A thread for RackMacs

[cheesestraws]

Some time ago I promised @demik I'd create a thread to post pictures of rackmount macs.

Belatedly, here it is. I had to get my AppleTalk router out of the rack for some maintenance and took a couple of photos.

This is a 1U rackmounted LC II. The case is rather messy and there is a lot I'd do differently now, but it has the germ of a good idea in it.



Inside I'm happier with. It's got a custom DC/DC PSU which runs on 5V and a scsi2sd in it, and the overall arrangement is pretty neat.



Anyone else built anything along these lines you feel like sharing?

 

[Phipli]

I plan something similar with a Q610 board, and my dad wanted to do a custom case Beige G3... but havent done either at this point

Are you going to make a whole stack of mac rack now that you have the knack?

 

[AndiS]

I feel strong iRack vibes (as described in this thread) and I like it!

 

[demik]

@cheesestraws that's quite nice ! I like how you kept it simple. Even room to add a few things

 

[Nixontheknight]

I wonder if it's possible to do this with any of the other pizza box Macs, such as the LC III or 6100, maybe that would be the ultimate upgrade to my LC III++

 

[Daniël]

I have a bunch of loose random early PPC boards that I still want to build into their own rack, will be interesting to see how to tackle the edge connectors on the slide in boards though

 

[paws]

That's very nice work. I have a spare Performa 475 that I might do this with.

What are you using the machine for?

 

[cheesestraws]

Are you going to make a whole stack of mac rack now that you have the knack?

my rack is now packed :-(. no room...

I wonder if it's possible to do this with any of the other pizza box Macs, such as the LC III or 6100, maybe that would be the ultimate upgrade to my LC III++

Should be! I was actually originally going to use an LC III LB but I bought a case which didn't fit it properly because I'm badly organised. As the power of the CPU goes up you might need a fan in it, mind.

What are you using the machine for?

I use it as an AppleTalk router—LC-class logic boards are more common than LocalTalk to Ethernet gateways and cheaper, and the user interface to set up Apple Internet Router is better. But also, I wanted an excuse to build a rackmac

 

[joshc]

As the power of the CPU goes up you might need a fan in it, mind.

The 68030, even at 33Mhz, should be OK heatsink-less but it's the 68040 where it's really best to have one, especially at 33MHz where it runs quite hot. In my testing, my 475 @ 33MHz was not stable without a heatsink. Just speaking from my experience though so mileage may vary. And I guess in a rack things are going to run warmer depending on what else is in the rack so maybe some more active cooling would be wise.

 

[wanderingjew]

Oh hey, I made a Rackintosh. It's a Q605, using most of the original components, an Ethernet card, and a BlueSCSI. The sides of the enclosure are a Hammond rackmount instrument case, with the front and back are 3D printed. Two halves for each side, glued together. That's not ideal, but printing something 19" long is a bit of a challenge.

Works well, although now its server duties have been taken over by a raspberry pi.





If you want to build one, the files for printing are somewhere after this link

 

[cheesestraws]

Now that's classy. Nicely done!

 

[Skate323k137]

The only racked Apple/Mac I've seen in person was at the Data center I used to work at, but it was colocated equipment so I never got to actually lay hands on the thing.

 

[Nixontheknight]

my rack is now packed :-(. no room...



Should be! I was actually originally going to use an LC III LB but I bought a case which didn't fit it properly because I'm badly organised. As the power of the CPU goes up you might need a fan in it, mind.



I use it as an AppleTalk router—LC-class logic boards are more common than LocalTalk to Ethernet gateways and cheaper, and the user interface to set up Apple Internet Router is better. But also, I wanted an excuse to build a rackmac

I can probably fit a slim Noctua fan inside if need be, and I was going to use a mAcTX LC board to power it

 

[cheesestraws]

I can probably fit a slim Noctua fan inside if need be, and I was going to use a mAcTX LC board to power it

Sounds like it ought to work to me!

 

[JAG]

Man, what we really need now is a project to make a hardware kvm over IP dongle that works with both Mac video and ADB and also somehow can activate a reset switch to reboot a machine remotely.

(I have no idea how to do this)

 

[Daniël]

Man, what we really need now is a project to make a hardware kvm over IP dongle that works with both Mac video and ADB and also somehow can activate a reset switch to reboot a machine remotely.

(I have no idea how to do this)

If someone could design a modern, microcontroller-based ADB KVM, that could at least partially be possible. For Macs that support the keyboard reset combo, the KVM could send those inputs to the Macs to reset. Of course, if a system is locked up beyond being able to receive ADB commands, that's no longer a solution. Only other solution would be to have a port or header exposed to the outside of the case, connected to the reset line, with that getting connected to the KVM. The KVM could then just short the lines in order to force reset the machine in question.

I do have (very, very long-term) plans to try and cobble together an ADB + DB-15 KVM, but it'd be far more basic than that. Definitely no IP based stuff, I am not knowledgeable enough on programming to do anything like that!

 

[cheesestraws]

That would be nifty. I managed to pick up a cheap AdderLink at one point, which ... isn't a reproducible thing, I think, they usually seem to be ludicrously expensive second-hand. But of course that also doesn't do the reset thing...

 

[CC_333]

@cheesestraws That is a fantastic case! May I ask where you got it, and how much it cost?

c

 

[cheesestraws]

That is a fantastic case! May I ask where you got it, and how much it cost?

Afraid my answer is going to be totally useless: I got it off an ebay seller, I can't find if anyone still sells them, and it's old enough to have fallen off my purchase history so I don't know how much it cost either.

It's not actually a very good case, though: it doesn't fit together that well and it sags. If I were doing this again I'd be looking for a second-hand 1U server case to adapt instead.

 

[shadedream]

Man this would be a cool project for the Q630 in shambles at the bottom of my closet... if it wasn't for that edge connector...