Is there a market for custom home rack enclosures?

[joeschmuck]

I know that there are home that have a central hub for all the communications and media equipment to live in a closet of sorts, and it comes with power and A/C. Think about FIOS and you need an UPS, MTA, and other devices just so a person can have a "land-line", cable TV, and internet. But I wouldn't think it was only a location for a NAS. And to be honset, I thought the posting was someone trying to make a joke.

 

[cobrakiller58]

I would pay a little extra for a properly setup network closet, surely there might be changes I'd want to make to it but having the ground work done for me would have a little value in my eyes. The same goes with garages/workshops in homes though, having a work shop can raise or lower the value of a home based on the buyer (raises value with my friends and I)

 

[jgreco]

Part of the problem is that "properly set up" is a moving target. A door from 1970 works as well today as it did back then (and might actually be real wood rather than MDF or whatever). However, the phone, networking, and coax that would have been installed in 1995 for a "networked" house would be not only near worthless today, but likely a bit of a liability. Some of us actually install extra boxes and conduit to them when remodeling rooms, which is fairly future-proof, but some people would argue that wifi has become the dominant player. Which it has, for mobile devices, but isn't really true for other things. It has that "when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" type truth... if all you know is wifi then you probably make all your clients wifi and it "seems" true.

 

[joeschmuck]

I like installing PVC type pipe so you can fish wires through them at a later date, or should I say suck the wires though by tying them to a rag and sucking the rag through. When I built my home theater room I did that. Everywhere that a wire could go, there was a tube for it to travel in. I never know if the wire will go bad or if I need to run another pair. I even ran a large PVC pipe to allow for cool air flow to enter the electronics area. I would do it just a little different next time but it worked.

 

[gpsguy]

At least you didn't use an alarm clock: http://wnic.iheart.com/content/2017...-wall-has-gone-off-every-day-for-more-than-a/

suck the wires though by tying them to a rag and sucking the rag through

 

[cobrakiller58]

Seriously conduit runs to each room and sufficient power would put I big grin on my face if I was looking to buy the home. I personally only know one person who did conduit runs to all their drops in their home. I'm going to have to try the vacuum thing sounds faster than my fish tape.

 

[joeschmuck]

I'm going to have to try the vacuum thing sounds faster than my fish tape.

It only works if you have pipe/tubing that you can suck it through and it does work very well. If you have a thicker/heavier wire, attach a string to the rag and then pull the string through and use that to pull your wire. And 90 degree bends make life more difficult of course so if you are installing something like this, use two 45's and a bit of distance.

At least you didn't use an alarm clock: http://wnic.iheart.com/content/2017...-wall-has-gone-off-every-day-for-more-than-a/

I actually enjoyed the Purple comercial more, Goldielocks and her Raw Egg Test. These Purple commercials are quite funny.

 

[Linkman]

Given how many people on the r/homelab subreddit use Lack Racks, I would think that there would be some sort of market for a small custom rack in roughly that size, but the price would be the biggest driver. Lack Racks are cheap, but it is a DIY project, so something with better materials and ready out of the box would be worth more.

 

[cobrakiller58]

There is a market supermicro seems to be aware of it and a local fabricator here makes desks and office furniture with rack space built in.

 

[John McNeese]

From what I've seen this small trend is in the new home builders market. Its reallymatter of added convenience to the new home buyers, plus depending on the type of NAS that is being implemented it can be set up as a surveillance devices with IP camera and such for the new property.

 

[Ericloewe]

I'm all for a properly-structured network, including integration with other things like alarm systems, CCTV and door intercoms. That said, a smallish off-the-shelf NAS is going to be of limited use in most of these situations.

 

[cobrakiller58]

A little 8 or 12 U rack would hold an adequate NAS and some support equipment to handle most home users I believe. Especially if your talking security having a custom little rack that doesn't stand out or is hidden would help ensure a thief doesn't steal your video footage of them robbing you.

 

[Ericloewe]

A little 8 or 12 U rack would hold an adequate NAS and some support equipment to handle most home users I believe. Especially if your talking security having a custom little rack that doesn't stand out or is hidden would help ensure a thief doesn't steal your video footage of them robbing you.

12U sounds like a reasonable place to start, given enough depth.

 

[anodos]

12U sounds like a reasonable place to start, given enough depth.

What sounds more reasonable is fabricating a server rack to look like a full-sized cylon.