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.
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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?
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.
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
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
It might be clearer to say it’s more like your house wiring, instead of a power strip.
This is almost exactly how outlets are Daisy chained through a run.
Basically you have a homelab where every device is plugged into the next outlet along a wall, with each outlet being really close together.
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?
His design is parallel, you’re just seeing it from the wrong perspective.
This might be a better angle.
Huh? What is the mains cable mess for then?
Is there a reason for naming your website same as EU programme for education, training, youth and sport?
I mean, Erasmus is a pretty well-known historical figure (and where, I assume, that programme gets its name)
That’s where my mind went first.
Turns out we’re both wrong and it’s just OP’s name like he said in the other comment, but I’m curious how you made that connection? Not passing any judgement on it, just curious since your brain reached a different conclusion than mine and I’m curious how you got there.
I knew a couple of people who studied in continental Europe under the Erasmus scheme before Brexit, and the far right were always claiming during the referendum campaign that the EU would never chuck the UK out of anything because we’re so awesome and they need us and our money so much. Turns out there’s a limit to how much a club misses its most loudly critical influential member.
So amongst Europhile Brits, Erasmus means young people’s opportunities to study abroad first, and name from history that it honours second. I might not have heard of Erasmus if it weren’t for the Erasmus scheme, and I had to check just now whether he was a historical figure or someone from Greek mythology. Awesome surname for a person in real life to have, though.
My surname is Erasmus
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…
