I’ve seen so many 10" servers that look amazing from the front and very polished, but then having a rats nest of cables and a mess at the back.
After 62 iterations and many 3D prints, blood, sweat, profanity and tears. I my design and implementation is finally done.
I used Hexagons where possible, because as you know, Hexagons are the bestagons
This is Before:
And the After:
The ducky adds 200MHz
The front of my mini-rack is actually still somewhat of a mess, I thought I’d focus on the back first.
I’ve published it in excruciating detail on my GitHub Leave a Star if you like what you see.
I self host a bunch of stuff on here to get away from Big-Tech, and because I find it fun. For a lot more details see https://erasmus.works/
It always bothered me the the fronts of racs are modular, but not the backs, this solves that
If you have any questions feel free to ask, hopefully this helps other clear up their rats nests.
Serial power for anything with critical data… no thanks
One fails, everything after it fails
My setup is as resilient as this would be:
I haven’t added any failure-modes
Power strips run in parallel that’s one point of failure for the whole rig.
Your setup runs in series. That’s on point of failure per powered device in the rig.
And if it doesn’t run in series, you really need to explain the wiring on the back of your rig, because I cannot make sense of it otherwise.
I have basically taken a power strip, and made each plug a module.
The inside of a power strip, like in this image, is in series.
mains → yellow → red → blue → green → blue(end)
If a join between yellow and red is broken, it knocks out red and everything after it.
If what is plugged into yellow is plugged out, or disconnects everything else keeps working.
The same is true for my setup, the joins between Yellow, red etc. are just on the outside of the case, so you can disconnect them if you want, which would kill the power to what is after it. But you don’t have to do that.
I think I understand more now, I just fundamentally don’t understand that zig-zag of joins on the back if the point was better wire management.
I can’t imagine how’d you’d link them up, without having to reach inside the case, and having it modular.
Ideally the zig zag isn’t there, but did you see the before?
Huh? What is the mains cable mess for then?
I don’t think I understand your question.
If you plug all your servers into a power strip like this, all the power goes through the power strip and through one cable. If there is a fault in the power strip, all the servers will lose power as a fuse will trip.
The same is true for my setup, I have added no new failure modes.
I’m assuming this is daisy chained. In a power strip there are not cables between the plugs that can be unplugged. Nor are there switches on each individual plug that can be accidentally flipped off. Any extra component is a failure mode. If it gets unplugged it loses power just the same as any failure. Now don’t get me wrong, I think this design is clean, expandable, and offers some neat features over a plain power strip, but to suggest there aren’t extra risks associated with this design is a bit short sighted.
You’re explaining scenarios where you incorrectly use my setup.
You can wire the switches so that if switched off it only kills power to that server and nothing else in the chain. You then basically have this, but modular:
Yea if you rip out a cord that you shouldn’t you’re going to lose power, that is true of any power strip.
This has more components, so more things can fail, I will give you that, but that’s unlikely and for me at least, worth the trade off in making it modular.
If the above picture was powering your servers, and you wanted to add a 7th plug, you’d have to unplug everything and buy a power adapter with more sockets, and deal with the rats nest of cables that follows, or add another of these that might have the same problem in the future.
This looks great! Any thought on relay control? I built an 8 outlet box with relays inside so I can direct control power to each server with a Raspberry Pi. It runs PiKVM and is also attached to an 8 port KVM for control.
Uggg don’t give me ideas, I’ve already sunk way too much time into designing this 😅️🤣
So you could just put a relay between my power-module and your server, and it’s problem solved.
A redesign to incorporate one of these would be great, there are also variants that monitor power draw, so you’d be able to see each servers power usage and switch it on or off remotely.
Why are you doing this to me?
Hah, yea I used a pre made box to cover off on safety in the lazy way. Using one of these boards inside it: https://a.co/d/08aDId5p
Most of my custom work was on the front so I could fit multiple mini PCs side by side. Everything designed in FreeCAD with color coded cables per machine 😀
Edit: ignore the circle. Apparently this photo was used to tell my partner what to unplug during some testing.
