Author: Doug Metz

Lack Rack part III: the Final chapter

DIY

If you caught the last blog installment you’ve seen that I’m a big proponent of the Steve Jobs “one more thing” methodology.

To ‘finish out’ (as if) the rack design I’ve made two more modifications. The first was reversing the switch positioning and doing some OCD-level cable maintenance.

The last, and the piece de resistance in my opinion, was removing one of the original lower shelves and replacing it with a bank that holds 4 Raspberry Pi. (Pies?)

In case your curious the Pi’s are configured for:

  • Pi-hole (security, DNS, ad-blocking)
  • HOOBS (home automation)
  • NEMS (a Nagios instance for monitoring)
  • Kali (shenanigans and attack emulation)

That should hold me over for a little while. And I’m really pleased with the results.

Lack Rack Updates

Uncategorized

I have a tendency for DIY projects to never be finished. Actually that’s not entirely true. I finish them, but then I continue to build/expand on them. This has been true of many elements of my home office since moving to our home two years ago. A few months back I posted my DIY network rack built from IKEA end tables. A week or so later LED’s were added. I have several automation routines that will change the LED color based on status conditions.

The rack has served me very well so far, but I wanted to make a few improvements. Previously I had laptop (on riser stand) and a portable (15″ usb-C) monitor on the top. The monitor (and wireless keyboard) is connected an Intel NUC inside the rack that dual boots between REMnux and Windows11.

I wanted to make room for a full size monitor on top, but I was running low on real estate. A couple orders later on amazon and I had exactly what I wanted.

First I added a dual-arm stand that could accommodate a full size monitor (24″ fits well here), and a second arm that supports a laptop. I wound up replacing the monitor arm mount with a different mount that kept it closer to the support pole (the screen was a little too ‘in the face’ before that.) Since the composition materials of the Ikea tables are likely MDF, I added a steel panels on the top and bottom of the clamp for extra durability.

The height is perfect for a standing workstation. If I need to work on the laptop, there is enough free space to open and operate fully without impacting the monitor.

So here it is, the [updated] “Lack Rack” finished… for now.