April 22, 2004

2:40 PM

Does anybody know if a product exists that will allow small network equipment to be mounted in a standard 19" rack? [:--more inside--:]
posted by littlegreenlights to (5 comments total)

I would just go with a shelf, but my rack in this case is a wall-mounted, closing case that holds equipment vertically.

I've googled my pants off--universal rack, rackmount adapter, "mount small stuff in big rack please", et cetera--with no luck. I did come across custom enclosures, but they are far too expensive.

I'm looking for a simple solution; even a tension/compression bracket would work. Most of the equipment is rack-ready (switches and stuff) but I also need to work in an AdTran and a NetScreen. (There are kits for the NetScreen but they are expensive and seem to require two units mounted side-by-side.) Any ideas?
posted by littlegreenlights at 2:40 PM on April 22, 2004

Have you checked out Marathon Computer? They've got a lot of oddball rackmounting gadgets.
posted by adamrice at 3:08 PM on April 22, 2004

So you're saying you can't use a normal rack shelf, because this rack holds things oriented vertically, instead of horizontally (which is the normal way)? That sounds really strange, so perhaps I'm misunderstanding.

There are rack shelves that include screw holes, so you could mount your equipment to them (e.g. this one). Or you could just wrap some cable ties around your equipment and the shelf.
posted by xil at 4:16 PM on April 22, 2004

Thanks for the help, adamrice and xil. I think the Raxxess shelf might just do it, and I want many things from Marathon. Hmm. So all I really needed was a shelf with a bunch of holes in it.

Yeah, I know it's really strange, and I haven't seen it in person yet (rack is here) but it looks like this cabinet does orient vertically. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have clicked the Buy The Damn Thing Now! button, but . . . thanks to AskMe we no longer have to live with the negative consequences of our actions. Yay!
posted by littlegreenlights at 10:04 PM on April 22, 2004

Ask MetaFilter: Googling our pants off.
posted by kindall at 2:36 PM on April 23, 2004