I Built a Home Server Rack! (And How You Can Too)
2024 ж. 19 Мам.
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#Homelab #Tech #ThioJoe
Here's a list of all the stuff in the rack: kit.co/ThioJoe/server-networking-rack
Thanks, Do you have a video on the setup of Untangle as the firewall?
Love your videos
In your video you mentioned that the rack shelves do not connect to the back support bars. So, if I am understanding, each rack component is only supported by the 4 screws in the front? There is no middle bar that the components can rest on? Seems like that puts a lot of pressure on the front rack component panel? Is this how all racks operate?
Post links for background music too!
I Deleted my comment. I goofed!
I love grown up legos.
You want the UPS on the bottom. Batteries are heavy! If you put the PDU in the back the power cables are hidden. Each item you "rack" adds rigidity to the cage.
i thought the pdu in the front was a troll !
thought the same.... It is completely stupid to do it as shown.
@larsaskogstad "Power distribution Unit". He says it in the video.
@larsaskogstad PDU is a Power Distribution Unit. In other words, a glorified power strip. They use them in racks of servers. The advanced ones can be controlled remotely to manage power on each outlet.
Also you want to allow 2U space for the UPS since most 1 U UPSs only have 6 or 7 outlets. the 2 U have 8 or more outlets.
Always put the bottom screws in FIRST! If the rack equipment happens to fall you will save yourself equipment damage and having to find new rack tabs.
Hey, I work as an IT so I'm very familiar with that you did here... First of all nice job!! next thing, it's too late to ask but would be interesting to see what would you choose to do for a much smaller space (for example I live in a pretty small and old apartment) Couple of suggestions: - You can mount the PDU at the back, that way all electrical cables are in the back anyway, it will actually be easier to reach and won't waste important space on front. - Move the UPS plan to the bottom!! they are heavy, VERY heavy so it's easier and more stable to mount them at the bottom. - if you have some spare money, think of getting a shelf on rails that you can open, it's more comfortable to manage later if needed.
Appreciate the feedback. Others have suggested similar things so I'd definitely put the UPS on the bottom, and I might move the PDU to the back, as I hadn't even thought of that before
@@ThioJoe Will be cool to see a follow up video in the future, especially if you add something new
Out of the rack builds I’ve seen on KZhead so far, I appreciate you showing your plan first before diving into bolting all things on without us seeing the thought process.
I think you need to get Linus to drop it. then it will be complete.
I think someone mentioned it in another video on another channel, they mentioned how they thought that he was becoming the go to I.T. tech of KZhead.
lol
@@morganrussman it was the ijustine video
@@NOSTIC yeah, I think your right.
Shoots fired!
At this point, ThioJoe channel exists only because Joseph needs a legit way to deduct his taxes
Yeah, I'm glad that he quit doing all that Prank-Crap. A channel can only last so long with that type of content.
Nothing to say but the UPS and power supply: it always goes to the bottom! They can explode, catch fire, and weigh a lot. Bottom! 😊
y2ksw1 okay but if they explode or catch fire (most of them wont, lot of them use normal lead batteries) and if they do anyway, it would burn everything from the bottom to the top 😂😂
Lego Mini Movie Productions Hydrogen catches fire and may explode. Fire lasts usually a fraction of a second, an explosion even less, but the main reason they go at the bottom is, they weigh a lot, and on top they squeeze the rack 😄
I would worry about fire and “explosions” far less than the electromagnetic hurricane that occurs in the immediate vicinity of the APC unit which he mounted against the ONE THING a pro would do all he can to avoid such a condition... the network switch... FIRE goes UP... So that’s nothing more than an excuse for pansies who can’t handle a little extra weight (@y2ksw1)
@@flojotube9323 yeah, 240 kg of battery backup is just a little weight. lets put that above shoulder height. Good idea.
@@Asbjoern I’m sorry, but I didn’t see any midgets in the video... WHOS shoulder would that go over?? And the cabinets are STEEL... so I guess another pansy is here complaining about the WEIGHT when it’s a NON ISSUE to average humans who have ever lifted a finger for any form of physical exertion.
You mentioned adding a UPS to the rack later on. I worked in data centers for around 13 years, because of the weight of UPS's we normally placed them near the bottom of the rack. This helped keep the center of gravity lower at a lower point. less chance of the rack tipping over. But then in data centers normally have raised floors and power is feed from under the floor.