Very nice, is that a KWS rack?
I don’t think that existed yet when I started my journey, they seem very solid.
I went for aluminum for max strength and didn’t trust 3D printed parts for strength, but after getting a printer, I see you can print fold out chairs that you can stand on, so they can be more than strong enough.
It’s a Rackmate T2. I printed the parts in ASA, which is very heat resistant, and it’s held up for a long time against all the hot equipment. It’s also pretty thin on the HD sled holders, still doesn’t sag or budge.
I should probably make these models public at some point.
Preemptively responding to this, because I just know there’s going to be a comment about this.
Yes Yes I know, GitHub, screw GitHub, Screw Microslop. I am trying to move away from Big Tech as much as possible, but it’s a marathon not a sprint, and every win should be celebrated.
FYI, Codeberg/Forgejo can automatically migrate repositories including metadata: https://docs.codeberg.org/advanced/migrating-repos/#migrating-from-services
Thanks yea I’ve used Codeberg before, but the main reason I use GitHub, is I try to create a good looking profile to point potential new Clients to when I’m looking for a new job, explaining Codeberg to them I feel is a step too much, and my income is Priority Nr1.
I’ll fight the Open-Source, anti-Big-Tech fight elsewhere.
I totally get that
Quick heads up - codeberg has an option to auto push changes to github, or the other way around with a github action (I prefer codeberg first)
May want to give it a try, from a client perspective you can also use that to note that a distributed approach provides resiliency (and now it becomes a selling point too)
Nice thanks, that sounds good. I’d definitely only want to push to one place, if it then syncs to GitHub that’s fine.
I’m with you, I don’t like having to do the same thing more than once
I set up an “about my repos” repo, which has a readme detailing the process, and explanations of what is where and what they are all for, which is what I point clients to. That also has a link to my personal forgejo to demo local git as well (which can also sync, btw) along with a note that it may be down for various reasons like updates or changes I’m making, which is why I also sync elsewhere.
Depending on what services you’re selling to clients, it makes for a neat and simple addition to the list of skills to demo!
And you’re kind of making me want to use a mini rack as an excuse to my wife for a 3d printer, but she already knows I’m not getting rid of my 12-15RU racks under my desks, so I’m going to have to wait until we find the property we want so I can build my workshop…
Nice thanks!! You can get a 3D printer for fairly cheap to get started, the one I have is only 280 Euro now with 4 spools of filament
It seems that using multiple remotes is also possible. So instead of syncing two repos, push to both at once.
https://git-scm.com/docs/git-remote#Documentation/git-remote.txt-set-url
git remote set-url origin --push --add user1@repo1 git remote set-url origin --push --add user2@repo2 git remote -vYou can, but you can also run into some issues if you have git LFS, if one rejects for whatever reason, or sometimes just branch issues.
Thats why I prefer to go to one repo and push out from there, but it is absolutely doable with git by itself.
YOU MEAN https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=O-qcXpapsoY FUCKING NAZI!?
xD
Way to head them off at the pass. Rock on with yo bad self.
I’m disappointed there’s not a duck on each rack.
There are more duckies, a lil giraffe and a turtle at the front
Bestagons <3 great build!
I don’t understand the purpose of the exposed daisy chained cables. If it is not meant to be frequently unplugged, then why not wire an internal bus of 14 awg with Wago?
I want it to be modular, so if I add another 2 servers, I can just add the server module in front, and its power module at the back.
It is pretty awesome, only real problem is that if you have to replace anything in the middle, you have to shutdown everything above it too.
That being said, it’s pretty fucking rad.
Yea I realised that is a limitation, but Eh I’d take that trade-off for the modularity and good looking backside.
It’s rare that you add/remove things, and technically you can just plug out the inside and only that server will go offline with the rest keeping power.
A homelab can accept a lot more downtime than a company that runs business off of a rack of servers.
A tradeoff between a sweet rack design for having to disassemble a little extra when replacing parts is a perfectly valid tradeoff for me.
Hell, most of us only run a single UPS, if any at all, which would have the same limitation.
