The New Data Center Rack From ... IKEA? | Hacker News Reader

The New Data Center Rack From ... IKEA?

datacenterknowledge.com

40 points1SockChuck35 comments

The article says: An implementation of the LACKRack, which adapts an IKEA side table for use as a stylish home data center.

Looking at those pictures, I disagree. They are not stylish at all. It looks like someone bolted a bunch of old gear from ebay onto a cheap table in their messy apartment.

The words "stylish" and "home data center" NEVER belong together!

Indeed. I have a geek friend that runs his popular blog from a server in his closet. He lives in a very high-end luxury apartment... but when you walk in, all you notice is how loud that damn server is. (I guess some people are not bothered by noise. Lucky them.)

Anyway, if you need a loud server, you can afford a virtual server or a colo. Otherwise, just get a nice quiet HTPC or something, and put it under the couch. Nobody will ever know...

Exactly. The closest I get is a Mac Mini that lives in a closet, running as a file/media server. Completely quiet, out of the way, etc.

This isn't really my department, but aren't all those devices supposed to have a little breathing room around them? Not stacked one right on top of the other?

edit Thanks! Ya learn something new every day.

Airflow for rack designed hardware is front to back, having space between devices in a cabinet actually cause problems as the hot air will recirculate and end up going back in the front.

No. Data center hardware is intended to pull cool air in from the front and push warmed air out the back. Data centers are arranged with rows of racks side-by-side, creating cold and warm rows in front and behind. Often the HVAC system is integrated with this layout, preventing warm and cool air from mingling, which leads to greater efficiency in cooling.

I'm really skeptical that the demonstrated setup will provide adequate cooling. As a simple example, why not just run your hardware in a big pile on the ground? Answer: your exhaust is too close to the air intake, creating a positive feedback loop. I tried this, and a small pile of 3 2u servers got smoking hot overnight.

After I built an enclosure to ensure the air intake was separate from the exhaust, they now run great. The shelves are 3u, so there is space between the servers (and I don't like this fact), but the system stays cool because airflow is good enough.

Also, with the kind of airflow you expect from rack mount hardware, the Ikea setup is going to cake the insides of those systems with dust. The air intakes are going to be visibly accumulating within a week. In my solution, I added a simple air screen, and it reduced dust DRAMATICALLY.

Regarding this article, I predict disaster, based on my experience with the at-home rack mount hardware...

Nice. The article doesn't mention it, but those tables are $8 in the US.

And flimsy as hell. I don't even trust setting a full beer on those tables, but for $8, they're cheaper than a set of beer coasters.

I put a 50" plasma tv on one for a few days before I could get around to getting a better stand. Now it serves as a cheap coffee table and has been loaded to capacity with beer bottles several times. I think they're surprisingly robust for an $8 piece of new furniture.

Following ICT tradition, the Enterprise Edition is more than three times as expensive, while providing less stability than two of the regular products combined.

I like this. I built my own racks for my desk (mainly music, but computing too) and it was a good bit of work. Its nice to see something else so cheap work so well. Most companies that make furniture for 'rack gear' jack up the price just because it is for 'professional' use.

I used to use one of these for the same purpose. Being fully enclosed makes it a bit sturdier and the casters are a nice touch:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90120545

Now I'm using a studio rack from nice-racks.com, which I would highly recommend to anyone looking to put a proper rack in their home.

http://www.nice-racks.com/16_space-Nice_Racks_16_space_studi...

Reminds me of the classic http://helmer.sfe.se/ Linux render cluster in an Ikea cabinet.

Oops. My secret's out. I also go to the local hardware store and get a piece of aluminum "angle iron" so I can strengthen the legs of the Lack and give me something to screw into besides the flimsy particle board.

At my last job I went to the local university salvage yard and had a choice of half dozen fully enclosed racks with locking doors. I think we spent $30 and with a bit of elbow grease it looked like new.

I'm always amazed at what people throw away in the 1st world...

At my last startup we also used Ikea to supply server racks.

LACKer News

And what does it look like with ethernet cable and power cords attached?

Not bad, if you buy a few of their "Kablen" cable management clips. Should be in a big bin next to the furniture.

How much weight can those handle? I don't want to throw my $100k NetApp in there and have the bottom fall off.

You overpaid for a $100k (!) drive box and want to keep it in your apartment on a $20 table? Methinks some requirements analysis got skipped.

I got this, http://www.starcase.com/detail.aspx?ID=964. Works well.

$357.95/43U vs $7.99/8U. Definitely a real rack is better but I'm unconvinced it's 8x better for the uses presented.

Ugh, tables made entirely of particleboard and plastic. (See the materials list on the IKEA website.)

One of the many reasons to loathe IKEA.

(Their designs are pleasant enough, but their implemenations are horrible.)

Their implementations are cost-effective and incredibly cheap, would be a more fair statement.

The reason I hate particle board is that it fails in a non-graceful and completely unrepairable manner.

I went to lecture one time and the speaker needed to move the podium which consisted of 3 sides, a top and 2 internal shelves all made of particle board. He must have stressed the structure in just the wrong way because the entire thing fell apart like a house of cards. Funniest thing I've seen in a long while.

Sure, if you like coffee tables made of cardboard inside thin plastic, with particleboard legs.

Their stuff is just crap.

It looks good, it's lightweight and dirt cheap, and actually appears to serve the purpose of furniture, but it ultimately fails miserably.

My wife and I still sleep on an Ikea bed (best mattress we've ever had) and bed frame that we've had for 5 years. Still looks and functions great...

It was supposed to be a stop-gap as we anticipated moving a bunch of times and didn't want to ruin expensive furniture. Now that we've settled it still works great.

We also have a mattress from Ikea - 140 cm x 200 cm. It did cost around 300 Pounds. So it was not cheap, but worth it.

My bookshelf doesn't need to be built of solid titanium

So you are going for the titanium veneer?

Ikea also sells massive wood furniture. It's just more expensive. E.g. we have a nice massive birch table from Ikea.

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