Yea that's a suggestion several have made, if I get a UPS it would definitely go on the bottom.
Nice job and from experience I'd like to suggest no zip ties as the zip tie edges can cut/penetrate cable insulation. Recommend using the velcro banding systems of which are many options from one cable to 50 and more and look for the velcro bands made for cables. Enjoy your videos ! Thank you. They snug and are secure and will not disturb cable integrity.
Little additional tip, You have plenty of room on the rack, I recommend giving a little breathing room to devices that are close together like the Netgear and Unifi. I'm an IT field tech who's constantly is replacing equipment for businesses who's IT think it's better looking to cram everything together leaving a wide open area in the bottom of the rack and wonder why equipment keeps dying when they have 2 DVR's a 48 port POE switch and rack mounted APU in the top 4 U of the rack in a closet with no ventilation. In your case it's probably not an issue but if it gives one of those devices an extra 3 months of life out of the 10 years or more it may work by dropping the Unifi down 1 U, may or may not be worth it. To Mike, I love seeing Velcro's used in racks as replacing, adding, and upgrading is future proofed for ease. Tech's are lazy and redoing zip ties is a lot of work so they won't which starts a slow decay over time converting a server rack and all it's synchronized glory of blinking lights and low volt pulses captured by impossibly delicate receivers interpreted by precise clocks into a spaghettis monster.
Great video 👌 I am getting into home servers and improving my home network from the standard setup. Thank you for creating an easy to follow and informative video!
A few things to note. 1. Not all rack equipment is rated to be in non-enterprise space as shielding of EM fields varies. I am not saying you can't do this; I am saying to just be aware of the specs, UL warnings, etc. 2. Be sure to think about cooling and ventilation. A simple, but sometimes missed issue is just ensuring you don't have the fan output of one piece of equipment blowing on another. 3. Be sure your circuit can handle the equipment load. In a home/apartment that means knowing what else is on that circuit keeping in mind some outlets/fixtures could be in other rooms.
Thanks for the video! Trying to properly install all this new network equipment for max airflow, etc. (18u rack) - UDM Pro - UniFi 24 port POE Pro - Linksys WiFi router - Netgear CM1100 cable modem - rackmount PSU (1u) - rackmount cable/brush management (1u) (That’s the core of it, omitting any external switches and other devices. Will be hardwiring CAT6 soon and adding a patch panel.)
Congrats on your turn around ThioJoe, you have come a long way since being a troll. I appreciate your videos these days! Proud of you as a fellow who has also turned around their life.
Damn this, first i was a console player then around 2006 I switched to PC and got hooked on upgrading the hell out of them finding more and more ways to gain speed and power then the lag in gaming then i got interested in solving that problem! Then I started buying expensive routers to solve the slow modem issues to now my interest shifts to building a solid back end for my network from wireless access points to building a untangle firewall with rules and managed and unmnaged switches. My god where does it end, I keep falling deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole and its addicting as all hell, but I love it! 😈
Awesome! I've been searching for this kind of video and there's not that many out there. I didn't even have to search for this one!
A couple ideas as you work with your rack. Come up with a color code scheme. We used one color for phone and another for data on my last data center (the guy who set it up was a Dallas Cowboys fan, so those colors were blue & white), later I added another color for all the management cables. Also, I've tended to secure all devices that are screwed in tight with cable ties. Less movement with the cables the better. Good luck and thanks for the informative videos.
That was really interesting actually. I loved your progress bar toward the end! Ha!
I didn't think I would need something like this. But now that I'm adding cameras I think I might need this type of organization.
I usually put PDU’s at the back facing towards the switches, never installed them that way because of wire management issues … but it’s new to me! all power to you brother ✊🏽
On my setup I had a PDU like yours, a single master switch, it didn't work well for me. I found one where each of the 8 outlets had their own power switch, convenient for power cycling.
Very glad you have a serious channel now where I can go to get some assistance and ideas as well as learn something new.
