Home lab racking
Consolidating a bunch of IT and putting it in a rack harly qualifies as experimentation, but it does require planning and consideration which allows for more effective home lab usage.
The previous state
A Network Attached Storage (NAS) device; under a table
9 Raspberry Pis and the power blocks to power them; on a shelf over the NAS
A prosumer router, 2 other legagy routers and 3 switches; spread in 3 locations of the room
A Network TV tuner antenna, precariously hung from the wall
A desktop being used to run server workloads; taking up leg room under the work desk
The planning
We started with a list of objects that needed to go into the rack.
We translated this into a draw.io diagram of the side and front views to understand the space we'd need.
We looked at what we need now and planned for future state of what's to come (like 2U of power backup, changing out to a managed switch, and integrating 10G equipment).
We ran it past colleagues that provided great feedback like considering using both front and rear columns for mounting.
Learnings from the experience
Rack studs are a great idea, but didn't work out for us as the rack metal width didn't match the rack stud exactly causing equipment to hang improperly.
Cable management is a real thing, and is much harder than it looks. We'll continue to make ours better over time.
There's downtime required to migrate hardware from one location to another, which has an impact on working/entertainment conditions across a family and it requires real planning.
No matter how well you plan something will not work out and it will require adjusting the plan. In our case the rack rails elevated the 4U server case just high enought to require and additional .5U between it and the next entry.
The outcome
The majority of the IT that was scattered around an office was consolidated into a single rack.
Four surge protectors scattered around the room were able to be removed, increasing the fire safety of the space.
The removal of two switches, no longer needed.
The office space is less of tech hanging out of place everywhere and allowed us to transform the room into a more livable space.
Recent lab experimentation (since 2020)
Lab descriptions and details currently not available online, please reach out to discuss.
