Because I want to get more into networking and want to learn how to set up servers, firewalls etc. I want to build a server rack to hold all kinds of equipment. I don't want to buy a rack because they are way too expensive and, being on a college budget, I thought it would be cheaper and more fun to build one myself. It will be 18U in height, 19 inch in length and 24 inch in width. I drew a sketch of the size and how it will look:
I also thrifted some old routers that I could use as switches, and a normal network switch. I will need to make a platform for these. My design for this, and also for how I would connect my equipment to it, was as follows:
I originally wanted to make some kind of bracket for all the corners, but instead I ended up using L-shaped brackets. The design for the bracket was as follows:
The height of 18U is exactly 80cm, but the size of the rack would need to be a bit bigger, because I also need to account for the size of the wooden planks. The planks I will use are 34 x 27 mm. To build a rack according to my sizes you will need 4 planks of 210 mm and 1 plank of 270mm. You will also need L-shaped brackets (24 in total) to attach the planks together, as well as caster wheels to make it able to roll. After cutting the planks these are all the materials:
I cut 4 planks of 80cm + 2 * 35mm = 87cm, 4 planks of exactly 19 inch and 4 planks of 24 inch - 2 * 35mm = 53.96cm. Before mounting everything, I first painted the planks black. Before:
After:
After painting, I realised the L-brackets I had bought would not fit with the rails I got, so I had to drill holes in the rails to make them fit flush. So, I first marked where the holes needed to be:
Then I drilled the holes:
After that, I attatched the rails to the 87cm planks with the brackets:
And did that 3 more times:
After that, I attached the 19 inch planks to the bottom and top of that:
And attached them together to create a frame:
And made two of those:
Then it was time to add the L brackets to the corners of one side of each frame, two for each corner:
And I attached the two frames together with the 24 inch planks:
After doing that for both sides, I now had a box that represents the final frame of the rack:
I also cut two wooden boards and painted them black, one 19 inch + 7 cm by 24 inch for the bottom, and one 19 by 24 inch to use as a shelf:
And left them to dry
After they dried, I screwed the bottom board to the bottom of the frame, by placing 3 screws along the sides of the frame. (Don't put them on the corners! This is where the casters will go later!). I first marked where the holes would be:
And then drilled the holes and put the screws in:
Finally, I put the casters on, with the turning ones in the front:
And that's it! Server rack done!