When you get the UPS you should put it on the very bottom because of how heavy they are.
nice setup! I think PDU should be in the back of the rack. once you get the UPC, do mount it in the bottom as they tend to be very heavy. been thinking of gettting a small NUC, but I just setup a Pi to do DNS, and I have a Synology doing my files, so not really sure what I could do with a server.
if you ever start getting servers in that rack you can double up and put the patch panel through the back side as well as the switch then put a shelf in the front on the same U's to condense space. its a bad practice to have power near network cables but for the small network you have probably never see any degradation i love my rack have 3 4u systems a few nucs and a 8 port kvm with pullout keyboard and monitor
Inspired by marie kondo method. Nice job TJ it looks like done by a professional very organized. No more cluttered wiring and cables. 👍🏻 😁
Nice job, Avoid cable ties if possible. For my home rack I bought a roll of velcro tape, about 8mm wide from memory. Just cut to length and wrap it round itself. Least that way if you need to reach inside the rack you won't slice yourself. Also if you need to add something, you don't waste the cable tie, just peel the velcro back, add the cable and close it up again.
I know this is 6 months old. However: 1. UPS on the bottom. 2. Switch directly below patch panel. In this case patch panel between the two switches. Then you can use the REALLY short cables. No „cable management“ needed in this case. And it looks neat. 3. PSU at the BACK (as many have said).
Brilliant video with nice explanation of the basics. First video I've seen that explains the planning process well.
Whenever I get the chance, I always rack switches between patch panels and use 6-inch patch cables to patch into the one directly above.
When you get the PSU you should put it at the bottom, batteries are pretty heavy. I would buy another patch panel and fill it up with keystones. Sandwich the unifi switch between the patch panels and buy short patch cables. It will look way more professional, beside these items are pretty affordable comparing to the 500W poe switch from Ubiquiti. Try buy those items in white or any color close to the switch. The PDU.... if it doesn't have general switch on off on it you should put it in the back of the rack, that way you have more space. And lastly if this setup is not permanent, you should consider putting some wheels under the rack for easy access and transport.
I also just don't recommend bothering with a server rack if you're not an owner of a rack mounted server. I always find it odd when I come across server racks that have no actual servers in it.
That server rack building music was pretty groovy, man. I'm going to do something like this in a few weeks when I move into my new house. :)
Use velcro strips to hold power cables. Zip ties get cut the first time you need to then never tied again. Velcro you can reuse.
Thinking about the 4 ports per room. I was thinking about doing the same thing. I bought 1000FT of CAT8 and ran two cables to my office. Then I got sticker shock on the CAT Keystone cost, hahaha (technically, I knew that were expensive beforehand). After some thinking, I decided I wouldn't go overboard with running a ton of cables around my home. Having at least one (1) can be enough to save you from relying on wireless. If you have at least one (1), then you can put a small 4 port switch on it, and you are still in a much better position than using wireless. Kind of like how big office buildings are done, but scaling it down to a house. Could run a single CAT8 cable (or fiber back haul) to each room, then use a small PoE switch to give the extra ports.
This is a project I have in mind when when I am able to afford my own house.
also with all the other tips, do the botton screw in first with units that you attache to the rack directly. then it wont hang down and makes it a little easier.
I indeed did enjoy watching this video. Thanks Thio!
Really don't have a clue what this is but it's a tribute to your video that I watched it till the end.
You need to think again the UPS position for the future. Usually, UPS's are very heavy and the recommended position is at the bottom of the rack. This way you will balance the weight on the rack and It will not tip over.
Pro tip: look for 19" audio equipment racks. Many of them look like actual home furniture with wood tabletops etc. and are usually not so easy to tip over.
All (or at least most) equipment have power plug at the back, I would have installed the PDU at the back side of the rack., less cable to the front this way.
Put the switch directly under the patch panel and use very short patch cables to patch in sockets, it's much neater. Use the cable management for devices in the bottom of the rack.
I think he just likes buying stuff or he got a lot of it free. Most of what he had could not be justified for the number of connections he has.
I've always wanted to do this. Great video!
E
Put the UPS at the bottom - it's very heavy so lowers the centre of gravity and reduces forces on all the rails below it.
I just got a dell poweredge server i,m so ready to build my homelab
For the other switch go to your local it provider. They often have the necessary parts to mount it
nice rack joe, one comment NEVER use wire ties on network cables only use VELCRO. Another thing I do is label everything and add labels on equipment with date and version of software and firmware it will save you a lot.
You should see my flowcharts and diagrams. I obsessed over this network setup stuff for like 8 months trying to figure out how to control a fleet of headless servers. This is awesome though especially if you write out a nice GUI and have a few great sources for storage( redundant ).
