tempted to duplicate the rack with an identical one right next to it to put more AV kit - can't go up as the white just above the rack is where the roof starts to come down.



With all the extra bits it probably came in at around £150 in the end, but the "rack" itself is pretty much 2 x 15U rack strips costing £12 each.

Thanks again, Rob

[Lemon_Sherbert]

Thats a very neat job, looks great!

£150 sounds like a bargin for results like that, plus the hard graft no doubt!

[homethx]

jeffcora who was the supplier for the door and can you get a longer doors ?

btw very nice rack

[Andyjc]

looks fantastic! great work.