10" Mini Rack network / server setup incoming

dualmeister

dualmeister

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New toys time :)

6U 10" Mini Rack acquired.

Time to update the home network with some PoE support added for future WIFi access point and a camera or two.

3D printed mount for switch ordered.

To add a budget second hand mini PC later. Might even try the Homelab thing lol.

Quick mount test, but will change.20260807_160624.jpg20260807_161753.jpg
 
One of the products my company used to sell was tool-less RJ45 keystones. Quite nifty for something like that where additions are bound to happen.

There is a massive 3D printing community around homelab racks like yours. If I remember the youtube channels/videos, I'll post them.

Enjoy and happy exploring/learning/expirimenting
 
Damn it Amazon why are you tempting me :(

Would prefer WIFI 6 though.

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repitah said:
One of the products my company used to sell was tool-less RJ45 keystones. Quite nifty for something like that where additions are bound to happen.

There is a massive 3D printing community around homelab racks like yours. If I remember the youtube channels/videos, I'll post them.

Enjoy and happy exploring/learning/expirimenting
Click to expand...
Tool-less keystones save time during installations. Also interested to see those 3D printing channels for rack accessories if you find them.
 
Bit more time to play around today.

Switch fits 3D printed panel perfectly.

Only recently discovered Tailscale. Wanted to run it on my old Odroid C1, but seems it has decided to go RIP after all the tears.
Not to worry. Turns out my decade old Orange Pi One is still supported with a Debian 13 based Armbian install. Runs Tailscale
no problem.

Also discovered that the my Orange PI can fit in my old Raspberry PI case (which ironically has never housed a RPi) :laugh:

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Mini PC and mesh access point ordered.

One of the reasons for kicking off this upgrade is that my missus works from home full time now and is having issues with Teams disconnecting due to poor WIFI in the work area. Was going to run a cable, but the cell reception is poor as well.

Was going to go with a PoE TP-Link Access point to partner with me TP-Link PoE switch. However, after doing some more homework I've decided to add an ASUS Mesh compatible access point to pair with my ASUS router to make things as seamless as possible. Also ASUS is offering a cash back discount currently.

With the pricing of hardware these days it was nightmare trying to select a low powered Mini PC to run Proxmox (Tailscale, Home Assistant, Ad Guard, Beszel ect). My eye was on the ASUS NUC with Intel N250 processor. However, once configured with 16GB RAM and just a 256GB SSD the price was just ridiculous (even with second hand Marketplace components).

I ended up going with the older Intel N97 processor which is more than adequate for what I need to do. It does not have all the bells and whistles of the N250 such as 2.5GbE Ethernet, 6W TDP, triple display ect, but it will do every thing that I need and was on sale at Amazon US.

Now the wait ... :rolleyes:

ASUS ExpertWiFi EBA63

Kamrui E1 N97, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD

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Mini PC arrived. Surprisingly it came with an activated copy of Windows 11 pre-installed which was not in the spec sheet.
Backed up the SSD. Maybe I'll use it one day.

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Proxmox installed with Tailscale, AdGuard, Home Assistant, Beszel.
Not everything went smootly, but working well now.
 
dualmeister said:
Mini PC arrived. Surprisingly it came with an activated copy of Windows 11 pre-installed which was not in the spec sheet.
Backed up the SSD. Maybe I'll use it one day.

View attachment 1935221


Proxmox installed with Tailscale, AdGuard, Home Assistant, Beszel.
Not everything went smootly, but working well now.
Click to expand...

You don’t need to backup anything, it’s directly tied to the hardware/BIOS.
 
SauRoNZA said:
You don’t need to backup anything, it’s directly tied to the hardware/BIOS.
Click to expand...
Noted :thumbsup:

PC not even breaking a sweat yet.

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SSD not big enough to host my Jellyfin server yet, but that is in future plans.
However, plenty fast for Navidrome :D

To think, with 16GB RAM and a 256GB SSD it cost less than 16GB of DDR5 is selling for new :X3:
 
What length patch cables are you using? Shortest I could find was 22cm, but that is way to long. Need 10cm and 15cm.

I added the brush panel just to hide the ugly cables, but want some decent short ones, might have to order from USA as I can't find any in SA

Bottom of the rack is a FPSense server standing on a shelf, could not find a rack mount that was designed for that, also 3mm higher than 1U.

Above that is a 120mm fan tray, fan blowing onto the PFSense fanless server

EliteDesk is running ProxMox, will probably get another soon

Another 120mm fan tray

ThinkCenter is my desktop that I use

Also a Intel NUC in there, that is behind the switch

Also still need to get a half U blank plate printed out to cover the gap on top

Still want to add a wireless LED controller and a LED strip that can be controlled by Home Assist

And maybe one of these https://tinyurl.com/4hty7tpa


10-inch.jpg
 
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This really isn't fair you guys are making it really hard to resist building a mini rack. :mad:
 
irBosOtter said:
What length patch cables are you using?
Click to expand...
Yes 22cm. Could not source shorter yet.

I added the brush panel just to hide the ugly cables
Click to expand...
I can't stand the ugly brush panels. Threw mine in the cupboard lol.

Unfortunately I bought the cheapest LAN cable off Amazon to run to the access point. When I was putting on the boot I thought this cheap junk is going to give me issues. And low and behold the connection has dipped to 10 / 100 . Climbing around in the ceiling was so much fun :X3:

Now I need to redo but everyone is selling the proper cables in 100m rolls which is way more than I require.

So waiting for stock on 30m cable ....
 
dualmeister said:
Yes 22cm. Could not source shorter yet.


I can't stand the ugly brush panels. Threw mine in the cupboard lol.

Unfortunately I bought the cheapest LAN cable off Amazon to run to the access point. When I was putting on the boot I thought this cheap junk is going to give me issues. And low and behold the connection has dipped to 10 / 100 . Climbing around in the ceiling was so much fun :X3:

Now I need to redo it everyone is selling the proper cables in 100m rolls which is way more than I require.

So waiting for stock on 30m cable ....
Click to expand...
I got my cheap cables from Geewiz but they are the worst cables I have ever seen. Think they come straight from Temu. The 5m cable going to my ONT from the FPSense server sometimes drops down to 100Mb so will need to get that replaced.

I also need to source two keystones for the rack mount tray on my Lenovo, to fill the two holes next to it, one will be USB3 and other HDMI. Should have just printed the mount without the keystone holes as I will never really use them in any case.
 
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