4:13 I'm always careful about "future proofing" with equipment. I go back and forth on if it's worth it. I kind of figure it like this. $400 for something "future proof" vs $200 for something future sustainable. It happens a lot that in a few years, you could get something even better for another $200 that would trump that of the previous $400 unit. Like 1G vs 10G vs 25G vs 40G. I recently asked myself the same question related to "future proofing" by running fiber or buying a more expensive switch capable of accepting fiber. It's a hard decision because of how fast (and even slow sometimes) that standards can change (or get strong adoption). In actuality, we never know what the future will truly hold for us. I usually find that as long as something is still meeting my needs, I won't upgrade it. It's like the WRT54G situation a lot of people had. I held onto that for as long as I could, until it just couldn't compete with the latest needs (and most likely crowding of the bands by strong/more resilient devices). It's kind of like the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. It comes in strong when you are a few years down the road and you have other more important priorities/interests. So future proofing can be good. I found that future proofing my home desktop has been a good thing for me. And when I say future proofing it, I don't mean building a $5k machine (I don't really game anymore). More like building one that will still be on par with the standard desktop in 5-7 years and that you definitely start feeling the need to build a new one after 7-10 years. (note this doesn't apply to anyone who needs to play the latest and greatest games or video editing software). Can have tremendous time-cost savings when you can continue to use something for 10+ years, even if it's not the latest tech.
I like the setup, building a similar setup, using a close floor standing rack and Fiber Store 48 port switch, I am using Untangle as a router and firewall
Yea I enjoy my untangle so far
@@ThioJoe will you make a video of your network layout.
@@ThioJoe Is the Untangle in transparent mode?
Rack screws are always to short 😂. Nice build ! Untangle setup and app videos next please!
Untangle !! WOOT !!! Damn ! Nice to see !! I swear by Untangle and use it in alot of places !
3:42 @ThioJoe, keep in mind that Rack mountable UPS's are VERY heavy and should be at the bottom of the rack to avoid making them top-heavy.
@ThioJoe comes a bit late from the moment this was posted, beside been heavy in the industry the UPS are mounted bottom to avoid damaging the equipment in case the battery will leak
I label both ends of the Eithernet cord. Great job
that switch is overkill mate
To gain your closet space back, you should mount it on the wall inside the closet above the shelves. Then it will be up and out of the way and you get more of your closet space back.
You nailed it! Thank you!
Congratulations, one of the most uncredible tech KZheadrs
I would put the rack mountet powerstrip on the rear of the rack so that it isn't visible from the front and all power ports of rack mount stuff is on the back of it anyway so it is more manageable. I think
Can you show your paths of how you wired it up and configured it? Like from the modem, to patch panel to switch? Like most home users go from modem to switch and done. Did you create subnets, etc?
TheoJoe has some cool stuff and is very knowledgeable, Linus could learn a lot from TheoJoe. The recipe for failure is still trying to please everyone. Keep up the good work Joe.
Ok. What could linus learn from him? Linus has a big ass rack with 4 servers on it and shit ton of switches. And most of the software and networking plans are probably done by Anthony.
Extra ports are also good for redundancy when ports die.
Redundant cables in switches can cause loops if you don't have STP set up properly. Should be the default on cisco switches.
That looks professional.
Having ocd has really helped me in cable management cx and in IT overall man .. lol
Oh man. You should see the network cabinets we have in our schools. Some of them are absolutely horrendous. I cleaned and organized about 15-20 network cabinets in the span of several weeks about 2 years ago across 2 sites. They're not in the condition I would like them to be in, but I just don't have the time to dedicated to just cleaning cabinets. Maybe if I have some down time this summer I can work on a few more, but it doesn't look too promising.
Put the heavy stuff at the bottom. Like the UPS, allow 2RU for it.
Very nice thanks for the support of.
Honestly thio, what you mentioned about that the rack takes up a bit of space, what would you rather, a neat looking rack, or a mess? Also, I see you used APC product for power distribution. I understand that APC is ONE OF the best brands one can use. I actually have a APC UPS unit myself. It's a bit small if you want to call it that, it's small, but great. My ups has served me pretty good a few times over the last few months that I've had it.
14:10 no, no, no... velcro strips is the way to go 😉 buy a roll, cut the lenght you want, easier to add/delete a cable in the future... never cutting zip ties again...
how you doing joe I really like your videos very much.
