Rack rails

[Big Jim]

So I bought this case off ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRAND-NEW...d=100033&prg=1011&rk=2&rkt=4&sd=131075394855&

It is cheap but it will *hopefully* do the job, I need to mount it in my rack before I put my NAS inside it though.

What is the cheapest option to securely mount it in the rack ?

Shelves, rails etc ?

2nd hand is pretty much a given here, I would buy a 2nd hand set of HP or Dell rails for £15 or so but not sure they will fit to this case, so would I need a shelf ?

It is a full sized network cab if that helps at all ?

 

[Markverhyden]

Shelves are fine. I see a lot of that in small businesses.

 

[wardoursecure]

Rails or shelves both work and as markverhyden said a lot of small,businesses use them.

You can find 19u shelves fro £10-15 each on ebay

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Wow...rarely see 4U cases for servers anymore. Some old school stuff.

Anyways....shelf is quick and you know it will sit on it. Front may rise up a bit because the front face plate may stick below the belly of the chassis a bit. But you can adjust for that by putting something under its belly.

Or if you can come across the rails for the older APC 1500 or 3000 RU models.....they just allow the chassis to slide on top of them...have like a lip that acts as a shelf down the length of them.

 

[Big Jim]

If I buy a shelf does it need to be a certain depth ?
if the shelf isn't supported front and back then surely it will just be the same as screwing the case directly to the support rails inside the network cab ?

if it is supported front and back it will be a lot more sturdy.
I am not sure what I am looking for when it comes to network equipment unfortunately

 

[Markverhyden]

This is what I am referring to when I say shelf. And it's upside down in the picture. And it will hold a lot of weight.

 

[gikstar]

I would use UPS rails since they adjust and will extend the length of your server rack. That case looks similar to one that we have in our rack.

If you have a UPS in your rack now sitting on rails, you should be able to just set that case on top of the UPS and screw the front wings of the case to the rack.

 

[Paul Rodgers]

It doesn't look like it has rail support.

That is basically the same case that the DVR is in at my ft job. Those cases are pretty sturdy so from experience you should be able to mount it with just screws.

 

[Big Jim]

my worry is that it will bend the rack rails if I just bolt it to those on their own. Case will be pretty heavy once full of kit (currently in a normal ATX tower case awaiting transplant)

 

[Markverhyden]

my worry is that it will bend the rack rails if I just bolt it to those on their own. Case will be pretty heavy once full of kit (currently in a normal ATX tower case awaiting transplant)

Have you tried to estimate the weight fully loaded? This is one of those situations where the engineers have done the statics and dynamics computations (hopefully). I've mounted some very heavy boxes on rails. Including some Dell servers that weighed something like 120 pounds and they will support them fully extended. And some IBM p-Series servers about the same weight. To be honest I'm more worried about the rack stability if they have a two post setup.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

my worry is that it will bend the rack rails if I just bolt it to those on their own. Case will be pretty heavy once full of kit (currently in a normal ATX tower case awaiting transplant)

The APC rails for their rack UPS just have a 1" lip on the bottom of each side ....very strong, designed to hold those 1500 and 2200 suckers which weigh....well, wicked heavy! Multiple times heavier than you can make a server in the same U's. No bolting required...just slide it on 'em. That little ledge will hold it up fine.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...T&cid=262075&lid=4742361&acd=1230980794501410

You may have a height issue with any solution since the server chassis doesn't come with a rail kit, I don't know what it has for a height. But that's something you have to deal with in getting a non standard oddball chassis.

 

[Big Jim]

The APC rails for their rack UPS just have a 1" lip on the bottom of each side ....very strong, designed to hold those 1500 and 2200 suckers which weigh....well, wicked heavy! Multiple times heavier than you can make a server in the same U's. No bolting required...just slide it on 'em. That little ledge will hold it up fine.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...T&cid=262075&lid=4742361&acd=1230980794501410

You may have a height issue with any solution since the server chassis doesn't come with a rail kit, I don't know what it has for a height. But that's something you have to deal with in getting a non standard oddball chassis.

Sorry I meant posts not rails.
I worry that a server mounted to 2 posts will bend the posts once it is fully loaded.

some 4 post rails should work just fine but they ain't cheap are they

The only other solution I have come up with that *might* just work is to buy a shelf and mount that to the rear posts slide the case onto that and then bolt the case front side from it's own rack ears. just have to be careful in future when unbolting it if I did it this way.

for the sake fo £15 though I suppose 4 post rack rails would be a better option

 

[Markverhyden]

The correct way, in theory, to mount on a two post rack is to center the devices. There are special shelves and rails for that.

However almost all of the time I see two post setups I have seen not only had the bottom plate anchored but they have top brace that doubles as a wiring channel. The brace is attached to the top of the rack and the other end is attached to the wall. The equipment is not center mounted in those situations.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Sorry I meant posts not rails.
I worry that a server mounted to 2 posts will bend the posts once it is fully loaded.

Ahh 2 posts...really more of a COM rack than a server setup...but as Mark posted above with those pictures that show it clearly, shelves which as you can see center the weight.