Case Mod - In Progress My First Mod: Server Cabinet Project

Hello everyone,

I've not seen many guides around the internet for modifying a server cabinet, this is also my first mod. So here is what I did

The requirement for this cabinet was that at our LAN parties, the network equipment was quite a mess:


So I began work on a cabinet that I managed to get for a pretty cheap price. It was battered to hell but I think I've made it pay of.

First off I sanded off any bumps in the paintwork and all the dirt and scuff marks (600 grit used). The cabinet itself was grey, green and old (August 1996 manufactured date). The cabinet was then coated with primer inside and out.



Now the case is wall mountable, however the purpose of the cabinet is to house LAN party networking gear. Having to carry such equipment around is a hassle, therefore I purchased some castor wheels rated up to 75kg load from Screwfix.



The colour scheme I went with was the orange/black colours of the Loughborough Students Union Computer Society. So after removing the internal supports I sanded them down and coated them with primer and then some glossy orange.



Once the primer on the cabinet dried I got to work spraying the outside and inside black:





Paint work isn't looking picture perfect at this point, but that's only a couple of layers. But now, the wheels needs attaching!

Put masking tape over the paint, marked out where to drill, lining up VERY carefully not to go through the supports. Using a HSS drillbit to be on the safe side.




Supports put back in:


Now at this point I'd not sprayed the glass panel.


Sanded it down, sprayed it and as I was waiting for it to dry I had my housemate dremal off the excess bolt length on the wheels so that it had free movement.

I won't bore you with all of the dremal photographs but here are my two favourite



After a few more coats of paint and a bit of fine sanding we have an almost finished project!



Here's what it looked like after I'd rack mounted all of the societies equipment:


It even fits under the stairs nicely out of the way!



The only thing I have left to really do is paint the society logo onto it.

 

Every geek dreams of having their own server cabinet.
Just curious, Is all that fiber optic stuff really needed?

 

Cooooooool!

One question i've considered getting myself a cabinet when i look for cheap ones there always wall mountable ones

but are'nt they alot shorter in depth than the normal free standing cabs?

i see some of your equipment sticks out the back of it

 

Not really, but running a LAN party for over 100 students can be quite a hassle setting up. Cat5e/6 also only goes up to 100m, Multi-Mode fibre can go further and is thinner, so it certainly helps. Also Cisco Ethernet modules for the 3508 aggregators cost significantly more than their MM fibre counter parts. Also much better from a cable management point of view

Wall mountable one are normally 500mm deep (mine is) and not designed for distribution/core equipment, they are more for access switches and routers which are about 250~400mm deep. It just worked out significantly cheaper to pick up a really old wall mountable cab and convert it rather than buy a free standing one.

The equipment sticking out the back is fine, the back of the cabinet is going to be hidden with a table anyway and the cabinet is still balanced.

 

xcase sell short rackmount cases wonder if they would work

You have me intrigued now

 

Nice mod, now I dream of having one too.

 

This turned out pretty nice. I like it. Nice job.