Pdu I always fit at the back of the racks. It makes cable management easy and frees up front rack space. The ups, that is a. Balance thing. Everyone goes on about that I see, but when you have real hardware on sliding racks, a rack can tip over, and that's why you have the feet on the bottom to save you, should you have maintainable racking. I'm not a fan of cable management on the fronts, they take up near no space on the rear and saves routing them around inside and most hardware has them at the back... Like the power connections. In the rack side bars, there is a gap for cables and holes for cable ties... If you're still in the front cable management you will need to buy cable caddies or arms if you have a sliding rack mount server, if it's mounted on the back, not so much as they tend to lead on a drop. Not a bad try, but it's a nightmare to put things into a rack for the first time, and I often have taken things in and out a few times to arrange them again... Not fun when you have a 50kg 5u server... You can buy ears, (the mounts) and you can get various types that fit devices,. It there not cheap... For a length of metal that's been bent and has 6 or 8 holes.. Oh you've entered the world of servers and racks... Lol it's a rabbit hole.... Media server is next, then storage array, and then back up... Then 10-40gbs networking... Then..... And the list goes on....
Ive done this and it’s really fun ..
You need those cable management "arms/pinchers" so that the Ethernet cable can run up the sides.
I was expecting an IKEA Lack table when I saw "build" a home server rack in the title ;)
i almost started that way but no ikea near me but amazon delivers in two days so i went with a 25 u
most serves have rails like draw slides that support it on the front and back wile having easy access idk about shelf's tho I think there just free floating
Dude... you might want to invest in a rackmountable UPS for when the power goes out, you will have time to shut your equipment down properly, in order to avoid possible damage to your equipment. Just saying.... Keep up the good work.
Hey Joe, I would like to see how you set up your Intel Nuc (Yes it can be called nuck) with your smart home stuff. I think that would make a cool video
Something about that progress bar is seriously comforting. What software did you use to create it?
Good looking and all managed
Awsome set up 👍
I had to do that on a larger scale when I worked for a state-run vaccine lab where the anthrax vaccine was made, back in 1997
Hi. BRO. just amazing video! You remind me how I build a few months ago my own server rack. Not so professional like your but almost near it. Great job..
Thio Joe you said that you'r Synology NAS drive it might vibrating the rack I saw isolators that might work for that like the ones used under speakers hope that helps and as far as the mounting brackets why not just make a set . can you put a plate on top to make it like a table and help protect every thing in the rack ? I think that wood be a good idea if you could
Its an eye opener man !
Hey Joe, question about the cloud key rack mount. Do you have to plug in from the front or can you also plug in the back with the cloud key port? Hearing people say front only others say you can pick one no straight answer.
Why no put the switch under the patch panel? you can use short ethernet cables for better cable management.
Great video! Thank you!
you could put power distribution on the other side (back side of the rack).
Yeah thats what I did so all my power cables are at the back and can be routed separately from data cables.
@@PWingert1966 we also do it so @ my job place...
Mount a Wood Top on it and you can then place a monitor, keyboard and mouse then all you need is a KVM nd you are good to go for future expansion.
From Bangladesh 🇧🇩🇧🇩
good start.
Watched a few of your videos now, got some really good content, Nice work! Use boots not zip ties
I have 4 WD NAS drives in raid 0 and I haven't had any problems.
Video is very cleanly
6:35 Why not mount it at the rear of the rack? It looks like that's how it was intended. It's just natural, since the power cords come out the back of each device. Put it in the middle of the rack at the rear with the receptacles facing in, or the very bottom.
That is not how you do it. The proper way is calling Linus and he does it for you! :D
its a basic build. everyone can do it.
@@junsnow4002 but they both could've get a lot views from the collab ;)
yeah yeah got hdd's from sponsors and put them into already built storage server and call it a day
😂
Actually thats a great plan for collab. ^_^
Something like this would be cool for my little air gaped network... but I kinda like having it wall mounted.
Finally a homelab tour, took you long enough lmao
UPS in the bottom cause of the weigth (rule of thumb, and the PDU should have gone in the back at the top with the connectors facing the front of the cabinet. that's how i would do it anyway :)
I’m surprised you didn’t go for the much cleaner look of Thin Cat 6 Patch leads. They’ve been available for the last few years.