Sliding rack rails don't appear for work for my chassis. Any good suggestions for better ones?
Sliding rack rails don't appear for work for my chassis. Any good suggestions for better ones?
I’m a new homelabber, recently bought a SilverStone RM41H08 4U Chassis
My rack is wall mounted and this server is heavy AF to get into place when I need to adjust something.
All the reviews for the branded sliding rails that “work” aka rarely, are terrible.
I’m interested in any ideas people have for maybe DIYing a sliding rail set, or like a better universal rack? Literally anything please hahaha.
I’d even try cabinet rails or something if there’s a good resource on DIYing.
Thanks!
Links for reference: https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Rackmount-Hot-Swappable-RM41-H08-x/dp/B0922FZQFW
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B1KZMPN
https://www.amazon.com/ECHOGEAR-15U-Open-Frame-Rack/dp/B07YYJMCNV
a fully extended chassis on rails in a wall mount anything (frame or enclosure) is going to place an extreme amount of pull force on the wall attachment points.
I would personally not place anything but a static, fixed load into a wall mount.
equipment on rails is a lifesaver and, if you really want to do it, consider a freestanding enclosure thats designed to take deep servers, extended loads and has anti-tip features.
just my 0.02
I guess that’s a very valid point. The racks is bolted into concrete with 4x 5” lag bolts FWIW, so I just kind of assumed that’d be fine? But I supposed physics may not be kind to me, considering me hefting the machine into the place is already heavy…
lag bolts into shields into concrete may be secure if its done really carefully. it still leaves possible issues with the frame integrity - there are quite a few low quality frames and cabinets out there and mechanical stress on those vertical rails and all of the connection points in-between when equipment is extended on rails is no joke.
I am used to datacentre grade mounting gear (even in my home lab), so I am a bit spoiled. however... take a look at Rack Solutions for harder-to-find quality mounts, rails and adapters. a source for excellent quality steel open racks/frames and enclosures is x-mark (now owned by belden). thats the stuff I use for myself.
edit: as was mentioned in another comment, OEM rails are almost always your best bet, however high quality 4-post sliding shelves have saved my butt on ocassion. Rack Solutions also offers those.
Full extension rails are probably best going to come from the original vendor as a general principle, rather than attempting to use universal rails.
If you have a wall mounted rack, unless your walls are not drywall, physics is working against you. It's already a pretty intense heavy cantilever, and putting a server in there that can extend past the front edge is only going to make that worse.
If you want to use full extension rails, you should get a rack that can sit squarely on the floor on either feet or appropriately rated casters. You should also make sure your heaviest items are on the bottom ESPECIALLY if you have full extension rails - it will make the rack less likely to overbalance itself and tip over when the server is extended.
Pesky physics strikes again! Haha. I do have them lay bolted to my basement foundation, so it should support a fair amount of weight… but “should” and “does” are different words for a reason 😂
Drywall isn't a concern. Mounting to actual studs is what matters.
But I'd still put up plywood first, since drywall can compress where something's mounted.
Fair - there are ways to handle it. I didn't want to include specifics since I'm not a professional contractor for this sort of thing, but I should have indicated that there are exceptions.
Hopefully the rack is mounted directly into the studs or concrete. I've seen them crush gypsum between the stud and paint too...
I'm not much help, but they all suck. I've bought probably 2k worth of universal sliding rails to attempt with various servers. I don't know why but none of them fit properly. None of them slide properly. They are all just annoying. I gave up with them. I bought the OE sliding rail kits for my various servers and magically everything works perfectly.
For servers where I want to move them in and out but don't want sliding rails, I just buy those universal L bracket type mounts. The servers slide well enough on them, they're just powder coated bent steel. And a single screw from the front panel into the rack keeps it secure enough since the weight is being held by the support, not its own ears.
That’s solid info, thanks! Looks like the OEM rails aren’t “technically” designed for this model. Or the one they have won’t fit my space. I have like maybe 22” until I hit the wall, and most of the rail kits SilverStone has seem to be minimally 22” which wouldn’t account for any rear vent and or power cord space, if it would even fit on my 20” rack.
FWIW I do have the rack lag bolted in 4 spots to a concrete basement foundation.
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This says 26” though? I’m willing to take a YOLO on these if you think they may work?
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