Ikea Eket DIY 10" Rack (UK) [build showcase]

[stirkage]

Description

The intention was to use this for the typical learning and playing about with Virtualisation, Containers etc. Main project in mind at the moment is to develop a self hosted container based game server management panel for hosting small servers with friends, in person LANs etc. The rack is fairly portable and should be nice and simple to move around. Goal was to have a single power cable and single network as the only connecting cables.

Reddit post with more info: Reddit

Rack contains

• Ikea Eket: Link
• Eket glass door: Link
• Eket feet: Link
• 6U rack rails: Link
• 10" 10 port patch lanel: Link
• 10 x Cat6 keystone couplers: Link
• 2 x TP Link Managed switch: Link
• 3 x USB Gigabit NIC: Link
• USB-C DC Barrel adapters: Link
• 10" 6 way IEC PDU: Link
• 3 x 1u 10" shelves: Link
• Custom laser cut 3mm plywood faceplates

Compute

3 x Lenovo m710q with each containing:

• i5-7500
• 32GB memory
• 1 x 480 SSD (Sata) (Boot)
• 1 x 512GB NVME (VMs and containers)
• Running Proxmox v8 in a cluster

More Photos

Rear view

Showing the USB-C to DC barrel jack connectors for powering the switches

Showing the USB-C power bank providing power to the 2 network switches and the temeperature / humidty sensors

[geerlingguy]

Nice and creative, it's even fully enclosed!

[amrutprabhu]

This is a really nice clean looking non-bank breaking DIY rack. 👍

[taggart]

HAHA I love it! It's like the 10" version of the LACK RACK. I also like the use of the thinkcentre minis in it.

[durich]

does there exist a Lenovo Big Square Male to USB-C?

[stirkage]

does there exist a Lenovo Big Square Male to USB-C?

Not that I am aware of, quick Google search didn't find anything. There was some discussion about powering the Lenovos through USB-C in my Reddit post linked above for more reading.

[stirkage]

HAHA I love it! It's like the 10" version of the LACK RACK. I also like the use of the thinkcentre minis in it.

I loved the idea of one of the LACK Racks but never quite had the space / location for one. Then I found this post from Leafeon_TheGrassType showing a 10" rack in the Eket and had to copy.

The Lenovos are great performance for the price and power consumption and only getting cheaper as more businesses are selling them off as they refresh their devices. A lot of people using them in their builds over at r/minilab, r/homelab with a lot of customisation possibilities.

[nafanz]

I didn't see any information about what powers this installation. Please add a link.

[stirkage]

I didn't see any information about what powers this installation. Please add a link.

The rack is powered through a 10" 6 way IEC PDU. This provides power to the USB-C power bank for the switches and environment monitoring. The Lenovos are powered using their included power bricks which are hidden away at the bottom of the rack behind the PDU.

[martinwoodward]

Fantastic build!! What a great idea

[kkarhan]

TBH, if I wasn't forced to use COTS parts at my current employer for a lot of reasons outside of my control I'd consider putting stuff into such a nifty box instead of a 22U rack...

[mspearey]

does there exist a Lenovo Big Square Male to USB-C?

To power the minis? There are a couple on AliExpress, I haven't tested one yet so can't confirm if they work.

[E-Olsen]

Guessing if I get a pair then I can rack up a Dell R710 on the bottom U. 😃