Rack for CCNA Lab

I know the Skeletek Racks are popular but they seem to be sold out, so I was looking at this 40U from blackbox, 19" Steel Distribution Rack, 40U, 74" H, Black - RM391A-R2 - Shop now - Black Box

do you think that is a good sturdy rack? I will place my computers at the botton and rack mount all my cisco gear.

Could a rack like that also support rack mountable servers?

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wbosher

I have got the ultimate budget rack. I've got 3 routers and a switch stacked up with some of my daughters wooden blocks separating them, to provide air circulation.

ehnde

LackRack - Eth0Wiki

earweed

I'm personally building my own but then again I have a cutting torch, welder and some angle iron. It'll be sturdy, heavy, durable, but not pretty.

ZeroHunter

mark076h wrote: »

I know the Skeletek Racks are popular but they seem to be sold out, so I was looking at this 40U from blackbox, 19" Steel Distribution Rack, 40U, 74" H, Black - RM391A-R2 - Shop now - Black Box

do you think that is a good sturdy rack? I will place my computers at the botton and rack mount all my cisco gear.

Could a rack like that also support rack mountable servers?

40U

WOW how much stuff are you going to install?

Kaminsky

mark076h wrote: »

Could a rack like that also support rack mountable servers?

Server racks are different to network racks due to the widths and depths involved. Depth mainly. A normal flat server will sit on rails so they slide in and out and these don't fit a network rack as the rails themselves are mounted to both the front and back vertical supports. With network racks, the device is screwed into the front or the back vertical support and not usually both.... hence depth being an issue even they both may be 19" wide.

You can get a shelf for the server to sit on and the shelf itself is rack mounted front and back but the server is loose on that shelf and could be dangerous so be carfull when moving it. I have seen an engineer nearly lose his toes when a server he was working on slid off the shelf in front of him as he thought it was rail mounted.

Jollycork

Mine is a Gruber relay rack 42U cost about $168.00 plus tax and ship.

I use shelves for the servers: 2 towers side by side on the bottom and then 2 4Us above them sitting on a shelf. Still have room for patch panels, 8 port KVM, 2 power strips and a mix of 11 routers and switches. [3ea 2950s, 3640, 2511, 2ea 1760s 2514, 3ea 2620xms{frame relay}]

ebay has em listed.....

ehnde

Kaminsky wrote: »

Server racks are different to network racks due to the widths and depths involved. Depth mainly. A normal flat server will sit on rails so they slide in and out and these don't fit a network rack as the rails themselves are mounted to both the front and back vertical supports. With network racks, the device is screwed into the front or the back vertical support and not usually both.... hence depth being an issue even they both may be 19" wide.

This comment has me concerned, because I'm looking at buying a 4U server chassis from newegg. I've got some cisco gear and this server I'm building I'd like to have all mounted in a rack. It should all fit together, right?

Here is the prospective chassis if anyone is curious: Newegg.com - Athena Power RM-4U4034S48 Black 4U Rackmount Server Case 480W 3 External 5.25" Drive Bays

ZeroHunter

ehnde wrote: »

Here is the prospective chassis if anyone is curious: Newegg.com - Athena Power RM-4U4034S48 Black 4U Rackmount Server Case 480W 3 External 5.25" Drive Bays

I personally am a Rack-Mount Junkie, I have been buying my cases from:

http://www.plinkusa.net

They have an excellent selection and ship quickly, also they accept paypal.

Jollycork

2U chassis need those slimline power supplies.... which happen to be more expensive compared to standard ATX power supplies, so I opt for 4U.

a 42U rack is 7' tall and you can stick a lot of equipment in it.

ZeroHunter

Jollycork wrote: »

2U chassis need those slimline power supplies.... which happen to be more expensive compared to standard ATX power supplies, so I opt for 4U.

a 42U rack is 7' tall and you can stick a lot of equipment in it.

Plink has both 2u and 3u that use standard ATX power supplies, I have one of each in my rack