Rack mount advice for home lab

sendalot

My lab of Cisco/Juniper devices is getting larger and I am thinking of getting a rack mount.

Anyone have good experience with any product that is sturdy and cheap?

I have devices that I'm not sure about being wide enough to fit the rack, not unless that's a problem.

Also, I have some metal piece I got when I got a Cisco switch, but not sure how to use it mount it.

Thanks.

cyberguypr

Board favorite: http://www.skeletek.com/index2.html

sendalot

cyberguypr wrote: »

Board favorite: http://www.skeletek.com/index2.html

The link is broken!

Also, for devices that didn't come with mount brackets, do I just use a general enclosure shelf/cabinet?

Thanks.

cyberguypr

Double check. The link is definitely good.

You can definitely use a shelf or get cheap brackets off eBay.

JeanM

Dantrak Net  - New and Used Networking Equipment and Peripherals. Skeletek Racks and Accessories.

cyberguypr

Just to avoid confusion, Skeletek and Dantrak are the same thing. I stopped by their office a few years ago to buy the rack and they threw in a whole bunch of brackets and screws for my 2950s for free.

Admiral Akmir

12u rack for $100 seems like a pretty good deal.

Just a question, lets say I grab some routers and switches... How would I go about mounting them to the rack? It seems like a silly question, but in school they're already in a rack, so I've never had to do it. My understanding is that you have to install brackets to the device you want to mount, and then use screws to fasten it in place. Would the rack come with these mounting brackets, or wings or whatever they're called? Or do you have to order them separately?

TylerBarrett

Ususally the device that you buy comes with the brackets and screws to mount the brackets to the device. The rack normally comes with screws/nuts to attached the device+bracket to the rack.

Network_Engineer

I bought a used 42U rack for my man cave for around $150. Search the classifieds and call up resellers. Go BIG or go home!

cyberguypr

Many times the brackets are vendor specific, although there are some universal slide-type ones out there. If you look at my CyberPower device, that attaches with regular M5 or M6 screws and cage-nuts. The Skeletek come with a few cage-nuts, but you may need more.

Cage nuts:


Illustrated version of Cisco-specific:

Cisco bracket:


Will end up looking like this

ande0255

Yes if you search Ebay for rack ears or rack mounts for specific devices you'll find a ton, and they just screw right onto the sides of the router, I think both ends have screw holes on the sides so you can mount it either way.

theodoxa

I bought both of my racks --

1) My Old Place -- 42U x 2 Post with Several Shelves ($80)
2) My Current Place -- 36U x 4 Post ($70)

...via Craigslist.

sendalot

So I ordered myself a bunch of mount brackets for Juniper/Cisco devices that I own.

And I noticed that some brackets only hold 2 parts of the devices. Are all these parts sturdy enough? I feel like switch might break in half if it is only held using front left/right points.

Thanks.

mistabrumley89

Maybe I just haven't been in enough server rooms, but I've only seen switches and routers mounted with 2 brackets. And my team managed over 1000 switches/routers. So I'm sure 2 brackets is 100% sturdy enough.

theodoxa

sendalot wrote: »

So I ordered myself a bunch of mount brackets for Juniper/Cisco devices that I own.

And I noticed that some brackets only hold 2 parts of the devices. Are all these parts sturdy enough? I feel like switch might break in half if it is only held using front left/right points.

Thanks.

For smaller devices (Layer 2 Switches, 1800 series Routers, etc...) they are probably sufficient. But, I really have a hard time trusting a few tiny screws with heavier stuff like Layer 3 switches or even the 1760s [which are connected with ONLY 2 screws on each side and frequently tilts towards the back]. On the two-post rack, I placed a couple of shelves upside down directly beneath stacks of heavier devices to help support the weight. Unfortunately, the shelves from that rack are a bit too wide for the 4-Post. Right now, I'm placing the heaviest devices on the bottom with the lighter stuff (2960, 1811, 1841, Digi CM32, etc...) on top.

JeanM

Ditto. Place the lighter stuff at the top, and heavy ones on the bottom. If the fans are side or rear mounted, then each device is also resting on the device under it and there is less load on the sides.