Cool build. Please be aware there is a reason that Sockets are made from a plastic that does not melt nor burn. Everything near power connections is a potential fire hazard.
Thanks yea I made sure to add this Safety section to my write-up on how to build this yourself, and I reference back to it a lot, so it’s painfully clear.
I printed this in PETG which can take the heat easily, but ideally you use UL 94 V-0 which is also flame retardant.
I did make sure everything is very well insulated, and pulled hard on every connection to make sure it’s held down properly.
**Safety** This part carries live mains. Mains wiring kills people who get it wrong, and a fault in a printed enclosure can start a fire. Do not build it unless you are competent to wire mains and permitted to do so where you live. Sleeve or shroud all live terminals. PLA softens around 60 °C, PETG around 80 °C. Neither is flame retardant. Only a UL 94 V-0 filament is. Wire the protective earth if anything you plug in needs it. Build it at your own risk. I take no responsibility for injury, death, fire, or damage resulting from anything in this repository.I don’t want to be the “Deputy Downer” here, but I can’t stress the important of the v0 (we say v-naught) plastics in keeping you safe when it comes to electrical installations - for those that aren’t aware, they are plastics that have to self extinguish once the fault trips the electrical protection, should a fault occur that sets them on fire. (ie: once the electricity isn’t making it flame anymore, it has to put itself out)
Here is an example of how even low voltage DC can fault, and had the LED strip diffuser plastic not been v0 rated, we would have had a late night house fire into the roof when kids were asleep…
PETG in this kind of situation just becomes fuel and possible a very, very, very bad day…
I know v0 spools are more expensive, but cheaper than just about any of the disaster situation alternatives, so I always suggest you prototype with PLA/PETG but print v0 for the finals…
Thanks for this, I founds some self-extinguishing PETG, that’s really not much more expensive than PETG. Definitely worth the money
https://shop.filament-pm.com/petg-frjet-self-extinguishing-white-1-75-mm-0-5-kg/p166
Ya. I don’t run more than 5A (basically a usb) through 3d printed stuff for that reason. Filament is designed to melt.
I think you want to say 5W? Amperage is just half of the equation. :)
You run 5 amps through a USB?
USB-PD standard allows for 20V at 5A?
You mean 5W?
I was assuming some kind of 3.3V or 5V logic, like an esp32 or an arduino. I don’t mess around with big power circuits at all. If I inject power it’s going to be pretty low wattage. Sorry for the confusion.
Great job it looks fantastic
How is the power wired exactly? It looks like youve piggy backed off each cable before it, meaning the first cable is carrying the load from all after it which it usually isnt designed to do, should be fine if appropriately rated to the equipment.
Looks mint!
Yea each one runs through the previous module, so all the power goes through the first module.
IEC 13/14 connectors are rated for 10A (2300 W at 230 V) which isn’t much lower than what you can run through your wall outlet. And in reality they can probably handle 15A(What your wall can handle) as they are commonly refereed to as “Kettle cords” and used by kettles which draw ~13 Amps.
That’s very high, to give you an idea the 6 things I have plugged in draws ~240w, so I could chain up ~60 mini PC’s and only then would I be over the ~2300w limit.
I do now mention this in the Safety section of my “How to build this” write up
Looks like youve done your research!
Depending on the kettle model, most draw just under 10A these days. General household outlets (at least in australia) are only rated for 10A anyway.
Ive used hundreds of kettle leads in my time and never seen one used for an actual kettle funnily enough
uk can go to 13A peak load on the standard 230v socket, but drawing that for a prolonged period will nuke the socket. 10a prolonged is perfectly safe in the uk.
I am…scaroused.
I have the same plants; you have good taste, it’s undeniable
Nice work OP. Clean and sharp. These mini servers are awesome.
Looking good.
mega ducky 200 is amazing
super clean build
Thanks for the photos and web site, it shows a bit what is happening inside and it’s great.
Sure thing, there’s lots more details on my GitHub Write-Up including how to wire it up etc.
I’ve thought about this exact problem and I find this very pleasing to look at. Nice work
