This is a strong and sturdy network rack. It’s built like a tank, and it needs to be. I’m sure glad it’s on wheels. You can supposedly mount it on the wall, but once all my gear is in it, I’m guessing it’s pushing 130 pounds, which is its recommended weight limit. The rack and UPS (a Cyberpower CP1500PFCRM2U) alone are 61 and 32 pounds respectively. The 450mm depth is generally sized for network gear. Stereo gear will probably require the deeper 600mm unit.
The included fans are indeed loud, so I replaced them with two of these fans:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CZRKTBZ
The fan noise is now much softer and quieter. The rack is located in a closet and you don’t notice the fans running. In fact, since the rack doesn’t generate a lot of heat anyways, I decided to leave the fans switched off except on very hot days.
In the rack, I have a Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro, a Synology DS412+ NAS, a 24-port rack-mount patch panel, the rack-mount UPS, 2 ethernet switches, a nice ADJ Pow-R Bar with illuminated indicators, and a Navepoint 2U Drawer to store manuals, spare patch cables, hardware, etc. My rack is about 70% full, with room for a few more items should the need arise. Did I mention that I’m sure glad it’s on wheels?
Don’t assemble the side and back panels, or the front door, until you’ve installed all of your equipment. Trust me – you’ll be moving stuff around before you’re happy with it. To initially install your equipment, lay the rack on its back and drop the items in from above. This lets you visualize and determine where everything needs to go, and to place all the caged-nuts in the proper locations on the brackets. By the way, buy yourself some extra M6 caged nuts, and screws:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09S3B7YKF.
As for the assembly process – I’m sure glad it’s over. It was a long, tedious process. Many times I would misposition something and have to take it back apart and do it again. Shelves or brackets wouldn’t line up and it was because I had miscounted the bracket-holes and mounted items incorrectly. Nothing wrong with the product, and the instructions were simple enough – it was just my senior eyes not seeing what I should have been seeing. I’ve assembled, disassembled, and repaired automotive engines, countless kid’s toys, grandkid’s toys, household appliances, webstore furniture; you name it, I’ve probably assembled it, so I actually looked forward to assembling this rack, and I’m glad I did it; but let me warn you, this is the king of erector sets! You might want to entice some mechanically-inclined young’n to assemble this for you. No mistakes, 4 hours. Lots of mistakes, 2 days and a new vocabulary of curse words. OCD for details (my problem) – a week, with some weight-loss.
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